From the Publisher
On the cover this month- hours prior to this month’s press deadline a reader from Bokeelia sent in this impressive Tarpon photo, a rare catch for this species in December. If we had a “Photo of the year” contest, this would be a contender.
The image is Ron Smits from Bokeelia, photo taken by James “Marco” Markovits. World famous saltwater photographers would say, “Damn, that’s a good shot,” and I plan to milk it….
For anyone looking to improve Tarpon fishing skills, the Cape Coral Tarpon Hunters host a unique and free seminar every year in February. From rigs & baits, to a safe release, this is by far the most educational fishing seminar that exists in SW Florida. See page 7.
I had the pleasure of spending some time with the founder of Tarpon Boatworks last month. They’re known all over the world and based here in SW Florida. Poling skiffs and various flats-boats have come a long way in the past couple decades, and Tarpon Boatworks is a builder that has mastered quality over quantity.
They offer the smoothest ride on a choppy bay, no 2 are alike, and they have a 340-pound 17-foot carbon fiber skiff that actually floats in 4-inches of water. Each boat is custom ordered factory direct saving the buyer around 20%. If you’re in the market for a unique flats boat, don’t pass up checking this one out.
2026 “Number” check-up: Our office maintains an ongoing map of 56 restaurants in Lee County you can access by boat. Back in August I created a map of Florida through the GoogleMap system that marks over 600 restaurants in the state who offer dockage.
It took weeks to put it together, and there’s a lot of ongoing changes and maintenance. It’s a free service we’ll continue to maintain while focusing on the Lee County area. As of 12/18 the map had over 118k views. Scroll to the bottom of our website homepage. You can save this, embed it, etc, but you’d have to ask a 12-year old how. It’s much easier to use and navigate on a desktop.
Another number I’m working on is our social media followers. When we started exploring a digital magazine model a few months ago we also started to grow a social media presence. I didn’t realize we already had over 4,000 followers, and I don’t know what they were following... I started putting usable information out there and in December our following passed 10,000 with new people joining every day.
I didn’t want to waste time being a “serial poster” so I watched a few videos, took an online class, and learned that most people who manage social media figure out how to push buttons and change the colors, but if you don’t do things based on what the algorithms want, you’re missing out. I also quickly learned how to get restricted yet never could find out how or why.
I learned how users are privately rated, and how each platform has its own search engines which increase or decrease your visibility based on images and words you choose.
Platforms like Facebook have multiple algorithms, and what they consider to be spam is a top priority. People who speed-post in multiple groups without ever contributing to those groups, barely get seen, and they don’t even know it. Improper use of hash-tags, or using too many, are another thing that can land you in the penalty box. It’s more complex than it seems.
Businesses think hiring a “Gen-Z” to manage their social media is productive because they know how to push buttons, but connecting with others on an emotional level, well… it’s not quite their specialty.
I’m considering a side-biz where as opposed to managing your social media, I’d charge a monthly fee to regularly post something associated to your business specifically to grow your following. Consistency grows an audience fast. Your following multiplies, and you get residuals where if you discontinue, you get to keep your growing audience. Imagine the cost if you were trying to buy that in the 80’s?
Another number I check in on is our email newsletter list. As opposed to spamming addresses, people sign themselves up which means they actually wanted it. In December over 700 new people signed up to receive a monthly link to the 80-page digital magazine. I’m lovin it!
Readership commented about how it’s hard to read a magazine online because of panning, zooming, and losing your place, so I designed a system where all of the articles are on a website in phone-ready text for easy reading. Just touch the page, and it links to the article. Advertisements are a finger-touch right to the clients website.
Now I’m working on putting videos with sound right on the pages. People love picking up a printed edition, and we’re still going through thousands of copies every month, but recent digital exposure has already doubled our readership. 2026 should boom for us!
Happy New Year, and get out on the water!
Jim Griffiths
Publisher, Nautical Mile
