A little while ago, Sue had asked about the down side of fishing in Florida,
and Tammy, Terry and myself went into all the things one has to deal with
if Fly fishing the Florida coasts.

However, as Tevya says in "Fiddler on the Roof", "On the other hand......."

The Lagoon was at its absolute best on New Years' Day. Got there at 9AM,
no wind, gin clear water, 65 degrees.  By 2PM. there was a little breeze
from the North and it must have been close to 80 degrees. (for those fellow
floridians on the list, I have included the locations I fished)

From 9 to 11, I fished behind the Clinker Islands south of LeFils. Hundreds
of reds and trout back there. The reds were not schooled, but in groups of
2 or 3 to groups of 10-12. Very Spooky. Lots of poling , long casts and a 12
foot leader ending in 8lb fluorocarbon. Used a little clouser in tan and
brown tied on a #4 hook. (yes Robert, The same one I tied for one of your
swaps)Caught two reds. Both slot fish. (24-28") Just beautiful fish.

For those of you who have not fished for reds, it is somewhat similar to
fishing for bones. If they are tailing , you guess where their nose is, cast
beyond that spot so that the leader hits the water in front of the red and the
fly lands beyond and in front of the fish, and then you retrieve so the fly
passes in front of the fish.   If the reds are moving you have to lead them in the same way you lead bone fish.   If they are at the correct angle to you,
you can also catch fish from the side of the school as well as catching the
lead fish.

At 11AM, I needed a change of pace and went to Tiger Shoals. Not only
was there a BIG SCHOOL of reds, but they were unbelievably cooperative.
After catching a fish from the school, the reds moved off the flat and went
to deeper water and settled down. Poled what seemed like two miles and
found them again.  Bingo another fish and the school went BACK to the
shallows. Poled all the way back, got above them and was rewarded with
my 3rd fish from that school. BEST OF ALL, they went back to the deeper
water to the northeast. Poled to them and got #4 from that school and # 6
for the day. All those fish were caught on a tiny chartreuse and white
clouser.

BTW, I am leaving out the mistakes , bad casts, spooked fish, missed fish,
etc.

It was now about 1PM and I was very aware of my company back at the
house so I decided to take the long way home and rode up the east shore
and cut over north of George's. Saw a huge school that moved water as I
scooted by.  Well what would you do?? Of course. I knew you guys would
understand even if my wife and company did not.

An exact repeat of the previous school. Caught a red on the flat. The school
moved to deeper water, Got another. Back to the flat. #9 (Biggest of the
day 14lbs on the Boga Grip) and then one more, #10, when they moved to
the deeper water.

The water is gin clear except where the fish make it murky. And there are
so many reds and trout and mullet moving that there are a lot of huge
mud clouds in the sand holes.

At 3PM my conscience finally kicked in and I went home. What a fabulous
New Year Day. Hope all of you had a great Holiday Season and a very
Happy New Year