Have not heard if it is on or not. Can someone give me a update. Enjoyed it last year and would not want to miss it.
Les Maynard
Hi Les,
I’ll tell everyone as much as I can at the moment. Saltydancindave has been doing a LOT of footwork and making tons of phone calls trying to get this set up.
We initially wanted to have it in Charlotte Harbor but he kept running into a dead end. The trouble with Charlotte Harbor is the remnants/long term effects of Hurricane Charley from a couple years ago. All of the hotels/motels haven’t been rebuilt as yet. Plus this is the season for the northerners to be down so we are “in the season” as far as trying to find ample room for lodging in that area.
I think he is narrowing it down as I type to somewhere north of there near Venice/Englewood area. Still an easy drive to Charlotte Harbor should anyone choose to do that.
I won’t say much more because I don’t want to mislead but I will say I believe we are shooting for the first weekend in March. I believe that was the last date I was e-mailed about. The earlier part of February is too close at hand as we want to give ample time for those coming down to make plans. We have already been pushed back by Hurricane Charley’s escapades through our beautiful harbor.
Saltydancindave is compiling a few links to eating places, fishing places, kayak adventures, things to do on the side, etc. I am certain he is frantically hammering on his keyboard well into the wee hours of every morning. 
The Florida Fish-In '06 will definitely come to fruition.
For those that may want to try their hand at kayak fishing I plan on setting up a fishing adventure for either Friday or Saturday. The exact date of the Fish-In and corresponding tides will determine this. I know a little about Charlotte Harbor area and there’s a nice kayak rental shop nearby (roughly $40 a day for the kayak rental). I’ll have at least one “rigged for fishing” kayak that someone can borrow. I’ll try to get ahold of another one or two plus I’ll haul the canoe down again.
Stay tuned.
Gil
Gill thanks for the info. Don’t go throwing your shoulder out, let the young bucks do the lugging.
Best regards and well wishes for the holidays ahead.
Philip
Hey Gil I enjoyed meeting you last year and would love to return this year. Keep me posted.
Island Fly
Hi Gus,
The pleasure was all mine Gus. Will be glad to see you again this year. Heck, should I stay healthy I’ll even fish with you guys this time around.
No need to wait for a Fish-In though … c’mon down anytime. If you’re ever in the area and can let me know a few days in advance we’ll meet up and try our best to find a fish or three.
If the planets align themselves, Duncan Smith from last years Fish-In should be through here around the end of January to fish for the day.
old geezer,
Good to hear from you too Phil. I know you were just down here in the Sunshine State (or are you still here?). Did you catch your limit of Bluegills??
Hey, if you and your lovely Michelle make it back down here for the Fish-In '06 I’ll guarantee her a seat in the canoe. That would be the front seat with you in the back paddling her around while she loads up the canoe with Redfish, Trout and Snook. Deal!?? 
HA!!
Again, nice hearing from you. Hope to see you both soon.
Gil
Gill, might be down before the fish-in. I’ll drop you a line and hopefully Les and Judy might join us.
We had a ball with the 3wts. #12 yellow leggy popper did a job on the gills.
Tight lines and Long runs
Philip
We, the pirates of the southwest gulf; have tentatively set the dates of March 2nd thru the 7th for the Florida Fish-In 2006. Between Sarasota & Fort Myers( closest airports unless you have your own plane ! )in & around Charlotte Harbor. Anyone needing more time for fishing can probably be accomodated. So far there are 2 different hotel-motels that will accept reservations, but most will have to have rooms reserved by the middle to the end of January to qualify for the corporate or group rate. As soon as the FAOL website protocols are defined, most of the information can be posted. In the mean time [url=http://www.charlotteharbornep.org:b1937]http://www.charlotteharbornep.org[/url:b1937] for the 270 square miles plus of water to fish !
Appreciate the update
Thank you
Philip
More information should be forth coming in the very near future… recall that the Flats Dude had an article about fishing Englewood & Lemon Bay on FAOL this past year & that is a good place to start daydreaming about the really BIG one…
Hi Gil,
Hope that you will be able to fish at this fish-in. We can not wait to see all of the great people we met last year. Hey Old Geezer,Judy purchased a new flask for me to share only gave me Rum and Brandy so far…
Les
Hope you don’t mind the attendance of a couple of salty pirates from MD. Will try to get the time off and pick your brains about the area.
Let us know the hotel/motel info as soon as possible.
Folks we are working on the Florida Fish-In page and hope to have it up (with a going list) for the new issue on Monday! 
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
Checking the airfares and they are going fast! Must be all this cold rain we’ve been getting
Please confirm the dates so that I can book airfares asap.
I know I’m being impatient; but, when I see round trip for 2 at less than $300 with only a few seats left…I get antsy!
Why wait? It’s only 81? today.
Cooling off towards the end of the week but if it’s like this when you all come down you may leave your waders home.
Gil, your killing me. 32 degrees and drizzle and fog all day and lousy weather for the rest of the week. Time to tie a few more flys. Save some of the weather for the fish-in. I hope a post on it comes up soon.
Philip
If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles." - Doug Larson
Hi Folks,
Not having ever actually attended one of these gatherings and since I have relocated to central Fla, can someone please give me a quick rundown on what goes on at one of these fish-ins? It sounds like a good time and one I shouldn’t miss.
Fish while you can, Andrew
Andrew, attended my first fishin last year with the pirates. It was a blast, I never Landed a fish the hole time. The people where the best and very helpful, it was nice to put faces to names. The time and preperation they put into it was much appreciated. I came away with a warm feeling for the FAOL members and an ax to grind this year in landing at least 1 fish.
I hope to see you there, Michele and I will get there later in the week.
Enjoy
Philip
If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles." - Doug Larson
J Andrew,
You’re pretty much wide open as to what you want to do. Most will hook up with a small group and hit the water in the morning. Of course, that is usually after breakfast.
Some of the more serious hardcore anglers may skip breakfast to hit the waters ASAP.
Some will stop for lunch … some will fish right through that too.
After the day’s fishing there is usually a “Tie & Lie” where those that want to get together in the evening can tie up a few flies for the next day’s fishing or just sit around enjoying each other’s company.
Some will choose to skip the “Tie and Lie” and hit a local restaurant with a few others.
There will be a few that bring kayaks & canoes. If enough interest is shown, I’ll head out in the kayak with a group. Hopefully we can paddle fish out of the Placida area.
A big part of the fun is putting faces to the FAOL names. You just might even wind up with a fishing buddy or three. I know that four of us live over here on the West Coast part of the state.
Saltydancindave is in Port Charlotte, Harold Hattaway in Sarasota, Stev Lenon in Palmetto and myself a tad north of them in Land O’ Lakes just north of Tampa.
So, now you know … c’mon over and enjoy yourself. I know you will.
Gil
J.Andrew
WE try to stay out of too much mischief but some of us just cannot behave. I will let you figure out just who they are.
This is the 3rd fish in for Florida and we have a great turn out and while the fish are not always in the mood we have a wonderful time. It is worth the trip. You should get to share the water with plenty of people you would not get to meet normally and listen to fish tails from waters you might never get to fish.
Do not listen to them when the tell you the water they fish in is prettier than yours. I know for a fact that we Florida people have the corner on beautiful places. Heck those people have water you cannot cast into 6 months of the year. Can you imagine a fly that bounces for 3 or 4 feet each time you cast… No we have the most beautiful water. And they have trees that have no leaves during the cold weather(go figure that one out.) And rain, watch Jag once in a while and you will see it rains in the north east every day. And I know you have heard about Seattle it rains there most of the time also. In the middle of the country we have a desert so there is no water which means no fish. So logic just tells you that Florida and California must have the most fish. Now our friends along the coast they do pretty well. I hear Texas has some redfish but I never hear the Texans catch any. Robin wants to come over here to fish, and JME from England has made it to one fish-in and is trying to make the next one. So there must not be many places to fish in England either.
At the secret meeting in Nov we discussed having more than one fish-in in Florida.
We might just have to have one fresh water fish-in… But we are concerned about that because if the northern people find out about our beautiful black water they may never leave. The water would become too crowded and we would be in a pickle.
Come on down and become a member of the planning team. (we have secret meetings where we plan, eat, and fish) Do not tell anyone about the fishing part they will think we are having secret fish-ins.
Looking forward to meeting you, if you get this far south give me a yell.
we can always pre fish the fish-in.
Harold