Steve Seger: Will, welcome on in.
Will Benson: thanks for having me, Steve.
Steve Seger: Yeah, this will be good. It's a good Saturday morning. I got my caffeine in me. And I think this will be a fun conversation.
Will Benson: Same here, the the lights showing. I got my skiff in the background. I'm delaying my fishing departure today for you, but hopefully the gods will be smiling on us when we get there.
Steve Seger: that's good karma. You're you're doing a good thing. So I think they will be. let's jump right in. I got some warm-up questions here and then we'll jump on into your story too. So first one being sunrise or sunset.
Will Benson: Nah, that's easy. In Key West we celebrate sunset.
Steve Seger: What's one book that you would gift to a friend?
Will Benson: Hard to say. maybe there's two. I love ninety two degrees in the shade. You know, Tom McGuine's book about flats fishing right up my alley. but it's hard to beat Hemingway as well. So maybe the old man in the sea. I don't know. Both fishing books.
Steve Seger: Mm. One person alive or dead, you could have them to dinner with you. Who would it be?
Will Benson: In all fairness, you sent me these questions ahead of time. And this is the one that I've really struggled with. I've been thinking about this for the last week. And I don't know if I can do one person, but my great-great-grandfather was a Supreme Court justice. his name is Joseph Story, and he was really instrumental in kind of interpreting the Constitution and writing quite a bit about it and formulating the jurisprudence of of this country. And it Just 'cause I'd like to know my own family, maybe I would invite him to dinner.
Steve Seger: Okay, we're gonna pause the warm up round because I wanna hear more about about him. Can you tell me more about his background? That's nuts.
Will Benson: Yeah, my family goes way back to the founding of the country. his grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence in Massachusetts and dressed up as an Indian and threw tea in the Boston Tea Party. So that's on my mom's side of the family, the Story family. the Harvard Law School is named the Story Law School after Justice Joseph Story. he You might the maybe the most famous thing that he's done is he's the presiding judge in the Amistad case that Spielberg made that movie about. Anyway, very prominent you know politician and then legal scholar in the country. And you know, just that's my family's, you know, root and tradition comes comes through that. And you know, we're obviously very proud of it, but it's something that we grew up around in the dinner table, with my mom and my dad and whatnot, you know, kind of being taught a little bit about the country and about the law and the constitution. I mean, the amount of times my dad, you know, informed us on the constitution by the time we were like eight and nine years old, it's probably unhealthy. but anyway, it's just part of who we are and you know, It's it's pretty cool. So I I just because it's the coolest thing in my family, maybe I'd like to actually if I could sit down with the man alive at a dinner table, I think it'd be fascinating.
Steve Seger: Yeah, that's the coolest thing probably in most families. That's pretty gnarly. Are is there any kind of like journal or any sort of stuff that was passed down to you guys that you can read or?
Will Benson: Yeah, he wrote a really famous book, Commentaries on the Constitution. and it it it was taught in law school for a very long time. It's still considered one of the seminal works on legal theory in the country. So yes.
Steve Seger: That's a good start right there. I'll keep trying to move through the warm up round, but that's awesome.
Will Benson: Yeah, I thought about this for a while. I was like, man, is it, you know, is it him or is it, you know, like you know, Marcus Aurelius? I'm I'm a philosophy guy. So I I'd I'd want to sit down with Aristotle or, you know, something like that. But at the it also right now, as controversial as he is, man, like Elon Musk would be fascinating to sit down with too, right? Like this, you know.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: So I had I was really struggling with that question because there's so many people. I'd I'd actually want to have a whole dinner. you know, with lots of these people, you know, to ask them these questions.
Steve Seger: Yeah. I'll try to keep moving. That's I'm that's why I asked these it just brings up the coolest stuff and you learn about people. Yeah.
Will Benson: It does. Yeah, yeah, really. Yeah. It was cool when you sent that. I was like, man, this is gonna be a great interview.
Steve Seger: Yeah. what is your most useless talent?
Will Benson: procrastination. I'm a really
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: good procrastinator.
Steve Seger: Love that. one thing that you'd ban from your boat.
Will Benson: I don't know. I thought about this too. man, like I'm I I haven't quite banned it, but I'm almost gonna ban like thinking about banning it, and that's probably the worm fly. just because I think it's like so overused, so overplayed, and it's at this point it's reached a lame status where if like you're throwing a worm fly, like it, you know, it's just it's it's way out of fashion. On my boat anyway. I know a lot of guys love worming and whatnot, but I I find it to be just kind of it's run its course. It's still very effective, don't get me wrong, but it's almost kind of too effective. And it just it's not it's not really inspired fishing. It's uninspired fly selection. So maybe I'll ban the worm fly.
Steve Seger: Deal. Are you one of those fishermen that's like anti bananas on the boat? I don't know. Okay.
Will Benson: No, no, no, no. I I'm fine with the banana. Although, you know, if it really matters, like on a tournament day, or I remember we my buddy and I, Sean, we were going way offshore to this place called Pulley's Ridge a couple years ago. And we're like, you leave at like two in the morning to go this. And I had this like sack of bananas. And I'm walking out the door with this sack of bananas. And Sean looks at me and he's like, And I'm like, yeah, maybe we should just leave these at home today.
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: And we are going way out there and like wanna catch a bunch of fish. So I don't know, it depends. And not really, but if it really came down to it, just leave the banana at home. What
Steve Seger: Good deal.
Will Benson: it does what what harm does it do?
Steve Seger: Who who would play you in a movie about your life? What actor?
Will Benson: what was there? Was some guy who I'm told I look like. I get it. gosh, I can't remember. I'm gonna have to get back to you on that. Like there's my daughter tells me I look like and she she hears it from people that there's some Hollywood person that apparently looks like me. So it would have to be that guy, but I can't remember his name.
Steve Seger: Good deal. Last one, and I asked this from every guest. It's could you beat Liam Neeson in a fist fight?
Will Benson: Why would you? Like it come on. I mean, that guy's like archetypal cool, you know,
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: hero badass. So no, I mean, my role on that is to show up and get my ass beat. No.
Steve Seger: Yeah. So for for context, that's a family guy bit where Peter he drinks a beer with his buddies and every time he gets a little buzz, he's like, I could totally beat Liam Neeson up in a fist fight. And they're like, here we go again with the Liam Neeson crap. So it's it's a good icebreaker,
Will Benson: Yeah.
Steve Seger: and I'm just gonna keep asking it until I get him on the show.
Will Benson: Yeah, you should. And yeah, until he comes on your show, right? Like that's the whole point. Right. Yeah. I I love it.
Steve Seger: All right, let's jump on into the meat of the interview here. I wanna learn about you. I wanna learn about what life was like growing up in the Keys and how fishing became a part of it. I'm sure there's a lot that we'll cover along the way too.
Will Benson: Sure, there's a lot more to to fishing, but fishing's been current you know, a passion for most of my life.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm. Can you share a little bit about when you were growing up on the what what I learned when I was prepping for this was that you were working on the docks a lot as a kid and got into fishing at a young age. Can you just kind of start there and we'll work our way up?
Will Benson: Yeah, it's really cool because I have I have two kids. one of them, my son Luke is twelve. And just like two weeks ago, you can see the skiff behind me. he and his buddy Max started a a skiff detailing business. So they come
Steve Seger: Nice.
Will Benson: to to this house and I set it up on jack stands and the kids, you know, they they wash it and then they, you know, they they buff it and they wax it and they've, you know, been showing them how to detail, but they have whole business now that they're going around the neighborhood and doing this and they get booked ever every weekend to do one of these things. And they make they're making some money. I mean, that's it, like, you know, it's a legit detailing job. And it it so brings me back to when I was his age, going up to the marina, which is still there. He still goes to on his boat. And, you know, I would go up there every afternoon and clean the boats at the marina. And that was I guess how I got started in fishing. Although, you know, we'd go out fishing as kids even younger than that. That was kind of my first movement out of the house. And I'd go up to the marina and was making some money and being introduced to, you know, people like Tim Carlisle, who I so look up to. He's a famous fishing guide out of Sugar Loaf. Recently won the Bonefish Tarpon Trust Circle of Honor Award for Lifetime Achievement. And he's going into the IGFA Hall of Fame this year. He's like, you know, if you had to have a guy at a marina to look up to and emulate, it would be Timmy. And so I just kind of fell into that. I guess luck, circumstance, right place at the right time. wasn't sh you know, too far after that that they, you know, made a river runs through it. So there was this big explosion in fly fishing. and You know, the keys felt it, the guides here felt it. So it was kind of a happening scene. And I just happened to be the kid on the dock cleaning boats. had a little aluminum John boat with a fifteen that I kind of modified into a flats boat and I was learning the waters and exploring and experimenting and just fell head over heels in love with it. you know,
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: every every single thing about it. But how could you not? It was freedom, it was, you know, adventure. It But you know, big fish. I love barracudas and sharks at that time. And then there were all these mythical, you know, people like de you know, Steve Hupp and Del Brown and Tim Carlisle and all these, you know, great guides that you'd see who are real characters. You know, this is these are Florida Keys characters with wisdom. And they were, you know, on the dock and they'd say things. I mean, it was just magical. So that's how, you know, I kind of just stumbled through the the wardrobe, if you will. into a different land and and you know, I've i I was just so fortunate to do it.
Steve Seger: Yeah. How did your family end up down in the Keys in the first place?
Will Benson: my mom and dad are from, you know, the Northeast. My mom was born in New Jersey. My dad's from Massachusetts. both of them met in New York. my dad was going to to school at NYU finished college and was playing hockey actually in a kind of you know pickup league or whatever. But anyway, he was doing that and making and also making lamps on the side. He was making these crazy lamps. my mom was working for Gourmet magazine. she is a classically trained French cook. and she was working literally at the gourmet magazine headquarters in New York when they met. And they decided to move to Wyoming and go work for my mother's cousin who owned a a ranch out there. And they did that and then one when it was winter and they packed everything up, they went on a road trip and came down to Florida and kind of kept going on US one until they reached the very end and arrived in Key West, fell in love with it. and so the following year they kind of came back you know, permanently and, you know, kind of set up set up shop here. and, you know, My dad ended up running an electrical contracting company. my mom went back to work for Gourmet magazine. She worked as the editor for all the incoming recipes for about 20 years at Gourmet magazine. So the kitchen at my house as a kid was literally the test kitchen for gourmet magazine. So my my
Steve Seger: Full.
Will Benson: yeah, it was really cool. I mean, you get a little sick of lasagna like five nights in a row
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: until my mom gets it right. But We definitely grew up with an education in the culinary arts. My my brother and I both cook. I love to cook. It's in a you know, another thing that we do as a family. And it's thanks to my mom. She's an incredible woman. And we have just been so lucky to have an amazing, you know, food in our lives for for all these years. And I love it. So anyway, that's how they ended up in Key West. And they you know, I was born in Key West, and then They wanted to have they want to have a family. So you know, I was here, my brother was kind of maybe a thought that was on the way or whatever, and they moved up to Sugarloaf, which is 17 miles outside of Key West, and they lived in this house right here, this the one that I l live in. while they were building the house across the street. and so my childhood house is literally across the street from the house that that I live in now. That that this house we call the the tree house. because it's on stilts and it's in the trees. And if you ever come here, you'd understand why it's called the tree house. And then the other one across the road is the Swiss Family Robinson house, because it was similar to something that you know you'd see in that movie, The Swiss Family Robinson. So very cool houses that we grew up in as kids. earliest memories are here on Sugar Loaf. and it was kind of an ideal life, you know, if you didn't mind mosquitoes, because there was a lot more mosquitoes back then.
Steve Seger: Is there any time of the year where they're not that bad? Like in the winters are they Yeah.
Will Benson: yeah. And especially now. I mean, you know, mosquito control is like one of the biggest budgets in the in Monroe County. I mean, they really whack those mosquitoes. and so they're
Steve Seger: I didn't know that.
Will Benson: yeah, that's much more doable now. I mean, I'm sitting outside having this interview with you. When I was a kid, we couldn't do this.
Steve Seger: Well, you also mentioned earlier that you're a Marcus Aurelius fan, and I know from what I read you studied philosophy in college. How how did you end up choosing that originally? Was that kind of what your like dad maybe instilled in you when you were younger? Or where did that interest come up?
Will Benson: Think possibly because my dad was also a philosophy major. So we would discuss, you know, all the great philosophers and we grew up in and around those conversations. as a segue, when when I was you know nine years old, my mom and dad decided to move us to France. So we actually rented the house and we left and and went and lived in France for two years. And while we were there, we were, you know, our horizons were, you know, expanded. our minds were broadened and they went around to all the different, you know, historical sites and they would educate us on that. And oftentimes my dad would talk about, you know, Descartes, you know, I think, therefore I am. And I mean other stuff at 10 years old. It was he was kind of programming this into my brother and I.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: and it was a one that was an incredible experience that changed my life too. I learned how to speak French and just realized there was whole world out there. I probably would have been a farmer. I loved I loved living on the farm. I love every single thing about the rural countryside in France and never would have left. but they decided to come back to the keys and that's when I found fishing. but anyway to the philosophy part it was just kind of you know I think dinner conversation you know my whole life growing up and then when I went away to college I actually was in business school to begin with. And I didn't find that very interesting, to be honest with you. I probably should have, you know, studied a little bit more. It would have maybe helped my situation. But either way, I didn't find it interesting. So I wanted to be then I was like, I'll be a doctor, you know, so I'll study biology and I'll study all of these, you know, kind of scientific things. And I got to organic chemistry like a lot of, you know, wannabe doctors do. And I that I I was like, do I really want to be a doctor? This is really hard, man. Like and so I I abandoned, I dropped out of organic chemistry and I abandoned my thoughts about being a doctor, but I was like, all right, I'll be an engineer. And I did a similar thing and I went through like, you know, quantum mechanics and all these, you know, really difficult math courses. And then I got I was like, really? Do I really want to be an engineer? And it's
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: like, no, I just kinda like you know, reading and and studying hard, tricky stuff and kind of, you know, I'm curious about that. So the thing that fit best for me was philosophy because I could just kind of read philosophers and I could apply it to science or math or, you know, ethics or whatever it was. And I would just kind of have a curious mind and I could do that within the realm of philosophy. So I kind of landed haphazardly into philosophy at the end of my college career and just kind of Banged out a enough courses to get a degree in philosophy. But that I think it's been good for me because I think philosophy teaches you just, you know, it it cultivates that curious mind. It teaches you how to ask questions, it teaches you how to think critically. And I can't remember a lot of the details of like which thinker thought what and what metaphysical model they chose. But I I think just stretching my brain in that way has helped me kind of look at the world and never shy away from a challenge, you know, if I see something that's academically difficult or or intellectually difficult, probably feel comfortable taking it on. and then and my own fishing, it's always constantly asking questions, you know, reflecting on my own thought process going into it. And I it's certainly been one of the things that's helped me succeed, particularly as a permit fisherman, that
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: that questioning process. philosophical approach to fishing that I think has been very helpful a as a fishing guide and and as a student of, you know, game fishing and particularly permit fishing.
Steve Seger: Yeah. How how did you find your way back to the keys after college and was fishing what you knew you were going to do right away, or was there a couple other things that happened in between that I'm missing?
Will Benson: No, we d I mean we were still living here, so I would just come home. I mean, it I I went to school in New Orleans, Louisiana. I
Steve Seger: Okay.
Will Benson: fished up there and and I actually guided up there a little bit in college and I've continued to keep, you know, going back and forth over the years. it's definitely a a part of me is you know, resides there in the city of New Orleans.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: love that place. But no, I came home here to the Florida Keys and I was actually doing construction work. for my dad in picking up some trips because back in the day there wasn't the internet there wasn't social media so you had to really kind of get your trips from word of mouth from other guides and tackle shops etc etc so I had a really limited book of business I was really only working like maybe a you know six weeks out of the year doing guiding so I would go and do that and then pick up a trip here and there but you know really the The bills were being paid by pulling wires and, you know, running conduit and doing, you know, real trade work, electrical work. which so anyway, and I I just started building my book of business. I had thought I was gonna go on to law school. and I studied the the LSATs, but I think at the end of the day I just again asked my questi myself, do I really wanna do that? and the answer is no. I mean, I just love being on the water. I I love every single day I get a chance to be out there. I love the Florida Keys. it's a magical special place. So I think I just maybe reoriented and and focused on, you know, being a really great guide and and trying to to do that because it's I just really look forward to getting up in the morning and going fishing.
Steve Seger: Yeah. When did filmmaking come into the picture? Cause I know you've made some really neat videos. I was watching a couple of them before.
Will Benson: Yeah, it just kind of I think naturally progressed. a few years into guiding, I was starting to get more business and I actually started taking a camcorder to help guys with their cast. I would record them and show them. And then it just kind of evolved into fish, you know, shooting the the actual fish part. And then I was sitting on all of these these great clips and all of this footage. And so I a buddy of mine had final cut. Pro and I kind of like hacked it and put it on my computer. I bought a computer and had a pirated version of Final Cut Pro that kept crashing. Like you'd have to hit save every, you know, 30 seconds on that program or the whole program would crash. It was a nightmare editing films back in the day. But I learned how to do it and dubbed it to tracks and kind of made these those those videos in the early days, a couple of them. And then somehow I'm I I figured out how to. Put it onto a little mini DV tape and I s shipped it off to the Drake magazine video awards. this the original kind of one of the tarpon season cuts I'd made. It was just cool video dubbed to Jimi Hendrix and Garles Barkley and some stuff that was really cool back in the day. And I had I didn't hear anything for like months. And then all of a sudden, some this package comes in the mail and it's it's a trophy, it's an award for best fishing video.
Steve Seger: There you go.
Will Benson: Like, what? What's this? So I finally managed to get through to the editor, Tom Bai, and I was like, d dude, did I win something? And he was like, Yeah, yeah, man, your video was great. It like brought down the house. It was awesome. Like, you should make some more. And so that's kind of how world angling started. It was haphazard, and and so we started doing that amid a A gentleman named Dave Tepper, and he was a a force of nature. And he and I combined forces and butted heads and had this super authentic creative career together making films of all different sorts. And I think that that has, in my opinion, stood the test of time. I my son still watches them, my daughter watches them. They're on the TV here, and I they they're still relevant after 20 years. You know, some of the stories that we told are kind of timeless and they hold up. And I'm very proud of that. And I know Dave's very proud of that. it's you know, exciting to see what we did. I I kind of felt maybe we were a little bit ahead of our time because I remember the challenge is going around to some of the brands and the sponsors and kind of pitching our business, you know. And we would they'd ask us, Well, what are you gonna do with this? And I remember Dave telling them like, well, like what we really want to do is like give it away for free. And they're like, What are you talking about? Like, that doesn't make any sense at all. How are you gonna monetize that? And we were like, we don't know, but we think we should just give this stuff away for free. Like it's content, like in you know, and if if you're a brand, if you make this content and you give us money to make this content, like we'll make your brand awesome, you know? And and they were like, dude,
Steve Seger: you were ahead of the curve.
Will Benson: you're insane. Like, and so we We like didn't get anywhere. You could never make money making videos. And it was like, well, so I pivoted to conservation and started using the voice to save the you know, do what I could to promote fishing and make the fishery better and, you know, involve myself in the the political kind of conservation movement in the Florida Keys. and we've sat and then years later something came along called Facebook and Instagram and influencers and man they the those we should have been more forceful. We had a good idea. Dave had a great idea. And we just we just a little a little ahead of the ahead of our time. But that's okay. It's it all happens for a reason and you know I'm not I still look back at those videos and say man we liked we did that with blood, sweat and tears and passion and lost a bunch of money in the process, but it was worth it.
Steve Seger: Yeah, I watched one that Jay Johnson did with you guys years ago. I think it was probably fifteen, sixteen years ago. And there was a bit about this guy, his nickname was the bear on it, and it cracked me up when I was watching it.
Will Benson: Yeah. Yeah.
Steve Seger: There was probably tons of stories
Will Benson: Yeah.
Steve Seger: with all those guys, but yeah, I I was getting a kick out of watching the old ones. how did how did that lead you? I mean, like, what does it look like today now that you're involved in Really the the fight to protect the the keys. I know I'd listen to you talk about the impact that cruise ships are having on it too. And I I'd be very interested in learning about what you've been working on on the conservation side too.
Will Benson: So we're so I think out of filmmaking, you know, I got I got brought into the Lower Keys Guides Association and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. I was always a big fan of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust back to my, you know, my biology days and wanting to be a doctor and and kind of understanding the power of science. And so I followed BTT for a lot of years, back when it was BTU actually. and I reached out to Dr. Aaron Adams. And so I was always involved kind of I knew that there was a thing there and we needed to do it. And I was already seeing the decline in the fishing here in the keys from what I remember as a kid. So I had some concerns about it. And then we there was a group of guys that got together and started the Lower Keys Guides Association. they actually started it to try to get insurance back in the day. And and then it fizzled out. There wasn't a whole lot, you know, going on in the guides road. People the fishing was still pretty good. So that whole organizational structure kind of fizzled until the National Marine Sanctuary, which is the waters that are all around the Florida Keys are in the National Marine Sanctuary, they were undergoing an EIS process, which is an environmental impact statement process. It's a big process that the government does to update regulations. and then in this case it was gonna possibly, you know, highly affect what we do as as guides. And so all the guides got really concerned and nervous about it. And they got back together and started you know, revamped the guides association, reclaimed our tax filing. And I was asked at that point, I was out making videos, but a gentleman named John Ain who's a great permit fisherman and a huge permit enthusiast back in the day. he was involved in BTT. He approached me and said, Well, we need somebody who can, you know, like help who can do stuff here. You're young. You you can, you know, really help on this. And we need you, we'd like I'd like you to come in and have a look at it and and see if you can have a role here. and anyway, I guess I drew the short straw among the guides because I was offered up to kind of serve on the Sanctuary Advisory Council and kind of, you know, interject and and be part of this, you know, big process that was going to go. And so that was kind of how I got my feet into the conservation world. And once I got a seat on that council, I think I just some natural leadership took hold and at the guides association and we just built it myself and other guides like Simon Becker and John O'Hearn and Doug Kilpatrick. Bobby Paulson, all these great names. We were all like this great, it's it's interesting, a really incredible guides, all serving on this on the guides association board of directors at that time. And it was just pure magic. I mean, the the really fantastic minds and with vision, and and we just kind of stood this thing up and I interacted with the sanctuary. And Simon and others had connections at BTT, as did I. And we involved science and we've built this kind of juggernaut of of a guides association with, you know, influence and connections to science organizations that's I I would say at this point a model for how to do this throughout the rest of the world and how to have impact. And I think we just did it. It and it was it's been incredible. It's been an incredible ride. we've had a lot of We've done some really incredible work and I think it's made a big difference, particularly with our seasonal protections of western dry rocks, the spawning site for mutton snappers and and for permit. We're seeing a resurgence in the permit population. The permit fishing's getting a lot better. It's still, it's not quite back to where it was, but it's almost there, which is really exciting. But I'll tell you something. I've In my whole life, I don't think I remember seeing mutton snappers on the flats. The guys used to talk about it how in the eighties, like before I started fishing, you'd see these mutton snappers on the flats. And now there's mutton snappers back on the flats. I it's it's extraordinary.
Steve Seger: Wow.
Will Benson: It's so cool. Like if you do these things and you follow science, it it returns. And it's a thing. I've we've actually caught I've caught a guided to tailing mutton snappers on the flats this year. And I just never thought we'd ever see that. So anyway, we've we've done some incredible stuff. And that kind of parlayed into some childhood friends of mine and my brother. back in 2013, we we were fighting the Key West Chamber of Commerce. They wanted to dredge Key West Harbor to make a deeper, bigger channel to bring giant cruise ships into Key West. And
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: I raised some money. My brother led the political fight. against that we had a referendum on it in 2013 and we we kicked their ass. My brother
Steve Seger: Love that.
Will Benson: my brother like we we won by a huge amount. Almost 80% of the vote did not want to do it. And it was our I would say that was really the political entrance onto the political scene that my brother and I had. But it was really him. He he led that charge. and I made silver lining the film about the issue about Tarpon fishing and you know, our fishing community versus, you know, mass tourism interests. And
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: that was the kind of, I guess, for me, a a transition into the storytelling of fishing and conservation. And that's kind of continued. we further partnered with our childhood friends Arlo and Evan. And then after COVID, we we moved forward with another referendum to limit the size and capacity of cruise ships because we were getting like Three of these big giant ships a day, huge amounts of turbidity in the harbor, clearly
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: affecting the corals, the tarpon, and everything. And putting, you know, 10 to 15,000 passengers down into Duvall Street. And it was just
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: kind of too much. The community, it was, was inundated by this. And it was felt like Key West was just being used for this business model that was not, you know, in line with the balance. that it takes to sustain a fishery in a community. There were health ish in you know concerns at the time with COVID. So and that that actually was was a whole nother fight and much more difficult because we found ourselves, you know, in court, in federal court. We f found ourselves in local court, we found ourselves in the state legislature. And it was an an incredible education on, you know, how the system really works. but we've been effective at, you know, maintaining some balance. We we reduced the cruise ship traffic by fifty percent. there is a private cruise ship here in Key West that maintains operations. And we have kind of reached a point of a negotiated, it's not negotiated, but it's basically a settlement where everybody kind of got a little bit of a win. And if you told me at the beginning of this that, you know we were going to be successful with reducing it by fifty percent and you know minimizing that impact, I would have taken that deal. So I feel really proud of that. And and oftentimes in conservation, like, you know, if you can get a win like that, that's a pretty substantial win. And I think that's also helped energize the guide community. it's been an education for everyone involved. And you know, it was it's pretty cool when there's a group of flats guides, you know, in a harbor you know, protesting the arrival of a cruise ship. It was very organic. It was like you see this stuff in Venice, Italy, and elsewhere where you have, you know, the community and particularly people who rely on nature kind of up against these special interests and these giant corporations fighting for something. And we fought that. And I'm really proud of of our guides, proud of our community to do that. And it put wind in our sails. And I think we've you know, grown as leaders. And I say that not just me, but it's it's been great to watch the younger guys learn from that. And now they're great leaders too. And they're starting to have their voice and you hear it on their videos and they're out there. So it's building an army and watching future leaders grow. It's it's been one of the greatest things in my life, to be part of that. Really proud of that and proud of the community.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm. And is there anything that's on the horizon that you're still working on around that conservation and kind of that fight that you feel it feels like it's been going on for years? And for someone that's that's listening here, where can they go to support that even or be involved in any way too?
Will Benson: Sure. So there's lots of to do. It's we are an ex. I think everything we've done so far has kind of got us to a a critical mass, if you will, that we are ready for real explosive growth. we now have an executive director of the guides association. Her name's Alison DeLashmet. She's the wife of Drew DeLashmet, who's one of our founding guides at the LKGA. She's an extraordinary force, a wonderful leader, and she is our Our executive leader now. So we have actual staff at a guides association and resources. so you can go to lkga.org, the Lower Keys Guides Association and support that organization, see the see what we're involved with. But again, if you know this that let me back up just a second. If if you're out there and looking to make a difference, it's hard to argue that that in the world of marine conservation. The two most impactful things you could probably invest in are the Guides Association and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. Those two entities are at, they're like the special forces operations of the conservation world. We are at ground zero. We are on the front lines. We are, you know, leading the voices, building the science, part making the partnerships and building the coalitions for what we see needs to happen in the Florida Keys. Which is one of the incredible places on the world that that can tell a story and and and make things go viral. So if you're if you want to have impact, real impact, you know, the guides association and a partnership with the science organization, Bonefish Tarp and Trust, is where you do it. in terms of what we're up what we're doing right now, there's a shark issue. as I told you when we were talking before the interview. I was invited on NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas to discuss this shark issue that's happening not only in the state of Florida and in the Keys, but throughout the world. so there's a lot of, you know, just a lot of unknowns, but a lot of a lot of there's an issue there. And BTT is, you know, really starting to do a lot of science on that, trying to uncover what's going on. With these encounters with sharks, with these shark issues and figuring out what do we do about it. And that's again in partnership with our guides. You know, they're actually out there, you know, doing the reports, you know, advising, if not directly involved in the science itself. so there's shark issues. I've been a big proponent of artificial reefing. that is, you know, deploying habitat. You know, it's it's we say artificial, but it's really structured. It can be planted with corals and sponges and sea fans and other things to kind of turn it into natural habitat and doing that at scale so that we can have really high quality structure, high quality habitat to support, you know, fisheries. And by doing that, we will create resiliency. we're managing for abundance. we're, you know, doing a lot of things with being hands-on with our. our fishery that, you know, that keep it healthy, if you will. So I've been a big proponent of, you know, trying to get that into the National Marine Sanctuary and to connect it to a larger web of of habitat structures that we're doing throughout the Gulf and along the eastern seaboard. And I think the next logical step is to look elsewhere in the Caribbean, look elsewhere throughout the world and figure out how do we bring the best engineering and technology to bear on, you know, saving the reefs, you know, understanding the dynamic habitat needs of of fisheries and how can we support that, augment it and kind of, you know, increase it. because if we have more fish, we have more, you know, robust economic opportunities. We have, you know, sustainable seafood and protein, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The list keeps going on in terms of, you know, the the positive attributes. so we're doing that. We're also identifying where Juvenile habitat, for instance, mangroves and you know, sandy beaches and seagrasses, hard bottom habitats, using, you know, imagery and and data collections and AI technology to map and understand, you know, where the critical bottleneck habitats for these species are, and you know, working with our administrations or regulators to protect them. so kind of completing the life cycle from the spawning site of western dry rocks or other spawning sites, if you will, where do the larvae go? And how do we get you know, a fish to spawn, the larvae to drift to the ju juvenile habitat spot and for it to grow into a viable fish that then enters the virtuous cycle again, if you will, and spawns. You know, that's so, you know, that's the habitat component of what we're doing. And finally, one of the fights that we're you're very much involved with is the clean water. a lot of the stuff that we're doing in the keys, shallow water injection wells, we have pharmaceuticals in in the flesh of fish. You know, one of the great BTT studies that they've come out with and and championed was, you know, that finding that there's, you know, pharmaceuticals in the flesh of fish, of bone fish. So that That says there's a sewage problem. And so going around looking at shallow water injection wells, there's definitely an issue there. But then there's also there's the the issue at the Everglades, our partners with captains for clean water and some of the great work that they've done really standing up and championing that fight with Everglades restoration, et cetera, et cetera. So it's, you know, if you have clean waters and healthy habitat and good regulation of spawning site protection and you know bag limits, etc. Nature will do its thing and it will thrive. We
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: and it's been proven. So it that's and that's impact. And we have we can show and point directly to the things that we've done and how the impact that it's had and the positive outcomes that have resulted from it. But that's in a nutshell I know it's a lot. I know it's a lot. See if I probably just
Steve Seger: No, no.
Will Benson: Laid out a whole bunch for your viewers right there. But this is, man, this is what marine conservation and if you want to make a difference, this is what it looks like. It doesn't look like, hey, let's just attack the fishermen and tell all fishermen are bad. Look, commercial fishermen are my buddies. They're they're they're good people. They they they do a good job, they understand the ocean possibly better than anybody. And I want what's good for them because what's good for them is good for me and good for us collectively. Right. The minute we lose the small hook and line, small time commercial fishermen, we've lost the battle for the ocean. So partnering with those commercial guys, those lobster guys, those stone crab guys, you know, as well as the fly fishing guides and the the tourist guys that take people out to catch dolphins and you know, Mahis, Wahoo, Snappers, like, you know, figuring out how do we work together and educate ourselves and partner with great impactful organizations, that's the model. And I would say that we're we're really doing a great job at that here in the Florida Keys. And that's been, you know, a mission that I've really driven hard on over the last decade. And I we're we're we're being successful. And, you know, this is what it looks like. And I'm really encouraged by it. And I'm I'm optimistic about it. I can see, you know, we have a lot of work to do throughout the world, but if you can, you know, this is how you do it. We're figuring the model out.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm. I wanted to shine a spotlight on it and I'll I'll link all of that too in the description too. So everyone that's listening can get involved if they're interested. And it's really cool because it sounds like you've done and accomplished all this amazing stuff, but it's just like I feel like you're just scratching the surface now that you've figured out how to do it. so I think it's really neat and th thank you.
Will Benson: I think we've we've yeah, we you're right. We've we've done some stuff, but it's been, you know, myself, my brother, a lot of the leaders, a lot of the guides that I mentioned before. And we have a great young group of leaders, you know, like, you know, Brandon Sear, Nick Labatty, Sean McCase, Brian Stilley, these young guys who have watched us grow up, they're gonna be great leaders. And they're all getting their voices and finding their their footing. And it's just the army's growing. And we're getting to the point, like I said, it's a tipping point with the critical mass where we understand the strategy. And if you can have strategy at scale, now we're going somewhere. And I think that's the point where we're where we're at right now. And you know, when we get there, we're able to, you know, build these coalitions and have the supporting science and have the the impactful dollars to make change. I think we're we we stand a chance of really moving the needle. And You know, I we've done a lot of hard work to get us here, but it's almost like now's when the the game's gonna really start. We're gonna walk into these these these legislatures and you know, these other places with real information. We're gonna show how they can make a difference and how frankly that difference is economic. These we're talking about billions of dollars of tourist revenue in the state of Florida that are underpinned by clean water, habitat, and quality fishing. That's what people come to Florida. That's where they come through all these states is for that stuff. And we when we have that powerful argument and we can show exactly how to what to do about it and how to fix it and how to make it sustainable. That's an it's ultimately an economic argument, which is incredibly powerful.
Steve Seger: Well, Will, I I want to get you out onto the water. I know I'm delaying your fishing for the morning. I do appreciate you being so willing to talk and share your story too. And for the listener here too, I will link everything that you just shared too. Is there anything that you want to leave the the listener and the audience here with today before we wrap up?
Will Benson: No, just you know, Steve to you, you know, great job on the podcasts, man. I've I I haven't worked my way through listening to all of them, but the ones I have, it's really it's fun to watch, you know, the kind of collection that you're putting together, the theme that's emerging there. I think it's really cool. And it's, you know, about the outdoors and it's about these kind of thought leaders that you're attracted to. and I'm just, you know, thankful that you know, on the fly fishing South Florida fly fishing side, you've been generous and invited me to your to your podcast. But keep up the good work, man. it's fun to hear from all these other folks that you're having on your podcast, their thoughts and their ideas about some of the same common themes that we have. and I think we're just in an exciting time as hunters, as fishermen. as people who care about the sustainability of the planet and our economy, we're we are actually f honing in on something that makes sense to me. and I think that, you know, there's a lot of great leaders out there, got a lot of great thought leaders out there. and I think we're I know watching my daughter and my son coming into this and s same thing growing up at the dinner table with my wife and I. And watching them. We're in good hands. And I think we're we're getting to a good place. And I think the message that you're bringing out on your podcast is incredibly valuable. So just wanna thank you for that and keep up the good work.
Steve Seger: Appreciate it. Talk soon, man.
Will Benson: Thanks, man. All right. See you.
Will Benson: thanks for having me, Steve.
Steve Seger: Yeah, this will be good. It's a good Saturday morning. I got my caffeine in me. And I think this will be a fun conversation.
Will Benson: Same here, the the lights showing. I got my skiff in the background. I'm delaying my fishing departure today for you, but hopefully the gods will be smiling on us when we get there.
Steve Seger: that's good karma. You're you're doing a good thing. So I think they will be. let's jump right in. I got some warm-up questions here and then we'll jump on into your story too. So first one being sunrise or sunset.
Will Benson: Nah, that's easy. In Key West we celebrate sunset.
Steve Seger: What's one book that you would gift to a friend?
Will Benson: Hard to say. maybe there's two. I love ninety two degrees in the shade. You know, Tom McGuine's book about flats fishing right up my alley. but it's hard to beat Hemingway as well. So maybe the old man in the sea. I don't know. Both fishing books.
Steve Seger: Mm. One person alive or dead, you could have them to dinner with you. Who would it be?
Will Benson: In all fairness, you sent me these questions ahead of time. And this is the one that I've really struggled with. I've been thinking about this for the last week. And I don't know if I can do one person, but my great-great-grandfather was a Supreme Court justice. his name is Joseph Story, and he was really instrumental in kind of interpreting the Constitution and writing quite a bit about it and formulating the jurisprudence of of this country. And it Just 'cause I'd like to know my own family, maybe I would invite him to dinner.
Steve Seger: Okay, we're gonna pause the warm up round because I wanna hear more about about him. Can you tell me more about his background? That's nuts.
Will Benson: Yeah, my family goes way back to the founding of the country. his grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence in Massachusetts and dressed up as an Indian and threw tea in the Boston Tea Party. So that's on my mom's side of the family, the Story family. the Harvard Law School is named the Story Law School after Justice Joseph Story. he You might the maybe the most famous thing that he's done is he's the presiding judge in the Amistad case that Spielberg made that movie about. Anyway, very prominent you know politician and then legal scholar in the country. And you know, just that's my family's, you know, root and tradition comes comes through that. And you know, we're obviously very proud of it, but it's something that we grew up around in the dinner table, with my mom and my dad and whatnot, you know, kind of being taught a little bit about the country and about the law and the constitution. I mean, the amount of times my dad, you know, informed us on the constitution by the time we were like eight and nine years old, it's probably unhealthy. but anyway, it's just part of who we are and you know, It's it's pretty cool. So I I just because it's the coolest thing in my family, maybe I'd like to actually if I could sit down with the man alive at a dinner table, I think it'd be fascinating.
Steve Seger: Yeah, that's the coolest thing probably in most families. That's pretty gnarly. Are is there any kind of like journal or any sort of stuff that was passed down to you guys that you can read or?
Will Benson: Yeah, he wrote a really famous book, Commentaries on the Constitution. and it it it was taught in law school for a very long time. It's still considered one of the seminal works on legal theory in the country. So yes.
Steve Seger: That's a good start right there. I'll keep trying to move through the warm up round, but that's awesome.
Will Benson: Yeah, I thought about this for a while. I was like, man, is it, you know, is it him or is it, you know, like you know, Marcus Aurelius? I'm I'm a philosophy guy. So I I'd I'd want to sit down with Aristotle or, you know, something like that. But at the it also right now, as controversial as he is, man, like Elon Musk would be fascinating to sit down with too, right? Like this, you know.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: So I had I was really struggling with that question because there's so many people. I'd I'd actually want to have a whole dinner. you know, with lots of these people, you know, to ask them these questions.
Steve Seger: Yeah. I'll try to keep moving. That's I'm that's why I asked these it just brings up the coolest stuff and you learn about people. Yeah.
Will Benson: It does. Yeah, yeah, really. Yeah. It was cool when you sent that. I was like, man, this is gonna be a great interview.
Steve Seger: Yeah. what is your most useless talent?
Will Benson: procrastination. I'm a really
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: good procrastinator.
Steve Seger: Love that. one thing that you'd ban from your boat.
Will Benson: I don't know. I thought about this too. man, like I'm I I haven't quite banned it, but I'm almost gonna ban like thinking about banning it, and that's probably the worm fly. just because I think it's like so overused, so overplayed, and it's at this point it's reached a lame status where if like you're throwing a worm fly, like it, you know, it's just it's it's way out of fashion. On my boat anyway. I know a lot of guys love worming and whatnot, but I I find it to be just kind of it's run its course. It's still very effective, don't get me wrong, but it's almost kind of too effective. And it just it's not it's not really inspired fishing. It's uninspired fly selection. So maybe I'll ban the worm fly.
Steve Seger: Deal. Are you one of those fishermen that's like anti bananas on the boat? I don't know. Okay.
Will Benson: No, no, no, no. I I'm fine with the banana. Although, you know, if it really matters, like on a tournament day, or I remember we my buddy and I, Sean, we were going way offshore to this place called Pulley's Ridge a couple years ago. And we're like, you leave at like two in the morning to go this. And I had this like sack of bananas. And I'm walking out the door with this sack of bananas. And Sean looks at me and he's like, And I'm like, yeah, maybe we should just leave these at home today.
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: And we are going way out there and like wanna catch a bunch of fish. So I don't know, it depends. And not really, but if it really came down to it, just leave the banana at home. What
Steve Seger: Good deal.
Will Benson: it does what what harm does it do?
Steve Seger: Who who would play you in a movie about your life? What actor?
Will Benson: what was there? Was some guy who I'm told I look like. I get it. gosh, I can't remember. I'm gonna have to get back to you on that. Like there's my daughter tells me I look like and she she hears it from people that there's some Hollywood person that apparently looks like me. So it would have to be that guy, but I can't remember his name.
Steve Seger: Good deal. Last one, and I asked this from every guest. It's could you beat Liam Neeson in a fist fight?
Will Benson: Why would you? Like it come on. I mean, that guy's like archetypal cool, you know,
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: hero badass. So no, I mean, my role on that is to show up and get my ass beat. No.
Steve Seger: Yeah. So for for context, that's a family guy bit where Peter he drinks a beer with his buddies and every time he gets a little buzz, he's like, I could totally beat Liam Neeson up in a fist fight. And they're like, here we go again with the Liam Neeson crap. So it's it's a good icebreaker,
Will Benson: Yeah.
Steve Seger: and I'm just gonna keep asking it until I get him on the show.
Will Benson: Yeah, you should. And yeah, until he comes on your show, right? Like that's the whole point. Right. Yeah. I I love it.
Steve Seger: All right, let's jump on into the meat of the interview here. I wanna learn about you. I wanna learn about what life was like growing up in the Keys and how fishing became a part of it. I'm sure there's a lot that we'll cover along the way too.
Will Benson: Sure, there's a lot more to to fishing, but fishing's been current you know, a passion for most of my life.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm. Can you share a little bit about when you were growing up on the what what I learned when I was prepping for this was that you were working on the docks a lot as a kid and got into fishing at a young age. Can you just kind of start there and we'll work our way up?
Will Benson: Yeah, it's really cool because I have I have two kids. one of them, my son Luke is twelve. And just like two weeks ago, you can see the skiff behind me. he and his buddy Max started a a skiff detailing business. So they come
Steve Seger: Nice.
Will Benson: to to this house and I set it up on jack stands and the kids, you know, they they wash it and then they, you know, they they buff it and they wax it and they've, you know, been showing them how to detail, but they have whole business now that they're going around the neighborhood and doing this and they get booked ever every weekend to do one of these things. And they make they're making some money. I mean, that's it, like, you know, it's a legit detailing job. And it it so brings me back to when I was his age, going up to the marina, which is still there. He still goes to on his boat. And, you know, I would go up there every afternoon and clean the boats at the marina. And that was I guess how I got started in fishing. Although, you know, we'd go out fishing as kids even younger than that. That was kind of my first movement out of the house. And I'd go up to the marina and was making some money and being introduced to, you know, people like Tim Carlisle, who I so look up to. He's a famous fishing guide out of Sugar Loaf. Recently won the Bonefish Tarpon Trust Circle of Honor Award for Lifetime Achievement. And he's going into the IGFA Hall of Fame this year. He's like, you know, if you had to have a guy at a marina to look up to and emulate, it would be Timmy. And so I just kind of fell into that. I guess luck, circumstance, right place at the right time. wasn't sh you know, too far after that that they, you know, made a river runs through it. So there was this big explosion in fly fishing. and You know, the keys felt it, the guides here felt it. So it was kind of a happening scene. And I just happened to be the kid on the dock cleaning boats. had a little aluminum John boat with a fifteen that I kind of modified into a flats boat and I was learning the waters and exploring and experimenting and just fell head over heels in love with it. you know,
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: every every single thing about it. But how could you not? It was freedom, it was, you know, adventure. It But you know, big fish. I love barracudas and sharks at that time. And then there were all these mythical, you know, people like de you know, Steve Hupp and Del Brown and Tim Carlisle and all these, you know, great guides that you'd see who are real characters. You know, this is these are Florida Keys characters with wisdom. And they were, you know, on the dock and they'd say things. I mean, it was just magical. So that's how, you know, I kind of just stumbled through the the wardrobe, if you will. into a different land and and you know, I've i I was just so fortunate to do it.
Steve Seger: Yeah. How did your family end up down in the Keys in the first place?
Will Benson: my mom and dad are from, you know, the Northeast. My mom was born in New Jersey. My dad's from Massachusetts. both of them met in New York. my dad was going to to school at NYU finished college and was playing hockey actually in a kind of you know pickup league or whatever. But anyway, he was doing that and making and also making lamps on the side. He was making these crazy lamps. my mom was working for Gourmet magazine. she is a classically trained French cook. and she was working literally at the gourmet magazine headquarters in New York when they met. And they decided to move to Wyoming and go work for my mother's cousin who owned a a ranch out there. And they did that and then one when it was winter and they packed everything up, they went on a road trip and came down to Florida and kind of kept going on US one until they reached the very end and arrived in Key West, fell in love with it. and so the following year they kind of came back you know, permanently and, you know, kind of set up set up shop here. and, you know, My dad ended up running an electrical contracting company. my mom went back to work for Gourmet magazine. She worked as the editor for all the incoming recipes for about 20 years at Gourmet magazine. So the kitchen at my house as a kid was literally the test kitchen for gourmet magazine. So my my
Steve Seger: Full.
Will Benson: yeah, it was really cool. I mean, you get a little sick of lasagna like five nights in a row
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: until my mom gets it right. But We definitely grew up with an education in the culinary arts. My my brother and I both cook. I love to cook. It's in a you know, another thing that we do as a family. And it's thanks to my mom. She's an incredible woman. And we have just been so lucky to have an amazing, you know, food in our lives for for all these years. And I love it. So anyway, that's how they ended up in Key West. And they you know, I was born in Key West, and then They wanted to have they want to have a family. So you know, I was here, my brother was kind of maybe a thought that was on the way or whatever, and they moved up to Sugarloaf, which is 17 miles outside of Key West, and they lived in this house right here, this the one that I l live in. while they were building the house across the street. and so my childhood house is literally across the street from the house that that I live in now. That that this house we call the the tree house. because it's on stilts and it's in the trees. And if you ever come here, you'd understand why it's called the tree house. And then the other one across the road is the Swiss Family Robinson house, because it was similar to something that you know you'd see in that movie, The Swiss Family Robinson. So very cool houses that we grew up in as kids. earliest memories are here on Sugar Loaf. and it was kind of an ideal life, you know, if you didn't mind mosquitoes, because there was a lot more mosquitoes back then.
Steve Seger: Is there any time of the year where they're not that bad? Like in the winters are they Yeah.
Will Benson: yeah. And especially now. I mean, you know, mosquito control is like one of the biggest budgets in the in Monroe County. I mean, they really whack those mosquitoes. and so they're
Steve Seger: I didn't know that.
Will Benson: yeah, that's much more doable now. I mean, I'm sitting outside having this interview with you. When I was a kid, we couldn't do this.
Steve Seger: Well, you also mentioned earlier that you're a Marcus Aurelius fan, and I know from what I read you studied philosophy in college. How how did you end up choosing that originally? Was that kind of what your like dad maybe instilled in you when you were younger? Or where did that interest come up?
Will Benson: Think possibly because my dad was also a philosophy major. So we would discuss, you know, all the great philosophers and we grew up in and around those conversations. as a segue, when when I was you know nine years old, my mom and dad decided to move us to France. So we actually rented the house and we left and and went and lived in France for two years. And while we were there, we were, you know, our horizons were, you know, expanded. our minds were broadened and they went around to all the different, you know, historical sites and they would educate us on that. And oftentimes my dad would talk about, you know, Descartes, you know, I think, therefore I am. And I mean other stuff at 10 years old. It was he was kind of programming this into my brother and I.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: and it was a one that was an incredible experience that changed my life too. I learned how to speak French and just realized there was whole world out there. I probably would have been a farmer. I loved I loved living on the farm. I love every single thing about the rural countryside in France and never would have left. but they decided to come back to the keys and that's when I found fishing. but anyway to the philosophy part it was just kind of you know I think dinner conversation you know my whole life growing up and then when I went away to college I actually was in business school to begin with. And I didn't find that very interesting, to be honest with you. I probably should have, you know, studied a little bit more. It would have maybe helped my situation. But either way, I didn't find it interesting. So I wanted to be then I was like, I'll be a doctor, you know, so I'll study biology and I'll study all of these, you know, kind of scientific things. And I got to organic chemistry like a lot of, you know, wannabe doctors do. And I that I I was like, do I really want to be a doctor? This is really hard, man. Like and so I I abandoned, I dropped out of organic chemistry and I abandoned my thoughts about being a doctor, but I was like, all right, I'll be an engineer. And I did a similar thing and I went through like, you know, quantum mechanics and all these, you know, really difficult math courses. And then I got I was like, really? Do I really want to be an engineer? And it's
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: like, no, I just kinda like you know, reading and and studying hard, tricky stuff and kind of, you know, I'm curious about that. So the thing that fit best for me was philosophy because I could just kind of read philosophers and I could apply it to science or math or, you know, ethics or whatever it was. And I would just kind of have a curious mind and I could do that within the realm of philosophy. So I kind of landed haphazardly into philosophy at the end of my college career and just kind of Banged out a enough courses to get a degree in philosophy. But that I think it's been good for me because I think philosophy teaches you just, you know, it it cultivates that curious mind. It teaches you how to ask questions, it teaches you how to think critically. And I can't remember a lot of the details of like which thinker thought what and what metaphysical model they chose. But I I think just stretching my brain in that way has helped me kind of look at the world and never shy away from a challenge, you know, if I see something that's academically difficult or or intellectually difficult, probably feel comfortable taking it on. and then and my own fishing, it's always constantly asking questions, you know, reflecting on my own thought process going into it. And I it's certainly been one of the things that's helped me succeed, particularly as a permit fisherman, that
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: that questioning process. philosophical approach to fishing that I think has been very helpful a as a fishing guide and and as a student of, you know, game fishing and particularly permit fishing.
Steve Seger: Yeah. How how did you find your way back to the keys after college and was fishing what you knew you were going to do right away, or was there a couple other things that happened in between that I'm missing?
Will Benson: No, we d I mean we were still living here, so I would just come home. I mean, it I I went to school in New Orleans, Louisiana. I
Steve Seger: Okay.
Will Benson: fished up there and and I actually guided up there a little bit in college and I've continued to keep, you know, going back and forth over the years. it's definitely a a part of me is you know, resides there in the city of New Orleans.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: love that place. But no, I came home here to the Florida Keys and I was actually doing construction work. for my dad in picking up some trips because back in the day there wasn't the internet there wasn't social media so you had to really kind of get your trips from word of mouth from other guides and tackle shops etc etc so I had a really limited book of business I was really only working like maybe a you know six weeks out of the year doing guiding so I would go and do that and then pick up a trip here and there but you know really the The bills were being paid by pulling wires and, you know, running conduit and doing, you know, real trade work, electrical work. which so anyway, and I I just started building my book of business. I had thought I was gonna go on to law school. and I studied the the LSATs, but I think at the end of the day I just again asked my questi myself, do I really wanna do that? and the answer is no. I mean, I just love being on the water. I I love every single day I get a chance to be out there. I love the Florida Keys. it's a magical special place. So I think I just maybe reoriented and and focused on, you know, being a really great guide and and trying to to do that because it's I just really look forward to getting up in the morning and going fishing.
Steve Seger: Yeah. When did filmmaking come into the picture? Cause I know you've made some really neat videos. I was watching a couple of them before.
Will Benson: Yeah, it just kind of I think naturally progressed. a few years into guiding, I was starting to get more business and I actually started taking a camcorder to help guys with their cast. I would record them and show them. And then it just kind of evolved into fish, you know, shooting the the actual fish part. And then I was sitting on all of these these great clips and all of this footage. And so I a buddy of mine had final cut. Pro and I kind of like hacked it and put it on my computer. I bought a computer and had a pirated version of Final Cut Pro that kept crashing. Like you'd have to hit save every, you know, 30 seconds on that program or the whole program would crash. It was a nightmare editing films back in the day. But I learned how to do it and dubbed it to tracks and kind of made these those those videos in the early days, a couple of them. And then somehow I'm I I figured out how to. Put it onto a little mini DV tape and I s shipped it off to the Drake magazine video awards. this the original kind of one of the tarpon season cuts I'd made. It was just cool video dubbed to Jimi Hendrix and Garles Barkley and some stuff that was really cool back in the day. And I had I didn't hear anything for like months. And then all of a sudden, some this package comes in the mail and it's it's a trophy, it's an award for best fishing video.
Steve Seger: There you go.
Will Benson: Like, what? What's this? So I finally managed to get through to the editor, Tom Bai, and I was like, d dude, did I win something? And he was like, Yeah, yeah, man, your video was great. It like brought down the house. It was awesome. Like, you should make some more. And so that's kind of how world angling started. It was haphazard, and and so we started doing that amid a A gentleman named Dave Tepper, and he was a a force of nature. And he and I combined forces and butted heads and had this super authentic creative career together making films of all different sorts. And I think that that has, in my opinion, stood the test of time. I my son still watches them, my daughter watches them. They're on the TV here, and I they they're still relevant after 20 years. You know, some of the stories that we told are kind of timeless and they hold up. And I'm very proud of that. And I know Dave's very proud of that. it's you know, exciting to see what we did. I I kind of felt maybe we were a little bit ahead of our time because I remember the challenge is going around to some of the brands and the sponsors and kind of pitching our business, you know. And we would they'd ask us, Well, what are you gonna do with this? And I remember Dave telling them like, well, like what we really want to do is like give it away for free. And they're like, What are you talking about? Like, that doesn't make any sense at all. How are you gonna monetize that? And we were like, we don't know, but we think we should just give this stuff away for free. Like it's content, like in you know, and if if you're a brand, if you make this content and you give us money to make this content, like we'll make your brand awesome, you know? And and they were like, dude,
Steve Seger: you were ahead of the curve.
Will Benson: you're insane. Like, and so we We like didn't get anywhere. You could never make money making videos. And it was like, well, so I pivoted to conservation and started using the voice to save the you know, do what I could to promote fishing and make the fishery better and, you know, involve myself in the the political kind of conservation movement in the Florida Keys. and we've sat and then years later something came along called Facebook and Instagram and influencers and man they the those we should have been more forceful. We had a good idea. Dave had a great idea. And we just we just a little a little ahead of the ahead of our time. But that's okay. It's it all happens for a reason and you know I'm not I still look back at those videos and say man we liked we did that with blood, sweat and tears and passion and lost a bunch of money in the process, but it was worth it.
Steve Seger: Yeah, I watched one that Jay Johnson did with you guys years ago. I think it was probably fifteen, sixteen years ago. And there was a bit about this guy, his nickname was the bear on it, and it cracked me up when I was watching it.
Will Benson: Yeah. Yeah.
Steve Seger: There was probably tons of stories
Will Benson: Yeah.
Steve Seger: with all those guys, but yeah, I I was getting a kick out of watching the old ones. how did how did that lead you? I mean, like, what does it look like today now that you're involved in Really the the fight to protect the the keys. I know I'd listen to you talk about the impact that cruise ships are having on it too. And I I'd be very interested in learning about what you've been working on on the conservation side too.
Will Benson: So we're so I think out of filmmaking, you know, I got I got brought into the Lower Keys Guides Association and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. I was always a big fan of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust back to my, you know, my biology days and wanting to be a doctor and and kind of understanding the power of science. And so I followed BTT for a lot of years, back when it was BTU actually. and I reached out to Dr. Aaron Adams. And so I was always involved kind of I knew that there was a thing there and we needed to do it. And I was already seeing the decline in the fishing here in the keys from what I remember as a kid. So I had some concerns about it. And then we there was a group of guys that got together and started the Lower Keys Guides Association. they actually started it to try to get insurance back in the day. And and then it fizzled out. There wasn't a whole lot, you know, going on in the guides road. People the fishing was still pretty good. So that whole organizational structure kind of fizzled until the National Marine Sanctuary, which is the waters that are all around the Florida Keys are in the National Marine Sanctuary, they were undergoing an EIS process, which is an environmental impact statement process. It's a big process that the government does to update regulations. and then in this case it was gonna possibly, you know, highly affect what we do as as guides. And so all the guides got really concerned and nervous about it. And they got back together and started you know, revamped the guides association, reclaimed our tax filing. And I was asked at that point, I was out making videos, but a gentleman named John Ain who's a great permit fisherman and a huge permit enthusiast back in the day. he was involved in BTT. He approached me and said, Well, we need somebody who can, you know, like help who can do stuff here. You're young. You you can, you know, really help on this. And we need you, we'd like I'd like you to come in and have a look at it and and see if you can have a role here. and anyway, I guess I drew the short straw among the guides because I was offered up to kind of serve on the Sanctuary Advisory Council and kind of, you know, interject and and be part of this, you know, big process that was going to go. And so that was kind of how I got my feet into the conservation world. And once I got a seat on that council, I think I just some natural leadership took hold and at the guides association and we just built it myself and other guides like Simon Becker and John O'Hearn and Doug Kilpatrick. Bobby Paulson, all these great names. We were all like this great, it's it's interesting, a really incredible guides, all serving on this on the guides association board of directors at that time. And it was just pure magic. I mean, the the really fantastic minds and with vision, and and we just kind of stood this thing up and I interacted with the sanctuary. And Simon and others had connections at BTT, as did I. And we involved science and we've built this kind of juggernaut of of a guides association with, you know, influence and connections to science organizations that's I I would say at this point a model for how to do this throughout the rest of the world and how to have impact. And I think we just did it. It and it was it's been incredible. It's been an incredible ride. we've had a lot of We've done some really incredible work and I think it's made a big difference, particularly with our seasonal protections of western dry rocks, the spawning site for mutton snappers and and for permit. We're seeing a resurgence in the permit population. The permit fishing's getting a lot better. It's still, it's not quite back to where it was, but it's almost there, which is really exciting. But I'll tell you something. I've In my whole life, I don't think I remember seeing mutton snappers on the flats. The guys used to talk about it how in the eighties, like before I started fishing, you'd see these mutton snappers on the flats. And now there's mutton snappers back on the flats. I it's it's extraordinary.
Steve Seger: Wow.
Will Benson: It's so cool. Like if you do these things and you follow science, it it returns. And it's a thing. I've we've actually caught I've caught a guided to tailing mutton snappers on the flats this year. And I just never thought we'd ever see that. So anyway, we've we've done some incredible stuff. And that kind of parlayed into some childhood friends of mine and my brother. back in 2013, we we were fighting the Key West Chamber of Commerce. They wanted to dredge Key West Harbor to make a deeper, bigger channel to bring giant cruise ships into Key West. And
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: I raised some money. My brother led the political fight. against that we had a referendum on it in 2013 and we we kicked their ass. My brother
Steve Seger: Love that.
Will Benson: my brother like we we won by a huge amount. Almost 80% of the vote did not want to do it. And it was our I would say that was really the political entrance onto the political scene that my brother and I had. But it was really him. He he led that charge. and I made silver lining the film about the issue about Tarpon fishing and you know, our fishing community versus, you know, mass tourism interests. And
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: that was the kind of, I guess, for me, a a transition into the storytelling of fishing and conservation. And that's kind of continued. we further partnered with our childhood friends Arlo and Evan. And then after COVID, we we moved forward with another referendum to limit the size and capacity of cruise ships because we were getting like Three of these big giant ships a day, huge amounts of turbidity in the harbor, clearly
Steve Seger: Yeah.
Will Benson: affecting the corals, the tarpon, and everything. And putting, you know, 10 to 15,000 passengers down into Duvall Street. And it was just
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: kind of too much. The community, it was, was inundated by this. And it was felt like Key West was just being used for this business model that was not, you know, in line with the balance. that it takes to sustain a fishery in a community. There were health ish in you know concerns at the time with COVID. So and that that actually was was a whole nother fight and much more difficult because we found ourselves, you know, in court, in federal court. We f found ourselves in local court, we found ourselves in the state legislature. And it was an an incredible education on, you know, how the system really works. but we've been effective at, you know, maintaining some balance. We we reduced the cruise ship traffic by fifty percent. there is a private cruise ship here in Key West that maintains operations. And we have kind of reached a point of a negotiated, it's not negotiated, but it's basically a settlement where everybody kind of got a little bit of a win. And if you told me at the beginning of this that, you know we were going to be successful with reducing it by fifty percent and you know minimizing that impact, I would have taken that deal. So I feel really proud of that. And and oftentimes in conservation, like, you know, if you can get a win like that, that's a pretty substantial win. And I think that's also helped energize the guide community. it's been an education for everyone involved. And you know, it was it's pretty cool when there's a group of flats guides, you know, in a harbor you know, protesting the arrival of a cruise ship. It was very organic. It was like you see this stuff in Venice, Italy, and elsewhere where you have, you know, the community and particularly people who rely on nature kind of up against these special interests and these giant corporations fighting for something. And we fought that. And I'm really proud of of our guides, proud of our community to do that. And it put wind in our sails. And I think we've you know, grown as leaders. And I say that not just me, but it's it's been great to watch the younger guys learn from that. And now they're great leaders too. And they're starting to have their voice and you hear it on their videos and they're out there. So it's building an army and watching future leaders grow. It's it's been one of the greatest things in my life, to be part of that. Really proud of that and proud of the community.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm. And is there anything that's on the horizon that you're still working on around that conservation and kind of that fight that you feel it feels like it's been going on for years? And for someone that's that's listening here, where can they go to support that even or be involved in any way too?
Will Benson: Sure. So there's lots of to do. It's we are an ex. I think everything we've done so far has kind of got us to a a critical mass, if you will, that we are ready for real explosive growth. we now have an executive director of the guides association. Her name's Alison DeLashmet. She's the wife of Drew DeLashmet, who's one of our founding guides at the LKGA. She's an extraordinary force, a wonderful leader, and she is our Our executive leader now. So we have actual staff at a guides association and resources. so you can go to lkga.org, the Lower Keys Guides Association and support that organization, see the see what we're involved with. But again, if you know this that let me back up just a second. If if you're out there and looking to make a difference, it's hard to argue that that in the world of marine conservation. The two most impactful things you could probably invest in are the Guides Association and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. Those two entities are at, they're like the special forces operations of the conservation world. We are at ground zero. We are on the front lines. We are, you know, leading the voices, building the science, part making the partnerships and building the coalitions for what we see needs to happen in the Florida Keys. Which is one of the incredible places on the world that that can tell a story and and and make things go viral. So if you're if you want to have impact, real impact, you know, the guides association and a partnership with the science organization, Bonefish Tarp and Trust, is where you do it. in terms of what we're up what we're doing right now, there's a shark issue. as I told you when we were talking before the interview. I was invited on NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas to discuss this shark issue that's happening not only in the state of Florida and in the Keys, but throughout the world. so there's a lot of, you know, just a lot of unknowns, but a lot of a lot of there's an issue there. And BTT is, you know, really starting to do a lot of science on that, trying to uncover what's going on. With these encounters with sharks, with these shark issues and figuring out what do we do about it. And that's again in partnership with our guides. You know, they're actually out there, you know, doing the reports, you know, advising, if not directly involved in the science itself. so there's shark issues. I've been a big proponent of artificial reefing. that is, you know, deploying habitat. You know, it's it's we say artificial, but it's really structured. It can be planted with corals and sponges and sea fans and other things to kind of turn it into natural habitat and doing that at scale so that we can have really high quality structure, high quality habitat to support, you know, fisheries. And by doing that, we will create resiliency. we're managing for abundance. we're, you know, doing a lot of things with being hands-on with our. our fishery that, you know, that keep it healthy, if you will. So I've been a big proponent of, you know, trying to get that into the National Marine Sanctuary and to connect it to a larger web of of habitat structures that we're doing throughout the Gulf and along the eastern seaboard. And I think the next logical step is to look elsewhere in the Caribbean, look elsewhere throughout the world and figure out how do we bring the best engineering and technology to bear on, you know, saving the reefs, you know, understanding the dynamic habitat needs of of fisheries and how can we support that, augment it and kind of, you know, increase it. because if we have more fish, we have more, you know, robust economic opportunities. We have, you know, sustainable seafood and protein, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The list keeps going on in terms of, you know, the the positive attributes. so we're doing that. We're also identifying where Juvenile habitat, for instance, mangroves and you know, sandy beaches and seagrasses, hard bottom habitats, using, you know, imagery and and data collections and AI technology to map and understand, you know, where the critical bottleneck habitats for these species are, and you know, working with our administrations or regulators to protect them. so kind of completing the life cycle from the spawning site of western dry rocks or other spawning sites, if you will, where do the larvae go? And how do we get you know, a fish to spawn, the larvae to drift to the ju juvenile habitat spot and for it to grow into a viable fish that then enters the virtuous cycle again, if you will, and spawns. You know, that's so, you know, that's the habitat component of what we're doing. And finally, one of the fights that we're you're very much involved with is the clean water. a lot of the stuff that we're doing in the keys, shallow water injection wells, we have pharmaceuticals in in the flesh of fish. You know, one of the great BTT studies that they've come out with and and championed was, you know, that finding that there's, you know, pharmaceuticals in the flesh of fish, of bone fish. So that That says there's a sewage problem. And so going around looking at shallow water injection wells, there's definitely an issue there. But then there's also there's the the issue at the Everglades, our partners with captains for clean water and some of the great work that they've done really standing up and championing that fight with Everglades restoration, et cetera, et cetera. So it's, you know, if you have clean waters and healthy habitat and good regulation of spawning site protection and you know bag limits, etc. Nature will do its thing and it will thrive. We
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm.
Will Benson: and it's been proven. So it that's and that's impact. And we have we can show and point directly to the things that we've done and how the impact that it's had and the positive outcomes that have resulted from it. But that's in a nutshell I know it's a lot. I know it's a lot. See if I probably just
Steve Seger: No, no.
Will Benson: Laid out a whole bunch for your viewers right there. But this is, man, this is what marine conservation and if you want to make a difference, this is what it looks like. It doesn't look like, hey, let's just attack the fishermen and tell all fishermen are bad. Look, commercial fishermen are my buddies. They're they're they're good people. They they they do a good job, they understand the ocean possibly better than anybody. And I want what's good for them because what's good for them is good for me and good for us collectively. Right. The minute we lose the small hook and line, small time commercial fishermen, we've lost the battle for the ocean. So partnering with those commercial guys, those lobster guys, those stone crab guys, you know, as well as the fly fishing guides and the the tourist guys that take people out to catch dolphins and you know, Mahis, Wahoo, Snappers, like, you know, figuring out how do we work together and educate ourselves and partner with great impactful organizations, that's the model. And I would say that we're we're really doing a great job at that here in the Florida Keys. And that's been, you know, a mission that I've really driven hard on over the last decade. And I we're we're we're being successful. And, you know, this is what it looks like. And I'm really encouraged by it. And I'm I'm optimistic about it. I can see, you know, we have a lot of work to do throughout the world, but if you can, you know, this is how you do it. We're figuring the model out.
Steve Seger: Mm-hmm. I wanted to shine a spotlight on it and I'll I'll link all of that too in the description too. So everyone that's listening can get involved if they're interested. And it's really cool because it sounds like you've done and accomplished all this amazing stuff, but it's just like I feel like you're just scratching the surface now that you've figured out how to do it. so I think it's really neat and th thank you.
Will Benson: I think we've we've yeah, we you're right. We've we've done some stuff, but it's been, you know, myself, my brother, a lot of the leaders, a lot of the guides that I mentioned before. And we have a great young group of leaders, you know, like, you know, Brandon Sear, Nick Labatty, Sean McCase, Brian Stilley, these young guys who have watched us grow up, they're gonna be great leaders. And they're all getting their voices and finding their their footing. And it's just the army's growing. And we're getting to the point, like I said, it's a tipping point with the critical mass where we understand the strategy. And if you can have strategy at scale, now we're going somewhere. And I think that's the point where we're where we're at right now. And you know, when we get there, we're able to, you know, build these coalitions and have the supporting science and have the the impactful dollars to make change. I think we're we we stand a chance of really moving the needle. And You know, I we've done a lot of hard work to get us here, but it's almost like now's when the the game's gonna really start. We're gonna walk into these these these legislatures and you know, these other places with real information. We're gonna show how they can make a difference and how frankly that difference is economic. These we're talking about billions of dollars of tourist revenue in the state of Florida that are underpinned by clean water, habitat, and quality fishing. That's what people come to Florida. That's where they come through all these states is for that stuff. And we when we have that powerful argument and we can show exactly how to what to do about it and how to fix it and how to make it sustainable. That's an it's ultimately an economic argument, which is incredibly powerful.
Steve Seger: Well, Will, I I want to get you out onto the water. I know I'm delaying your fishing for the morning. I do appreciate you being so willing to talk and share your story too. And for the listener here too, I will link everything that you just shared too. Is there anything that you want to leave the the listener and the audience here with today before we wrap up?
Will Benson: No, just you know, Steve to you, you know, great job on the podcasts, man. I've I I haven't worked my way through listening to all of them, but the ones I have, it's really it's fun to watch, you know, the kind of collection that you're putting together, the theme that's emerging there. I think it's really cool. And it's, you know, about the outdoors and it's about these kind of thought leaders that you're attracted to. and I'm just, you know, thankful that you know, on the fly fishing South Florida fly fishing side, you've been generous and invited me to your to your podcast. But keep up the good work, man. it's fun to hear from all these other folks that you're having on your podcast, their thoughts and their ideas about some of the same common themes that we have. and I think we're just in an exciting time as hunters, as fishermen. as people who care about the sustainability of the planet and our economy, we're we are actually f honing in on something that makes sense to me. and I think that, you know, there's a lot of great leaders out there, got a lot of great thought leaders out there. and I think we're I know watching my daughter and my son coming into this and s same thing growing up at the dinner table with my wife and I. And watching them. We're in good hands. And I think we're we're getting to a good place. And I think the message that you're bringing out on your podcast is incredibly valuable. So just wanna thank you for that and keep up the good work.
Steve Seger: Appreciate it. Talk soon, man.
Will Benson: Thanks, man. All right. See you.
