By LOIS KINDLE
People who fish are some of the most eco-conscious folks in our community. They care about the environment and often actively take part in activities aimed at keeping it healthy.
On July 8, 28 members of the new Salt Strong Tampa Chapter spent their Saturday morning picking up trash at E.G. Simmons Conservation Park in Ruskin. Led by Sun City Center resident George Layton, the chapter’s conservation coordinator, the group worked about three hours in sweltering heat and humidity in four different areas of the park before a strong thunderstorm hit.
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Salt Strong online saltwater fishing club members of its Tampa Bay Chapter gather for a photo during a half-time break of their cleanup event July 8 at E.G. Simmons Conservation Park in Ruskin.
Members filled a pickup truck with bags of trash and placed them in the park’s dumpsters for pickup by the county. Salt Strong, which is headquartered in Winter Haven is a family oriented, online saltwater fishing club for folks of all ages. Its Tampa chapter held its first meeting in April and already has 103 members. It’s one of 10 chapters in Florida and along the eastern U.S. coast all the way to New England, said Darlene Shuman, Tampa chapter president, adding the nearest ones are in St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Cape Coral.
Per its website, www.salt strong.com/, the parent club’s mission is “to unite friends and families, serve fishermen and honor God and Jesus Christ in everything [it does].”
The cleanup at E. G. Simmons Park is but one example.
“It was great so many showed up,” said Shuman, who’s fished since she was a child. “It just goes to show the fellowship we have in the group. We all share a love not only of fishing but also of our waters.”
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
George Layton, conservation coordinator of the Salt Strong online saltwater fishing club, and Tampa Chapter President Darlene Shuman are seen here at an E.G. Simmons Park cleanup July 8. Both began fishing as children and are longtime members of www.saltstrong.com/.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Brothers Luke and Joe Simonds founded the Salt Strong online saltwater fishing club in 2015 with the mission of “uniting friends and families, serving fishermen and honoring God and Jesus Christ in everything [it does].”
“We’re trying to really get involved in the community and are doing good things,” he said. Since the chapter started, we’ve worked with Tampa Bay Watch and Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful on projects involving the building of oyster domes/placement of bags of oysters on the sea floor and sea grass plantings. Both projects were highly successful.
“We have members from all walks of life who are interested in conservation in both our chapter and throughout Florida,” said Layton, 76, who began fishing seven decades ago. “The one thing we all have in common is to protect our fisheries and pass them down to future generations.”
Founded by Luke and Joe Simonds, the Salt Strong parent organization recently teamed up with the MOTE Marine Laboratory in Sarasota to fund, tag and release between 20,000 and 30,000 redfish along Florida’s west coast.
HILDABRAND PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO
A member of the Salt Shore online fishing club’s Tampa chapter and his son look for trash along the shore of Tampa Bay at E. G. Simmons Conservation Park during a special cleanup July 8.
Basic Salt Strong membership is $97 annually, which includes all kinds of resources, including fishing tips, free books and a newsletter called “The Inshore Fishing Manifesto.” As a member of its Insider Club, members can additionally purchase mastery courses on topics like catching more redfish, snook, flounder and monster trout; how to catch trophy inshore fish using live bait like the pros; bait catching; casting; beach fishing; and much more; receive exclusive, free software showing where the fish will be biting at any given time; tackle discounts; and lots of support.
The Insider Club has 44,000 members from Texas to New England, Luke Simonds said.
Membership to Salt Strong’s Tampa Chapter is free. The group meets at 6:30 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month at the Egypt Shriners Center, off U.S. 41 at 5017 Washington Street, Palm River.
For more information, email support@saltstrong.com/, call toll-free 855-888-6494 or visit www.saltstrong.com/.
