Key native is no fish out of water

Capt. Billy Alstrom sure knows how to make an appearance. The 21-year-old co-host of Florida fishing show, “Fishing the Flats with Henry Wasczuk,” is late to his interview on the Longboat Key public dock. But, considering he spends his days getting paid to wait patiently for the day’s catch, it makes perfect sense that Alstrom is on island time.

After a few cars pass by, there is still no sign of Alstrom. Just then, a man waves from what seems to be a new, gleaming-white fishing boat that glides up to the dock. As he ties his boat to the dock, another boater stops and says hello to him. They “shoot the snook” about bait and yesterday’s catch of the day.

“This guy’s going to be a star,” the driver of the other boat yells. Alstrom seems well-known in the area’s waters.

“I’m Billy,” he says as he extends a sun-tanned hand. He’s slight and has sun-bleached hair, thanks to days on the water hosting fishing trips for Suncoast Fishing Charters.

Alstrom grew up on Longboat Key, where his parents, Clyde and Rose Alstrom, still reside. He caught his first tarpon at age 2, using a super-hero themed, push-button pole and a dead shrimp, in the backyard of his grandmother’s Siesta Key home.

“My parents say my first word was ‘fish,’” he laughs.

In 2011, his mom won a fishing trip with master angler and 27-year television personality Henry Wasczuk, thanks to a raffle from the Sarasota Sportsmen’s Association. She sent her son on the trip. Alstrom was familiar with Wasczuk from TV.

“He came down, we had a good day, kept in touch and one thing led to another,” Alstrom says.

After that, Wasczuk took Alstrom on as a sort of intern for the show. He had him do the dirty work: catching bait, tying hooks and unhooking fish. Once they got to know each other better, Alstrom signed on to co-host. In one episode, the men caught a 500-pound, 9.5-foot-long bull shark and two 400-pound goliath grouper in Boca Grande. Alstrom says it was his favorite day of filming.

The duo’s first episode aired Sunday, May 13, on Sun Sports network. You can catch future episodes at 9 p.m. Sundays. The first day of filming took place in Sarasota. For Alstrom, it doesn’t get better than fishing off the shores of Longboat Key.

“It’s unbelievable. We live in one of the best fishing areas of the world,” he says. “Here, the water is beautiful; we have so many passes; the grass flats are pristine; and the tarpon fishing is, dare I say, way better than Boca Grande.”

Alstrom was already fishing about 320 days of the year, and now he runs charters and films his adventures for television. And for his 21st birthday, instead of hitting the bars, he spent the day fishing. Alstrom says he couldn’t see himself doing anything else.

“I don’t think I’d still be here (in the area) if I didn’t fish,” he says.