Today is the official “First Day of Summer”!! Nothing epitomizes a dream summer vacation more than this photo of the beautiful Green Turtle Club Resort & Marina, the very first Guy Harvey …
Jessica Harvey Catches Mammoth 600-Plus Pound Swordfish Off Isla Mujeres, Mexico
23 Jul 20125:28 PM
ISLA MUJERES, MEXICO—July 22, 2012—Jessica Harvey, the 22-year-old daughter of marine icon Guy Harvey, showed that saltwater fishing skills is a family trait when she fought and landed a massive 600-plus pound swordfish—the largest caught on rod & reel by a female angler in the last 30 years and one of the largest ever on record.
The Guy Harvey Expeditions team was in Isla Mujeres to film the renowned whale shark aggregations as part of a new documentary.
Ms. Harvey, an IGFA Jr. World Record holder, took a break from filming to do a little fishing, according to her father.
Under the guidance of Capt. Anthony Mendillo and the crew of Keen M Sportfishing, Ms. Harvey using a conventional rod and reel hooked into the swordfish in 1,550 feet of water some 15 miles offshore. She battled the fish for nearly three hours.
The entire adventure was captured on film by award-winning filmmaker George Schellenger and Greg Jacoski of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation.
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![](mailto:?subject=Hunting Not Always Ducky on Lake Okeechobee&body=<img class=" size-medium wp-image-3060 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/lakeoduck.jpg?w=225" alt="LakeODuck" width="225" height="300" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
[Okeechobee, FL--] A blast of cold weather and flocks of ignorant ducks from the north are high on the holiday wish lists of duck hunters on Lake Okeechobee when phase two of the harvest season opens Dec.12.
The first phase Nov. 21-29 found hordes of hunters and plenty of birds flying over the marshes of the Big O on the first cool front of the fall season. But after numerous rounds of sky-blasting from legions of 12-gauges, the ducks learned to cruise the stratosphere as they made their way south across the 730-square-mile lake.
Still, the skittish birds and constant bursts of small-arms fire were no excuses for not bagging a limit of six, according to Sam Heaton of Jensen Beach, FL. In a half-day of hunting on the north end of the lake, Heaton managed only three ducks-- two ring-necked and a gadwall.
It wasn't for lack of preparation; Heaton had scouted the secluded lily pad slough weeks before the season opened aboard his 15 1/2-foot Gheenoe-- a flats boat/canoe hybrid powered by an outboard with an extra-long shaft. A veteran hunter, fisherman and all-around outdoorsman, he had discovered plenty of ducks alighting, feeding and hanging out in the area. All he had to do was set out some decoys, conceal his camo-painted boat in a nearby stand of cattails, cradle his 12-gauge, and watch for the flare of approaching duck wings.
He was armed with a variety of duck calls ranging from quacks to whistles and had his trusty yellow Lab named Finn aboard to fetch fallen birds. But none of it seemed to matter when his quarry flew in. He fired and missed at least four times.
"Son of a gun," Heaton muttered. "This is the worst I've ever shot."
Finn, waiting impatiently for something to do, whined in agreement.
"I know, I know, buddy," Heaton soothed the dog, stroking its ears.
When Heaton shot his first 'ringer', Finn literally leapt into action -- bounding over the gunwales into the marsh and swimming straight for the floating duck. He quickly returned with it clamped in his jaws, looking immensely pleased with himself.
Over the next four hours, Heaton shot one more ringer and a gadwall-- both retrieved by Finn. As the sun rose higher, the birds mostly flew by high out of range. Despite the futility, several nearby hunters blasted at them anyway, prompting them to reach new heights. By late morning, fewer and fewer flocks appeared.
"We need some more ducks. These ducks have been shot hard this weekend," Heaton said.
Around noon with no more prospects on the horizon, Heaton decided to pack up his decoys and head back to the boat ramp. He had enough duck breasts for hors d'oeuvres and was buoyed by hopes of a new wave of targets during phase two of the season which runs through Jan. 31.
"We'll get more ducks since the weather is getting cold up north," he said.
Here is Heaton's recipe for grilled duck breast:
Butterfly duck breasts. Prepare a mixture of sour cream, chives, garlic, cilantro, and red pepper flakes, ladle it onto the breasts, then roll each one up in a slice of apple-cured bacon and secure with a toothpick or skewer.
Cook on the grill until the bacon is sizzling. Dive in.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/hunting-not-always-ducky-on-lake-o/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Cuba Un-canned: See It With the Locals&body=Here are some of the locals you will meet during <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/">Guy Harvey Outpost's</a> guided people-to-people expedition to Cuba December 13-18:
--The son of Fidel Castro's official photographer;
--the director of the Cuba's Masonic museum;
--a rural tobacco farmer;
--a mixologist who will teach you how to make the perfect Mojito.
And the locales you will visit will combine mainstream stops (Floridita --creator of the daiquiri-- and Museo de la Revolucion, stone walls with 1950s bullet holes) with way un-trodden destinations (Cueva El Palmarito --the largest cave system in Latin America, and a fishing cooperative in Cojimar, where Ernest Hemingway's captain spent most of his life).
Your hosts will be Justin White-- operator of <a href="https://www.docfordscubaexpeditions.com/">Doc Ford's Cuba Expeditions</a> and nephew of best-selling novelist Randy Wayne White--and Sports Illustrated photographer Ron Modra.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MG_1480.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4874" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MG_1480.jpg" alt="" width="2100" height="1400" /></a>
"The people we are going to meet are incredible-- interesting, intelligent, diverse age groups," White said. "You'll see the monumental places but the targeted people and events introduce you to real people living their daily lives. The most valuable experience you can have is to be with the people and ask them questions. There are no airs put on."
With new U.S.-to-Cuba travel restrictions set to take effect in mid-September, White is taking special care to stay on the right side of the law: staying only in private lodgings, taking meals in private restaurants; interacting one-on-one with Cuban people; and travelling in a 12-member group.
"We will abide by all the policies and restrictions put in place," White said. "We focus on people-to-people exchanges."
The six-day, five-night itinerary is packed with authentic experiences: poring over photo albums with Raul Corrales, whose father shot reams of images of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his friend author Ernest Hemingway; walking the docks at Cojimar, the small fishing village where Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" was set and where the author's captain Gregorio Fuentes lived to be 104; visiting Finca Vijia where Hemingway's boat, Pilar, still sits; touring a tobacco farm and coffee plantation; and hiking to a huge cave in the countryside. It also hits some of the typical tourist spots such as the Tropicana nightclub and Old Havana. And there will be multiple opportunities to ogle (and photograph) all the old cars, with Modra coaching on the finer points of capturing images.
If you <a href="https://guyharveyoutpost.com/expeditions/cuba/">book your expedition</a> by Aug. 31, you'll receive free airfare from Fort Lauderdale to Havana. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.guyharveyoutpost.com">www.guyharveyoutpost.com</a> or call the Outpost Travel Desk at 800-513-5257. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/cuba-un-canned-see-it-with-the-locals/){kind=link}
 – Old Bahama Bay Resort & Yacht Harbour, a Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition Lodge has been nominated in The Bahamas's Leading Resort category in the 2015 World Travel Awards. The resort is one of only two resorts on Grand Bahama Island nominated for this award and one of nine resorts nationwide. The Wall Street Journal is among the many media that have heralded WTA as “the Oscar’s of the travel industry”.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/obbryh3.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-2660" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/obbryh3.jpg?w=550" alt="OBBRYH3" width="550" height="550" /></a>
Old Bahama Bay has been nominated for the World Travel Awards every year from 2007-2015. For more details: <a href="http://www.worldtravelawards.com/profile-3577-old-bahama-bay-resort-yacht-harbour">http://www.worldtravelawards.com/profile-3577-old-bahama-bay-resort-yacht-harbor</a>
Old Bahama Bay is home to Guy Harvey Outpost's up coming <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/ghofish/">Bonfire Beach Bash and Tournament</a> this June 25-29th. To make your reservations now call: 800-513-5257
PLEASE VOTE for <a href="http://www.worldtravelawards.com/vote">Old Bahama Bay on-line</a> until August 23, 2015.
The country awards reflect the range of products and service offerings of an individual country’s travel and tourism industry. The annual final shortlist of nominees for each country award is reached via the following criteria:
The previous year's country award winner and two runners-up
Vetted and approved self-nominations
Vetted and approved WTA commendations
The winner’s will be named at the World Travel Award’s Caribbean & North America Gala Ceremony held on October 17, 2015 in Turks & Caicos.
World Travel Awards (WTA) was established in 1993 by Graham E. Cooke to seek out and reward the very best travel organizations in the world – those brands pushing the boundaries of excellence and implementing ground-breaking ideas.
WTA has developed into the most prestigious and comprehensive awards program in travel and tourism, and is recognized worldwide as the hallmark of industry excellence.
Old Bahama Bay is located in West End Village, approximately 25 miles west of the city of Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. With its 73 rooms, 2 restaurants and 72 marina slips, Old Bahama Bay has a barefoot elegance ambiance with an out-island remote feel, but with the convenience of an international airport and major destination amenities.
For more information on <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/west-end-grand-bahama-island/overview.html">Old Bahama Bay, a Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition Lodge</a>
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.ghofish.com/">www.ghofish.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost & their great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/" target="_parent">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com/" target="_parent">www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost" target="_parent">https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/GHOutpost" target="_parent">https://twitter.com/GHOutpost</a>
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![](mailto:?subject=The Hunt for Edible Underwater Treasure&body=by Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
[Steinhatchee, FL.--] Looking down through my dive mask at the patchy grass bottom about four feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico, I spied what looked like a miniature flying saucer. Hard and roundish, a little smaller than my palm, it sported a row of tiny blue lights in the small crack between top and bottom. As I reached down to pick it up, it snapped closed and bounced clumsily in a vain attempt to escape. I stuffed it in a mesh bag and kept swimming, looking for more targets. Boy, did I find plenty-- and so did my snorkeling companions.
Our party of six, guided by Steinhatchee charter captain Bob Erdman, was hunting for bay scallops -- small, wonderfully tasty mollusks that are plentiful in Florida's Big Bend region Gulf waters in summertime. You can't buy bay scallops at a seafood market; the only way to eat them is to harvest them yourself, which is both fun and very easy-- so easy that many liken it to an underwater Easter egg hunt. Kids as young as kindergarteners can harvest them.
You simply snorkel on the surface in four to six feet of water over patches of grass and sand and you will spot the shellfish either sitting on the bottom or perched on blades of sea grass. That row of UFO-like blue lights? Those are their eyes, and they quickly snap their double shell closed to propel themselves backwards when they see you overhead. But they're not that quick, so you don't usually lose too many. Think of it as lobstering lite.
The recreational scallop season opened June 25 and runs through Sept. 24, so you have plenty of time to try it. The harvest area extends from the Pasco-Hernando county line to the west bank of the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County. However, St. Joseph Bay in Gulf County is closed to scalloping until Aug. 22 due to a previous red tide outbreak.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/scalloping7.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4148 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/scalloping7.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" /></a>Patches of sea grass provide a natural habitat for bay scallops.
Steinhatchee -- a tiny burg located about an hour's drive west of Gainesville--is this summer's scalloping capital. Pre-season counts conducted by scientists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission showed an average of 189 scallops per square meter in local waters, compared to 55 in the Homosassa-Crystal River area; 28 in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and only two in St. Joseph Bay.
"Fantastic!" Erdman said. "It's the best season in several years. We've been getting our limit in less than half a day."
That proclamation held true for our group too: ten gallons of whole scallops in 2 1/2 hours of snorkeling in an area south of the Steinhatchee River. We sat around in the shade of the boat's Bimini top and enjoyed some post-hunting snacks before heading back to the dock at Good Times Marina.
Lots of scallopers clean their own catch, but it's a tedious process that takes hours and potentially wastes the thumb-sized nuggets of meat if you don't know what you're doing. So we hired the professionals at Sea Hag Marina to do the job for about $8 per pound. They did not disappoint. We brought nearly six pounds of scallop meat to Fiddler's Restaurant that night where it was fried, broiled, blackened and turned into pasta-- and we had plenty of leftovers.
There's no wrong way to prepare bay scallops-- except to overcook them. If you can think of a recipe-- any recipe--you can make it with these tender mollusks. They are great for ceviche and one of my friends eats them raw.
Guy Harvey Outpost hopes to plant a flag in scalloping country soon, so look for updates at the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost web site</a>. For a complete rundown of scallop rules, equipment and techniques, go <a href="http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/regulations/bay-scallops/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/the-hunt-for-edible-underwater-treasure/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Bonefish Packages Announced at Bimini Big Game Club, a Guy Harvey Outpost&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vaughn-cochran-and-bimini-catch-lr1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-938" title="Vaughn Cochran taming bonefish in Bimini " src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vaughn-cochran-and-bimini-catch-lr1.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="366" /></a>
Set a New World Record for Bonefish or Permit and Win a Week's Stay For 2
ALICE TOWN, BIMINI-NOVEMBER 21, 2011-Management at the <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bimini Big Game Club</a>, a <a title="GHO web site" href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Guy Harvey Outpost Resort and Marina</a> has created a novel challenge tied into their newly announced bonefish fishing travel package - break any world record in any line class for <a title="About bonefish" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonefish" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bonefish</a> or <a title="About permit" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permit_(fish)" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">permit</a> on fly or spinning rod and win a week's all-inclusive stay for two!
<a title="About Bimini" href="http://www.bahamas.com/out-islands/bimini" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bimini</a>, located just less than 50 miles from Miami/Fort Lauderdale, is home to some 50 World Records, with four of those current world records being for bonefish/permit.
Perhaps the most remembered bonefish record was set in 1971 by Virginia Beach sportsman Jerry Lavenstein, who along with legendary guide Ansil Saunders landed a 16-pound, 3-ounce monster just some 300 yards from the
historic Big Game Club.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/jerry-ansil-record-catch-lr-1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-940" title="Jerry & Ansil with their world record bonefish" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/jerry-ansil-record-catch-lr-1.jpg" alt="" width="495" height="640" /></a>
Break Lavenstein's 40-year-old record - or any <a title="IGFA web site" href="http://www.igfa.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IGFA</a> registered record for Bonefish or Permit - and the Big Game Club will provide a complimentary seven night stay, including airfare and transfers, and a day on the water with fly fishing personality Vaughn Cochran.
The competition challenge offer, which is open through 2012, is available to anyone purchasing the special Fly Fishing Package. Details are available at <a title="Bonefish Bimini web site" href="https://guyharveyoutpost.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bonefish Bimini</a>, or call Captain Vaughn Cochran at 904-997-2200 or BBGC reservations at 1-800-867-4764. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/bonefish-packages-announced-at-bimini-big-game-club-a-guy-harvey-outpost/){kind=link}
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