Lower Florida Keys
The Florida Keys offers a wide variety of species for the fly fishing angler: permit, tarpon, bonefish and more. Front Range Anglers ownership has successfully fished with a number of the finest guides in The Keys regularly for the past 10 years. We are fortunate in that we have established strong working partnerships with a number of professional Keys Guides!
Reach to us directly should you find yourself in the Florida Keys and would like our guide recommendations. We strongly suggest you plan ahead of time to secure your preferred guide dates! Lodging always defer to the traveler but we are also able to assist with suggestions based on where you intend to fish.
Contact Front Range Anglers Adventure Travel Manager Rob Kolanda for additional information and to BOOK!
When you BOOK with FRA Adventure Travel you never pay more for our services as we work for YOU !
INFORMATION
Bruce and BJ Chard: Travel Details and more...
Fish Targeted – Grand Slam – Bonefish, Permit and Tarpon up to 50 lbs
Fish with Bruce or BJ Chard – Professional Fly Fishing Guide Package Price:
Package Pricing Includes
– Full day fishing with one of the best instructional and professional fly fishing guides on the Flats of the Fabulous Florida Keys
– All Chardy specialty custom hand tied flies on board for your use
– All specialty hand tied leaders to match your outfits on board for your use
– Cooler with water and ice on the boat supplied – bring whatever you would like to eat for the day
– Full use of G-Loomis NRX & NRX+ Rods matched with Hatch reels and the best Chardy Award Winning Saltwater Fly Line Taper
Not Included in Package Price
– Lodging – Meals – Rental Car – Flights
Lodging – Where to stay
Based out of the Lower Florida Keys, Lodging in Key West and the lower Keys offers a short drive to the world class fishing grounds where you can meet your guide. Key West also offers anglers many different lodging and restaurant options as well. A quick google for Key West Lodging will give you all kinds of options. Some of the favorites are linked below.
Little Torch Key
Key West
Flights and Travel – How to get to the Keys
Key West offers multiple choices of airlines that fly into Key West. Or if you prefer you can fly into Miami or Ft. Lauderdale and drive down. About a 3-4 hour drive. Most anglers fly into Key West and rent a car for transportation to and from fishing locations, lodging, restaurants and airport.
Tackle
7-8wt rods for Bonefish
9wt for Permit
10wt – Tarpon
ALl Floating lines
Flies and Leaders on the boat for your use.
Bruce Chard
Captain Bruce’s love and commitment to the sport of fly fishing is shown in his accomplishments within the fly fishing industry. Since becoming addicted to fly fishing in his teens, Bruce knew what his career was going to be right out of high school and didn’t waste any time after graduating by promptly starting his fly fishing guiding business in the Florida Keys. Bruce has since been a full time Florida Keys fly fishing flats guide gaining over 28 years of experience and counting. Specializing in sight fishing for bonefish, tarpon and permit Bruce has not only become one of the most sought after fly fishing guides in all the Florida Keys but also one of the top salt water fly casting instructors in the industry.
At a very young age of 23, Bruce worked hard to become a Master Certified International Federation of Fly Fishers Fly Casting Instructor. Chard then started what has become one of the most popular international salt water fly fishing schools in the industry. Locations of Bruce’s schools include popular salt water fly fishing destinations within Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, the Bahamas and the Florida Keys.
Along with his schools Bruce also offers fly fishing hosted trips that offer fly anglers the opportunity to travel and experience the world first hand through all things fly. Chards annual hosted fly fishing journeys have covered 19 countries on 5 different continents.
Bruce has also worked closely within the fly fishing industry and its manufactures his entire career. His industry connections are shown through the many different fly companies he works with and represents. These relationships have led to the opportunity for Bruce to design his own personal fly fishing industry award winning salt water fly line taper design. Airflo fly lines currently offers Chards well-known taper design called the “Tropical Punch” as their top selling salt water fly line selling more Chard lines then all other Airflo salt water lines combined annually.
Bruce’s Other Accomplishments
- IFFF Master Certified Fly Casting Instructor
- Previous American Fly Fishing Trade Association Board Member – AFFTA
- Featured Angler in the full length fly fishing film “RISE” by Confluence Films
- Featured Angler/Guide along with son BJ in the popular fly fishing TV show called Ford – “The Outfitters” with Host Conway Bowman – sportsman Channel
- Guest Host on multiple shows with “Seasons on the Fly” Fly Fishing TV show on The Discovery Channel
- Fly Fisherman Magazine Salt Water Contributor
- Designed and created a full line of Bruce Chard Professional Series Airflo Tropical Punch Salt Water Fly Lines
- Designed and Created a full line of Scientific Anglers Award Winning Salt Water Grand Slam Series Fly Line Tapers – Winning best of show award for salt water lines at the International Fly Tackle Dealer Show in Vegas
- Has been featured on the cover of 19 different high profile fly fishing magazines
- Featured in over 6 Grays Sporting Journals photo essays over the past 15 years
- Top Pro Angler, Advisory Staff or Ambassador Member for the following fly fishing companies – Airflo Fly Lines Design Team, G-Loomis Rods Elite Ambassador, Hatch Outdoors Pro Staff, Simms Pro Team, Costa Elite Pro Team, Yellow Dog Fly Fishing Adventures, Yeti , Regal Vises, and Gamakatsu Hooks
- Over 24 custom Chard fly patterns with Riverborn fly company
- Salt Water Contributor for Gink & Gasoline – One of the top fly fishing blogs in the industry
- Hosts popular fly fishing schools and adventure trips around the world throughout the Florida Keys, Bahamas, Belize, Mexico, Christmas Island, Dubai, Seychelles, Argentina, Brazil, Alaska, Canada and Guatemala for the past 18 years
- Has fly fished in over 15 different countries over 5 continents world wide – with over 650 days fished within the Bahamas
- Bruce is a popular paid speaker and casting instructor at fly fishing shows, fly clubs, and fly shops nation-wide averaging over 25 paid speaking events per year
Bruce resides in the Lower Florida Keys with his wife Sara and son BJ who is following in his dads footsteps as a fly fishing guide in the Florida Keys and hosting trips worldwide.
BJ Chard
When it comes to careers most have one and maybe two by the time they retire. BJ’s first career started when he was 3 and fell in love with the sport of Ice hockey. Born in Key West Florida, by the time he was 10 years old, BJ moved to Detroit Michigan walking on to the 8th top ranked AAA Elite team in the nation. Three seasons later BJ was playing for the #1 ranked AAA Elite Hockey team in the nation for two years, winning over 18 of the top amateur hockey tournaments in the world.
After winning the very top amateur hockey tournament in the world (The Silver Sticks Tourney in Toronto – where the winners get their names engraved on a sliver stick trophy and that very trophy is displayed in the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame in Downtown Toronto) BJ found himself at 17 years old, playing top minutes in a JR A professional Hockey league for his last season in Ontario Canada. Body and brain worn out, it was time for BJ to head back to his home waters of Florida Keys and start another career where he decided to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a Florida Key Fly Fishing Flats Guide and work within the fly fishing industry.
Within his first full tarpon season in the Keys at age 18, BJ guided over 200 days and had the opportunity to fish many fly fishing industry pros, influencers, photographers and manufactures. BJ also was a guest host and angler in 3 major fly fishing TV shows while travelling world wide, hosting trips and attending endless consumer and industry fly fishing shows.
Even though hockey was BJ’s main focus while growing up that didn’t mean he wasn’t fly fishing every chance he could get. By the time BJ was 22 he has been fortunate to have experienced fly fishing around the world in 3 different continents and over 7 different countries all while averaging over 200 days a year guiding in the Florida Keys.
BJ is currently training for his International Federation of Fly Fishers Casting Instructors Certification where he will become one of only 3 other flats guides in the Florida Keys that has this certification.
As an avid outdoorsman as well, BJ enjoys upland bird hunting with his dog “Echo”. You can meet BJ personally at many of the Fly Fishing Shows this upcoming season in Denver, New Jersey and Atlanta.
BJ’s Accomplishments
- Guides fly anglers over 200 days a year in the Florida Keys for some of the most technical salt water game fish in the world
- Fly Fishing Instructor at Chard’s International Salt Water Fly Fishing Schools
- Hosts multiple Annual Salt Water Fly Fishing Trips Internationally
- Guest Host and featured angler on two Fly Fishing Christmas Island TV shows called “Seasons on the Fly” that aired on the Discovery Channel
- Featured Guide on the TV show Ford “The Outfitters” – Sportsman Channel with host Conway Bowman
- Has fished 3 Continents and 7 Countries
- Countries Fished – Uruguay, Paraguay, Bahamas, US, Canada, Kiribati/Christmas Island, Argentina
- Over 100 days bonefishing in the Bahamas
- Trout Fished all over the Rockies from Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and Montanan
- Trout, Steelhead and carp fished all over Michigan
- Redfished the Louisiana Mississippi Delta
- Tarpon Fished all over the Florida Keys and the West Coast of Florida
- Fished Christmas Island for Giant Trevally’s, Triggers, giant Milk Fish and Golden Trevally’s
- Fished Golden Dorado’s in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay
- Bonefished in Hawaii, Christmas Island, Florida Keys and all over the Bahamas
- Fished Alaska for giant trout and salmon
- Fished Northern Canada for giant Pike
- Trip on the books for fishing Rooster Fish in Mexico’s Baja peninsula and Guatemala bill fishing
We are a Fishing Guide Service based in the Lower Florida Keys
Tail Chasin’ Charters is constantly striving to be the best guide service in the Lower Florida Keys. If you’re looking to learn more about fishing, enjoy a peaceful day on the water, or spend a day on the ocean to celebrate a special occasion, you have come to the right place. The guides work to ensure that you have the best day you have ever had on the water, if you’re a beginner or expert. The licensed captains take pride in being patient, kind, safe and knowledgeable.
With an enthusiastic, patient, and high-energy guiding style, Captain Gabe will go the extra mile for his anglers. Gabe enjoys fishing all over the world, but nothing compares to pushing his skiff while hunting the game fish of the Florida Keys Flats!
| Captain Justin’s specialty is fly fishing the flats for permit, tarpon, bonefish, sharks and barracuda. He also will do some guiding offshore for tuna, sailfish, wahoo, grouper and snapper on occasion. His charters are open to anglers of all abilities! All equipment is provided – new T&T Rods and Hatch Reels along w/ custom flies – |
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