Capt. Geoff W. Colmes
South Miami, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove
Geoff was born in Evanston, Illinois, his family moved to South Florida
when he was four years old. He grew up there attending Ponce De leon
Junior High and Coral Gables Senior High School. Later, at Miami Dade
and the University Of Miami, Geoff majored in music while playing with
some of the best rock n' roll bands in the City of Miami. However for
young Geoff Colmes, a career in music was not to be.
"As a child
and teenager I had two passions; I was musically inclined, and I loved
to fish with my father and two brothers. Back in the sixties and seventy's,
South Florida was a playground for any kid who loved to fish, and still
is. My Father was a banker and my mother was in real estate, buying
homes and fixing them up as a business for resale. We moved around Dade
County a lot. Nevertheless we always lived on the water; the Coral Gables
Waterway, Biscayne Bay, numerous inland lakes, and Florida Bay in the
Keys. Fishing in salt or fresh water was the one passion in my life
and in my fathers. He was an avid fisherman and If my dad wasn't working,
he was taking us fishing. I'll never forget that and hope to be as generous
and patient with my time for my own children as he was with us." said
Geoff.
The Florida Keys and Everglades
In 1962 Geoff's parents bought a home on Plantation Key (now part of
the Village of Islamorada) and have maintained one in the Keys since
then. When most kids would be learning to ride a bike Geoff had his
own boat. His mother always wanted him to stay within eyesight of the
dock. However, when she wasn't paying attention - he was gone; exploring
the far corners of Florida Bay and the Everglades. For Geoff, a two-week
grounding meant exactly that. No boat!
Stiltsville, Biscayne Bay
Later in the 1970's, Geoff's parents bought one of the historic homes
in "Stiltsville" so named because of homes being built on
pilings on the shallow flats of Biscayne Bay. When the home was not
occupied Geoff would sneak in with friends, totally against his parents
rules. Once, the Coast Guard was called by a concerned neighbor about "visitors" and
Geoff was caught. Of course Geoff was "hard aground" for another
two weeks. "My enthusiasm for fishing would get me into a lot of
trouble." recalled Colmes, "When I was a teenager, I spent
quite a few long dark nights stranded on a flat, or stuck up a tidal
creek full of gators and mosquitoes. I wouldn't trade that experience
for anything. It has given me a rich understanding and respect for the
local waters and wildlife. The Stiltsville home is gone, lost in Hurricane
Andrew, and the future is unclear for the remaining homes. Now I only
get in trouble when I don't spend enough time with my wife Eliza, my
daughter Eliza Leigh and my son, Ben. We really have a great lifestyle."
Blowing Rock, Creston North Carolina and Back
After Geoff married Eliza, they spent a few years on a farm they purchased
in Western North Carolina raising horses. In fact, their first date
was on horseback atop a nearby mountain. There in the high country,
twenty-five years ago, Geoff and his partner, Sam Houston, formed the
Blowing Rock Guide Company. Specializing in; fly-fishing, technical
rock climbing and outfitted horseback trips, becoming at that time,
the only local outfitter of its kind. "It was at that point in
my life that I knew I was destined to be a guide," said Geoff.
Today, Geoff specializes in fly-fishing for tarpon, bonefish, permit,
snook, redfish, largemouth and peacock bass. Although he promotes
fly-fishing and is his first fishing method of choice, he would be the
first to tell you not to "marry" the fly rod. "Remarkably,
the more experienced angler will quickly switch back to spin or plug
tackle when the conditions or logistics are not favorable for fly-fishing".
Said Geoff. Aside from full and half-day fishing trips just about anywhere
in the Keys and South Florida, Geoff offers fly casting instruction,
and Mothership based trips aboard the 65' custom built vessel.
Now... The Village of Islamorada
Over the past Eighteen years Geoff has guided in literally all of
the major "all tackle" and fly tournaments throughout the
entire span of the Keys, Biscayne Bay to Everglades City. Although Geoff's
anglers have won or placed in many of these events, he is quick to point
out; "Tournament fishing can make a much better angler or guide
out of you, forcing you to make quicker decisions, maximizing every
second on the water. However fishing as a competitive sport is not
for everyone and at times it can be too restrictive... taking away from
the quality of the fishing experience. Furthermore, I'm not convinced
that the ever growing number of tournaments is good for the resource.
I think that the essence of the sport is not always to catch greater
numbers and bigger fish than the other guy, but to enjoy the
experience, learn something, catch something and return to the dock
relaxed... without the self imposed stress that accompanies competitive
fishing. After all, it’s just
fishin’!" Geoff practices an "all release" policy.
Read about best selling author James
W. Hall dedicating his latest
novel Hells
Bay to Geoff and previous acknowledgement in Magic
City.
From Sport Fishing Magazine:
The New Book
Publisher's Weekly calls best selling and Edgar Award winning author
James W. Hall's Hell's Bay "another compulsive
page-turner from a master of suspense," and the NY Times Book
Review declared "if violence can be poetic, Hall has the lyric
voice for it."
A Key Largo resident and former owner of a Hell's Bay, Hall has fished
countless times with Capt. Geoff Colmes, a Hell's Bay guide to whom
Hall has dedicated the book.
"The idea for the book came from Geoff who created a houseboat
as a mothership to live on while fishing deep in the Everglades," said
Chris Peterson owner of Hells
Bay Boatworks. "Local personalities
are mentioned in the novel including a fly created by Florida Keys legend
Rick Ruoff.
"Hall's reclusive hero is Thorn, a fishing guide and outdoorsman
with little use for society especially industrialists involved in the
creeping destruction of the state's natural environment." Peterson
smiled. "It's a very enjoyable book that's hard to put down with
Thorn repeatedly taking on criminals in a carnivore's paradise,
thick with alligators and sharks and just as many twists and turns as
there is in getting in and out of Hell's Bay."
Capt
Geoff W Colmes
Geoff's
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