Benny Blanco realized his passion for fishing at a young age. As a boy growing up in Kendall, Fla., Blanco would get up early to bicycle to a canal and throw a cast net for hours to fill a pail with mullet, which he could trade at a bait shop for lures. Blanco’s bicycle eventually carried him to Biscayne Bay, where he could catch permit and bonefish. At age 14 Blanco acquired a jon boat, and started making trips with his stepfather to Flamingo to fish Florida Bay. By age 15 he was towing the boat there himself.
Soon Blanco realized he got great satisfaction from teaching others to catch fish. Guiding was his true calling. In 1998 he began fishing, and winning, tournaments to establish a reputation, and he started guiding full time in 2000. Today Blanco guides on the waters of Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys and remains as passionate as ever about fishing, and about protecting the resource he has loved all of his life.