Wild Fish, Wild Waters: The Winter Salt Adventures

Guiding for wild fish, wild waters, and those who care deeply about them.

That line has always described what I try to do here in Vermont. My guiding has been built around wild trout, native fish, moving water and the belief that the places we fish matter every bit as much as the fish themselves. Over the years, that has taken me deeper into Vermont’s rivers and backcountry, and eventually it made me curious about what that same idea might look like farther from home.

Over the past year, I followed that curiosity into saltwater.

I traveled through the Florida Keys, Costa Rica and Turks & Caicos looking for fisheries and people that felt connected to the same things that drew me to guiding in the first place, wild fish in remarkable places, local knowledge, good people and a real interest in protecting what makes those places special. I chased tarpon through the Everglades, sailfish and roosterfish along Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, machaca in jungle rivers and bonefish across Caribbean flats. Along the way, I stayed in the lodging, made the drives, worked with the guides and learned the logistics so I could bring anglers back to these places with me.

These hosted trips grew out of that experience. They are not simply fishing packages in warmer places. They are an extension of what I have always wanted Gibbs Guides to be, a way to experience wild fisheries thoughtfully, with people who know the water and care about its future.

For 2027, that has led to three very different trips, a week that moves from the rainforest to the Pacific in Costa Rica, a flats-and-bluewater experience built around local guides in Turks & Caicos, and a stripped down, fish-hard run to the Florida Keys.

Different water, different fish, same idea. Wild fish, wild places, and making your time count.

Costa Rica

February 21–27, 2027

Costa Rica is the most varied trip I offer, and I built it that way on purpose.

We begin at Macaw Lodge, a working coffee and cocoa plantation tucked into tropical forest and absolutely alive with wildlife. Scarlet macaws may be the namesake, but they are only part of it. Howler monkeys move through the canopy, tropical birds seem to be everywhere, and the forest is full of the movement and sound that make Costa Rica feel so intensely alive.

There is something special about beginning the trip there. We have time to walk the property, see how coffee and cocoa are grown, eat well and settle into the country before the fishing begins. You don’t arrive in Costa Rica and immediately disappear onto a boat; you get a chance to experience the place itself.

From there, we move to Manuel Antonio and Quepos, where the fishing takes over.

One of our main targets is roosterfish, one of the great gamefish of the eastern Pacific. They are powerful, aggressive, spectacular fish and a major reason for choosing this stretch of coast. Offshore, Pacific sailfish are another marquee target, with mahi and other pelagic species in the mix when conditions are right.

Then we can change gears completely, leave the ocean behind and float a jungle river for machaca on lighter tackle.

That variety is what sold me on Costa Rica. On my 2026 trip, I could be around sailfish and bluewater one day and casting beneath jungle vegetation for machaca the next. The scenery changed, the fishing changed, and the experience felt much larger than a string of charter days.

I’ll be returning to work with the same fishing operation and guide team I already know. I’ve fished with them, seen how they work and learned how the pieces of the trip fit together. For the anglers coming with me, the scouting has already been done.

Turks & Caicos

March 21–27, 2027

Turks & Caicos is a very different trip. Here, the flats are at the center of the experience and bonefish are the main target.

There are few things in fly fishing quite like seeing a bonefish appear on a shallow Caribbean flat. Everything is visible: the fish, the cast, the mistake, the eat. It is hunting as much as fishing, and local knowledge matters enormously.

What makes Turks particularly important to me is the relationship I’ve built with the local guiding community. In 2026, I spent several days fishing and filming with members of the Turks & Caicos Fly Fishing Association, learning about the fishery, the guides and the families behind it.

Many of these guides know the water through years, and in some cases generations, spent on these flats and channels. The Association is also working toward a professional, locally driven and conservation-oriented fly-fishing industry, with an emphasis on responsible fish handling, protecting the resource and keeping the value created by the fishery connected to the people who live there.

That is exactly the kind of partnership I want these trips built around.

Turks is not limited to the flats, either. Wahoo and other offshore opportunities can be incorporated into the week, giving anglers the option to trade a bonefish rod for bluewater tackle when conditions and interests line up.

Our base is Aqualara Villa on Providenciales, which gives the group a private, comfortable place to come back to at the end of the day. Instead of everyone disappearing into separate hotel rooms, the evenings become part of the trip: dinner, a drink, rigging rods, talking through the day and getting ready for the morning.

For guests who want a more fully catered experience, private onsite chef service is also available at additional cost.

Turks is a good fit for the angler who wants serious fishing but also cares about the quality of the whole trip, and who values working with guides deeply connected to the fishery itself.

The Florida Keys

April 6–9, 2027

The Keys trip is built on a completely different philosophy.

This is the dirtbag fishing trip.

The goal is not luxury lodging or elaborate meals. It is four days built around fishing hard while keeping the overall cost reasonable. We stay somewhere functional, get up early, fish long days, find something good to eat and do it again.

The Keys and Everglades give us opportunities for an extraordinary mix of species, including tarpon, permit, snook, bonefish, jacks, snapper and other backcountry fish, depending on weather, season and conditions.

I spent time there in 2026 doing the same scouting I want to do before offering any destination to clients. We caught tarpon, explored the Everglades and had legitimate shots at permit. I also came away with a much better appreciation for just how technical South Florida fishing can be.

The Keys are easy to get to. They are not easy to fish. Wind, tides, season, location and guide selection can make or break a day.

For this trip, we keep the extras simple and put the money where it matters most: on the fishing.

Travel the Way You Want to Travel

Not everyone wants the same kind of hosted trip.

Some people enjoy booking their own flights, renting a car and handling pieces of the travel themselves. Others would rather arrive knowing that the important details have already been dealt with.

I offer several levels of concierge service, and your quote can be built around the way you prefer to travel. You can handle your own transportation and meet us at the destination, or I can take on more of the lodging, ground transportation and travel logistics for you.

Depending on the trip, we can also incorporate additional fishing days, offshore options, extra lodging nights, private chef service and non-fishing experiences.

I can help with the fishing before we ever leave as well. Saltwater fishing rewards preparation, and we can work through rods, lines, leaders, flies, casting and expectations so that when the opportunity finally comes, you are ready for it.

The idea is not to put everyone into the same package. It is to build the trip around how you like to travel and take the pieces you don’t want to deal with off your plate.

Make the Time Count

A serious fishing trip is an investment, but the resource most of us have the least of is time.

We do not get endless weeks to chase roosterfish in Costa Rica, bonefish in the Caribbean or tarpon in the Everglades. When you decide to use one of those weeks, it ought to count.

That is why I go first. I stay in the places, make the drives, work through the logistics, fish with the guides and learn where the rough edges are before I bring clients along. I look for people I trust and operations that care about the fishery as much as the fishing.

None of that guarantees a perfect day. Fishing does not work that way, and that uncertainty is part of what keeps us coming back.

What it does give us is the best foundation I know how to build: good guides, thoughtful planning, solid lodging, safe travel, local knowledge and people who care about the resource.

If one of these places has been sitting on your list, ask me for a quote. Tell me where you want to go, who you might travel with, what kind of experience you are looking for and how much of the planning you want me to handle. I’ll build out the options from there.

Costa Rica: February 21–27, 2027

Turks & Caicos: March 21–27, 2027

Florida Keys: April 6–9, 2027

If one of them sounds like your kind of trip, get in touch. We’ll start with a conversation and build the trip from there. Email me at Gibbsguides@gmail.com