FishExplorer.com Launches in Florida, May 5, 2011

5/5/2011

There’s no longer a need to troll exhaustively for freshwater fishing information in Florida.

FishExplorer.com is a complete Internet source for local freshwater conditions, species information, expert advice, maps, travel insights and connections with other sportsmen, launched May 5 for Florida anglers.

With FishExplorer.com, Florida sportsmen can follow blogs and articles provided by local Field Editors throughout the state, read the latest insights from professional guides, follow trends in the sport, and post their own experiences and observations about fishing.

Mike Guiles, a Port Orange-based tournament angler, will lead FishExplorer.com as its State Editor. Guiles currently serves as a director for the West Volusia Bass Anglers, a competitive bass fishing club that frequents central Florida sites such as the St. Johns River, West Lake Toho, East Lake Toho, Harris Chain, and Lake Istokpoga. Mike’s trophy fish include a 7-pound largemouth bass, and he has accomplished the “inshore saltwater slam,” catching redfish, snook, sea trout and flounder in the same morning.

Guiles will be joined at FishExplorer.com by a team of Field Editors who will share their
respective insights on local lakes, techniques, and developments in the Florida freshwater fishing community.

With Guiles at the helm, FishExplorer.com will provide a platform for posting and tracking up-to-date reports on conditions for the state’s favorite freshwater lakes, and even some of its more obscure fishing spots. Fish Explorer is actively recruiting local volunteers to monitor the waters on a daily basis, to make it possible for avid anglers to pick the right fishing spot before hooking up the boat.

The addition of Florida means FishExplorer.com now serves the country’s No. 1 (Florida) and No. 2 (Texas) fishing states in the country, based on the number of in-state anglers. In its most recent survey, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service reported that 1.4 million freshwater anglers spent 24.4 million days on the water in 2006. Freshwater fishing also has a $2.4 billion annual impact on the state’s economy and generates 23,480 jobs, according an economic analysis conducted by Southwick and Associates.

FishExplorer.com was created by avid angler Matt Snider as a solution for his own questions about the best places to launch his boat and where to find the fish he was looking for. Since starting in April 2006, FishExplorer.com has become the most visited Colorado-based fishing website and resource that is changing the way anglers find and share information about their passion for fishing.

This one-of-a-kind online community has already registered over 22,000 members and attracts 62,000 unique visitors and 1.6 million page views each month -- rates that continue to grow. The site’s popularity has stirred interest among Florida fishermen, who have become followers of the site. That fact has influenced FishExplorer.com’s expansion into the state.