The fall water was low and gin clear, with the occasional red or orange leaf silently drifting past my waders. We had yet to see a frost but nature's paintbrush was already plying its hand to the surrounding canvas. Soon our world would be cold and gray. I had started just above the bridge which was now about 200 yards downstream of my spot on the water, and for my efforts I had been rewarded with 8-10 fish already. The fishing had been easy to be honest. My first choice had been a size 16 Copper Jake under a one-half inch Thing-a-ma-bobber, with a 6x tippet. Fortunately for me the flashing trout throughout the stream had agreed with my choice. Now before me lay a pod of fish all of which were actively flashing and chasing nymphs. My indicator danced along the current through the small slot where they were feeding, and again it made that subtle but tell-tale 2 inch dip beneath the surface.

In this installment we will be covering spec's (Spotted Sea Trout), bluefish and Spanish mackerel these three are also very popular sport fish in the waters of Florida. All three of these species are highly popular with the fly fishing saltwater angler and all three are taken for table at times.

Spotted Sea Trout [Cynoscion nebulosus] and the common names include spotted sea trout, spotted trout, spotted weakfish or just spec's, the larger ones are also called "Gator Trout". As a point of information the Indian River and the Sebastian Inlet area is noted for its large spotted sea trout called "Gator Trout". To be classed as a gator trout the fish generally exceeds six pounds.

"Every now and then a fly comes along that just seems to have something going for it. This firefly pattern is one such fly. We have caught fish consistently with this pattern from Tennessee to New York and have reports on its success from many different areas of the country. We do not know what characteristics of this design make it so successful, but it sure works!" -H.R.S.

It was another nice day that and I did not have anything to do. The weather was nice and the itch to get out needed to be taken care of. The harvest was done around a pond that I have not been to this year. It was too wet to drive through the low spots near the pond, but it is not much of a hike from another spot. I grabbed two graphite rods and headed for the pond. I find these easier to roll cast than with a bamboo rod. Part of this may be my casting inability. I had two boxes of flies with me. Some of them were flies that I have not used for a while. They had worked before so this was a good time to try them again.

The reason we fish is a completely open-ended question, and the reasons are as varied as the number of people engaged in the sport. If we break it down farther, "Why do we fish with flies?" it becomes even more ambiguous.

Over my 50+ years of fly fishing I have become a quiet observer of my fellow fly fishers. It has been my good fortune to have been able to fish many of the finest trout waters in America and to have known many of the premier fly anglers of our times. This has allowed me to observe and to question why we do what we do.

Fishing streamer flies on streams that has hatches is often the angler's last resort, however there are many times throughout the year when streamers are not only the best option but they are also the most effective choice for the savvy angler.

Once, when presenting a lecture on the effectiveness of streamers one of the angler's told me that his "particular stream had plenty of hatches and therefore minnow imitations were of little use on his stream." I was interested in this comment and asked what stream he was referring to and if he spent much time using streamer imitations on this water? He replied that no he didn't use any streamers but he knew the due to the hatches they would be ineffective!