February 06, 2012
By Jeff Weakley
Surprise guest Capt. Stu Apte dropped by the Florida Sportsman Expo over the weekend in Fort Myers (Feb. 4-5). Here, on the Rhodan Inshore Stage, Apte teaches a seminar on Fast-Cast Flats Strategies, showing anglers how to present flies quickly to fish spotted on the flats. Apte, raised in Miami, began guiding out of Little Torch Key in the late 1950s. He became famous for innovating techniques for landing big tarpon on the flyrod. Apte had a hand in setting numerous world records—some his own, others by anglers aboard his boats. One of his fly patterns was featured on a U.S. postage stamp in 1991. Apte's story is featured in the recent book Florida Fishing Legends & Pioneers, University Press of Florida.
