Episode 54 of the Tom Rowland Podcast is my conversation with Captains Scott Walker and Steve Rodger, the hosts of Into the Blue Television — a fishing show I produce — and two of the most accomplished charter captains to come out of the Florida Keys. People are always asking how these guys got started and how they built careers around fishing, so I finally sat them both down to tell the whole story: washing boats as kids, building charter businesses in the Keys, chasing tuna and marlin offshore, and how the guiding world changed around them.
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Scott Walker and Steve Rodger are the co-hosts of Into the Blue Television, a saltwater fishing show I produce. Both are veteran Florida Keys charter captains with decades on the water. Scott built a long career running charters out of the Keys, and Steve grew up in Key West and worked his way up through the local fishing world before becoming a guide and TV host. Together they are two of the most respected names in Keys offshore fishing.
Into the Blue is a saltwater fishing television show hosted by Captains Scott Walker and Steve Rodger and produced by our team. It follows the two captains chasing offshore and inshore species — tuna, marlin, dolphin, sailfish, and more — across the Florida Keys and beyond. This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at the men who host it and the careers that put them there.
Scott told me he started washing boats around age 14, then moved into bluefishing, and kept chasing bigger challenges — tuna fishing, marlin fishing, and traveling the world. To feed his need to be on the water every day, he started a charter business. He eventually settled in Duck Key, Florida, at what was then the Indies Inn — now Hawks Cay Resort — building a home and running charters right there in the Keys.
Steve grew up in Key West, where his father taught at Key West High School for thirty-five years. He and his brother started getting paid to go out on boats, then branched off to do their own thing. As customers came off other captains' boats raving about him, his guiding business took off, and he built a reputation that eventually led to hosting Into the Blue.
Both captains talk about how the old Florida Keys charter culture had a reputation for captains yelling at clients and being rough on the water. Their take is that once you bring real hospitality to charter fishing — once people realize they do not have to get yelled at and that better options exist — they stop going back to the captains who treat them poorly. That shift in customer service helped reshape the modern guiding business.
The conversation covers a lot of offshore ground: yellowfin versus blackfin tuna, dolphin (mahi), yellowtail and mutton snapper, amberjack, cobia, and the migrations that draw fleets of boats. They also get into spots like Venice, Louisiana, and how word of a hot bite spreads through the captain community.
I get a lot of suggestions to bring on the hosts of Into the Blue, and the funny thing is that since we produce the show, it would be easy for me to get time with these guys — and I do, all the time. But I had never sat them both down to tell the story of how they actually got here. So many people want to know how you build a career around fishing, and between Scott and Steve you have two completely different paths to the same place: the top of the Florida Keys charter world and the hosts of a national fishing show. I wanted that story on the record.
Scott's path started with washing boats as a teenager and just never being satisfied — bluefishing led to tuna, tuna led to marlin, and the need to be on the water every single day led him to start a charter business because, as he put it, you can not just fish on weekends once you get the bug. Steve's path ran through a Key West childhood, getting paid to crew, and then branching out on his own. Hearing both of them describe the grind of those early years is the heart of this episode. Press play to hear how they did it.
One of the most interesting threads is how the culture of charter fishing changed. There was a time in the Keys when a lot of captains were known for yelling and running a rough operation. Scott and Steve talk about how hospitality became the differentiator — how once clients realized they had options and did not have to be treated badly, the whole business shifted toward service. It is a lesson that applies far beyond fishing. Listen to how they describe the change.
▶ Watch the full conversation on YouTube · 🎧 Listen now
These guys have spent their lives reading water, weather, and bird life to find fish, and in this episode we get into the offshore game — yellowfin versus blackfin tuna, the massive concentrations of life you can find when conditions line up, and how word of a hot bite travels through the captain community. We swap stories about fronts moving through, radar, and the spots that produce. If you fish offshore, this section is full of hard-won knowledge. Hear it in the episode.
The day after this conversation, what stuck with me is how different Scott's and Steve's roads were, and how they both ended up in exactly the same place through sheer relentlessness about being on the water.
The other thing I keep coming back to is the hospitality point. Talent on the water gets you part of the way, but the captains who lasted are the ones who figured out that how you treat people is the whole business. That is true of guiding, true of television, and true of just about everything I do.
Listen to the whole thing. These are two of my friends and two of the best in the business, and their stories are worth your time.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Captains Scott Walker and Steve Rodger are the hosts of Into the Blue Television and two of the most experienced charter captains in the Florida Keys. Scott Walker began his career washing boats as a teenager and progressed through bluefishing, tuna, and marlin fishing before building a charter business centered in Duck Key, Florida. Steve Rodger grew up in Key West, the son of a longtime Key West High School teacher, and worked his way up through the local fishing community into a respected guiding career. Together they front Into the Blue, a saltwater fishing show produced by Tom Rowland's team, sharing decades of offshore and inshore expertise with anglers around the country.
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