FlyFishing Florida's Fresh Water

[FishnDave]

Alright! I just got back to Iowa...from a fly-fishing trip to the freshwater canals around Miami, Florida. The weather was beautiful the entire time, of course. :sunny:

Before I get into the fishing, I want to show you this 6' long Gator that (fortunately) saw me before I saw him, and jumped off the bank about 20' from me while I was intently watching the water for fish:


Also, I saw egrets, ibis, a canary, lots of turtles, iguanas, other lizards...and they have a lot of these REALLY UGLY ducks down there. Nobody seems to know what they are. I suspect they were domesticated ducks that have bred back with wild ducks....but their coloration varies, and they are ALL....UGLY! I almost stepped on a nesting UGLY DUCK a couple of times while working the banks for Peacock Bass. It finally figured out I was too stupid for it to risk getting stepped on, so it temporarily vacated its nest. This provided a photo opportunity. Heres a nest full of UGLY DUCK eggs:


OK...the fishing.
The first "fishing day", I hired a guide. Cordell Baum was a super-nice guy who loves to fly fish. He's guided for rainbow trout in Alaska for a number of years, but now also guides for bonefish on the Biscayne Bay flats, and for Peacock Bass in the freshwater canals. He also ties up some pretty cool flies!

(I gotta split up my report due to the picture limitations)