Guide Profiles
Native Sons Guide Credentials Include:
Sponsors: |
Capt. Peter Deeks, Jr
I have been passionate for the outdoors since early childhood. Growing up on Merritt Island, Florida, I was home-schooled through high school. The great part of the home-schooling experience was the time it afforded me to fish – almost on a daily basis which was easy considering my house was on the Indian River. As I grew older, I upgraded my small john boats for flats boats, and increased the range of my fishing territory. Fueled by my love of fishing, and desire to learn and study the patterns of salt water game fish, I fell in love with fishing tournaments. In 2004, I joined good friend Capt. Rocky VanHoose to create Native Sons Pro Fishing Team. Under Native Sons, we traveled the state of Florida fishing three national redfish circuits, as well as many regional events. I was blessed with the opportunity to fish as a full time professional angler while earning a Bachelors degree in Biology from Rollins College. My education in Biology (with an emphasis in marine and red drum studies) has allowed me to “share” a great amount of scientific and practical knowledge of the marine environment and the game fish that inhabit it.
After completion of my Bachelors degree, I joined the Native Sons guiding crew, Capt. Roland Jones and Capt. Rocky Van Hoose, as a full time fishing guide. Being a fishing guide, as well as a professional tournament angler, has forced me to learn and follow the patterns of many different species of game fish in Central Florida. Spending most of my days out on the water (over 200 a year), I have been able focus on perfecting certain skills such as fly-fishing, and targeting unique species like tarpon and black drum. Passion for chasing trophy fish and competing at the highest level, allows me to offer custom guided trips catering to your desired species and methods of fishing. I have found guiding to be extremely fulfilling, as it allows me to share my love and knowledge of fishing and the outdoors with others.
Born 12/10/85 – Cape Canaveral, Florida
Graduated from Rollins College with a Bachelors degree in Biology
Off time – surfing, fishing, hunting, golfing
Favorite Movie – Gladiator
Favorite Book – The Old Man and the Sea
Favorite Food – Grilled Quail
Capt. Rocky Van Hoose
Growing up near the shores of Sarasota Bay before the building booms of the 1960s and 1970s, I found a passion for fishing in the clear, shallow saltwater grass flats and pristine mangrove-lined shorelines of the lower west coast of Florida. The purity of fishing resonated deep within my soul: the stillness, the natural beauty of God’s creation, and the lure of the water and the hunt.
As a young fisherman I was mostly self-taught after receiving rudimentary lessons from my grandfather. I studied magazines such as Field and Stream to hone my skills, collected wisdom from the old-timers of the local fishing community, and spent countless hours observing and experimenting on the water. In those days, my passion was funded by collecting Coke bottles, mowing lawns, and selling mistletoe at Christmas time.
Now forty years later, I share this life-long passion on the central east coast of Florida as a professional guide partnered with two of my best friends, Roland ‘Grizz’ Jones and Peter ‘Gator’ Deeks. Despite the years, the purity of fishing still resonates deep within my soul.
Born at an early age and reared by Spanish Conquistador, Hernando De Soto
Graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS in Accounting and an MBA
Earned an MABS from Dallas Theological Seminary
Off time – reading, writing and Sumo wrestling
Favorite Movies – Chariots of Fire, A River Runs Through It, and The Cinderella Man
Favorite Books – Fly Fishing Through a Mid-Life Crisis by Howell Raines and The Bible by God
Favorite Food – Pineapple Upside-down Cake
