Travel Zone

Leonid Rudenko ft Nicco – Destination (Official Video)

As viewers of the Fishing the Flats TV show already know, the state of Florida abounds in prime locations for that sport. Fishing the flats may be done anywhere from Mosquito Lagoon to Indian River, from Fort Myers to Naples, not to mention the Keys themselves at the tip end of the state.

It looks so easy when my man, Henry Wszczuk, does it, on Fishing the Flats TV. But while I might not be able to take in the more exotic sport fishing available to Henry and his ilk, in spots like Mexico or Costa Rica, I was perfectly content to fish home waters in my native Florida.

Before you knew it, Waszczuk had his own fishing magazine, and he turned years of angling experience into dynamic fishing the flats TV. Any given week, the viewer can watch Waszczuk and crew take on a new adventure. One episode might deal with fishing the flat (and ultra-skinny) waters of Charlotte Harbor, Florida, seeking the mighty redfish in its winter habitat.

Low tide will find you in 12 inches of water, staring down into a sandy bottom thatched with turtle grass, or a muddy bottom dotted with manatee grass. Either way, the fish will be darting around, hunting baitfish, or in cool weather sunning themselves against the sand. He who would fish the flats in search of redfish will do best with an 8-weight rod, with a floating line.

When fishing the flats in Florida, the choices of site are endless. If you don’t want to worry about tides, you could fish the flats around Mosquito Lagoon, or the Banana River Lagoon. This area is part of the Indian River Lagoon system, world famous for its redfish.

Down around Sanibel and Captiva Island in the southwestern part of the state offers the chance to fish the flats for snook, tarpon and sea trout. To fish the flats here, which are thick with turtle grass and studded with oyster shell bars, is practically guaranteeing catching some redfish, which hunt the baitfish hiding in the oyster shells.

I’ll never forget one morning in particular, last summer, when I spotted a bunch of redfish hanging around a rocky creek mouth, going to town on some mullet. I landed the fly right in front of ‘em, and before you knew it, I was fly fishing the flats like the pros on Fishing the Flats TV.

And of course, there’s always the Everglades National Park in the southern part of the state. Fishing the flat waters of the Everglades is an angler’s dream, providing not only excellent shallow water fishing, but the chance to see up close the best of Florida’s wild animal and plant life. Truly, the hardest part of fishing the flats in Florida is choosing where to go.

I was introduced to animals as a small child and always felt more relaxed and sure of myself whilst in their company. Often I wondered as I chatted away to them, how much they understood. Could they talk? Was animal communication real?

By the age of 10 I was convinced you really could talk to the animals. My bond with them was so close, and I knew they understood me. Having watched the original Dr. Doolittle film staring Rex Harrison, I was convinced I was right.

The film was so beautiful it awoke a deep passion in me. Now I knew who I was going to be. I was going to be like Dr. Doolittle. I would share my life with these amazing creatures and would spend my time talking with them and healing them.

To my utter dismay my dad squashed my hopes before the dream had even started. He told me animal communication wasn’t real. The film was purely make believe, you can’t really talk to the animals. I cried myself to sleep.

The years passed, I started training as a medium and then Sullivan, a gorgeous border collie, entered my life. He’d had a bad start in life and had been extremely ill. Sadly his illness had started to affect his behaviour.

Sullivan’s long illness had upset the whole family and I was uncertain of the outcome. One night as I sat with him pondering on his future I was suddenly aware of images in my mind; his birth, his mother and his illness.

I was communicating with my dog! Sullivan confirmed it by sending me the words, ‘I’ve come to help you.’ And help me he did. He taught me my first lessons in animal communication, pushing through all my adult doubts and resurrecting the child who ‘believed.’

Since then I have started training as an animal communicator and my whole world has changed. To talk to the animals is wonderful. They have so much love to give and willingly share this love with you. I’m on the path now to being a professional animal communicator and all thanks to a very persistent border collie!