Over the past few years I've noticed something that makes me scratch my head in question. I regularly drive the 18 mile stretch to and from Flamingo; the "stretch" is what we call the lonely and dangerous section of US1 that starts around Lake Surprise and ends in Florida City. There's not much there except a couple of old marinas and the Everglades… sadly, there are lots of roadside memorials and additionally a handful of Florida Highway Patrol officers in tricked out Dodge Chargers waiting to write you a speeding ticket and if you are dumb enough to be drinking, that usually includes a quick ride to the Monroe County jail.

I'm not sure when this started but one day a few years ago I noticed what I thought was a dead possum on the side of the road painted florescent orange, then minutes later some other unidentifiable critter about the size of a cheeseburger; also a road kill victim with the same orange paint job.

On some days as I drive up and down the stretch there will be dozens of road kill victims; I've seen everything from buzzards, small gators, raccoons, turtles, snakes, otters, American crocs and deer to mention a few... Again, all painted that same fluorescent orange.

I don't know if something like this bothers you but wouldn't you think that the Florida Dept. of Transportation ‘FDOT' workers would find it easier and more cost effective to pick up these dead animals right there on the spot? I'm assuming a second crew comes along a picks them up but in the meantime what about scavengers such as possums, gators, crows and buzzards that eat the carcasses; surely that florescent orange paint can't be doing them any good.

I would liked to have provided some documentation such as a photo or video but I didn't want to get out of my truck on the stretch and perhaps get mowed down by a spring-breaker on his way to Key West; FDOT might spray me orange as well and leave me laying around for a few days. It's great to know our tax dollars are working for us in so many ways!

Does anybody want to hear a bad fishing report... I don't think so! I have learned over the years that none of my anglers ever want to hear how good (or bad) the fishing was yesterday; they want to experience how good it is today! The phrase "you should have been here yesterday" was first heard a long time ago when the Mayflower sailed into Plymouth and a Pilgrim saw an Indian netting fish out of his dugout "how is the fishing" he asked. The Indian replied "not very good but you should have been here yesterday." There may have been earlier incidences of this but it is not well documented.

As anglers, we have a right; a ‘pass' so to speak to bend the truth. It's not that we are liars; we're simply optimists - hoping to catch the most and the largest fish. In our minds we sometimes believe that 70 pound tarpon was "almost" 100 or the 25 fish we caught yesterday was almost thirty. As anglers we have a pass to indulge in other activities as well, like getting up extra early and staying out late. We can eat all kinds of junk like bologna and Vienna sausages and get away with it.

Fishing reports can be found all over South Florida and the Florida Keys plentiful newspapers; and some of those publications are dedicated solely to fishing reports. There are also live radio shows almost every evening with Captains and anglers giving reports. Most of this info is reliable but at the time of publication it is also history and in my opinion is more about self promotion than fishing and should be called catching reports.

Our South Florida fishery is complex; tides, current, wind velocity, wind direction, water and air temperature, light conditions, barometric pressure, moon phase and storms, to mention just a few factors that have an effect on our fishing.  If conditions remained the exactly same each and every day, it would much easier to predict the fishing future and give an accurate fishing forecast. The current fishing reports would then have much more relevancy. Knowledge, experience, intuition and preparation is an anglers best friend when it comes to what tomorrows fishing may bring and a little luck never hurts.

For those of us that are complaining about the cool weather; I just received these photos from Ulf Erik Forsbakk aka 'Stu" in Norway... some photos just speak for themselves.

In the words of author James W. Hall... the idea of the novel Hell's Bay (from James W. Hall's Blog)

Hell's Bay, How it Started (redux)

I went on a five day fishing expedition with Geoff Colmes, a great Keys guide.

Here are some shots from that week. Up top is a shot of some of the crew inside the Mothership's galley. Then my cabin which was sort of messy at that moment.

That's an 18' Action Craft, the yellow skiff drifting behind the Mothership. We also used a sixteen foot Hell's Bay Whipray, which is a great flats boat that can get into four or five inches of water. I don't know another flats boat that can beat it. You can learn more about them right here. I owned one for years along with my twenty Mako. Both terrific boats.

One day I caught a snook, a redfish and a tarpon within about a fifteen minute period back inside some very isolated lakes. Pretty good fifteen minutes. Though all the fish were a bit...how shall I say... puny, still, that was a blast. For a few golden moments, every cast got a different type of fish. Don't worry, all were released unharmed back into their paradise.

Tight quarters on the Mothership, but a great vessel. A remarkably shallow draft houseboat.

Another word about the crew--fantastic guides, superb cooks, great guys.

Late at night after a fine meal and too much wine we amused ourselves by telling stories. Out in that total darkness we got around to imagining what it would be like to be stranded out there--or worse. Out of cell phone range, the satellite phone stolen, the keys to the Mothership stolen--someone wishing to do us harm for some inexplicable reason.

That's how it started.

James W. Hall is the author of four books of poetry, The Lady from the Dark Green Hills, Ham Operator, False Statements and The Mating Reflex a collection of short stories, Paper Products, a collection of essays, Hot Damn, and fifteen novels, including Under Cover of Daylight, Tropical Freeze, Bones of Coral, Hard Aground, Mean High Tide, Gone Wild, Buzz Cut, Red Sky at Night, Body Language, Rough Draft, Blackwater Sound, Off the Chart, Forests of the Night, Magic City, and Hell's Bay.

For all of you that live up north... FYI It's freezing here as well! 

Coming Freeze Likely To Be Worse Than Before; Farmers Worried

By Neil Johnson Tampa Bay Online updated 4:16 p.m. ET, Tues., Feb. 3, 2009

 Another slug of arctic air is on the way that could send freezing temperatures stabbing as far south as the Everglades Wednesday night and bring even colder temperatures than last month's statewide freeze.The newest freeze will hit before agriculture officials have fully tallied damage from last month.
Farmers are still recovering from the freeze that ravaged crops in South Florida on Jan. 22 and 23.Temperatures fell to the 20s in the vegetable growing areas south of Lake Okeechobee, hammering green bean and squash crops.Farther north, some potato farmers lost as much as half of their crops in Central Florida.