living in florida....

[saltydancindave 0]

Some reader photos of the launch looking like UFO sightings & just too much media hype for a no-show tropical storm - hurricane.

 

http://www.news-press.com/

[mikechell 0]

I understood the reference to Erica.

But you know how it is ... if they don't over hype it before it arrives, and people die ... that will be their fault for not warning everybody.

Too many people don't pay enough attention for themselves, so the news agencies have to report for the worst and hope for the best.

[Swamp Fly 0]

I agree that the hype is the lesser evil. The flip side is if they make mountains out of mole hills often enough people will stop believing. That happened when Charlie and company rolled through. Tough to say what the right amount of "scare the masses" is and still stay credible. I know plenty of people that did not evacuate because they had been hearing the sky is falling announcements for years. Again not saying that the media is wrong to try and get people to pay attention, it's just tough to hear people talk about wanting to have hurricane parties on the beach etc because they have been desensitized.

 

Anyway nice pics. I only thought the mother ship was landing for a couple of seconds.

[saltydancindave 0]

Lots of interesting shapes out of the early morning photo coverage. If it were hurricane forecasting, they were far ahead of Charley & company forecasting as it was more of a you have an hour get out of town or batten the hatches & hunker down in an interior room.......

[Swamp Fly 0]

Yes,agree. I forget which one, (there were four of them that year) but it was forecast to be a TS or maybe a cat 1. Overnight it started moving fast and became a cat 3. Word was If you were not already driving then hunker down. That one caught everyone off guard. It made an impression on me, these things are unpredictable. The other one that really woke me up was Andrew even though I was not in it. That one made me realize these storms are nothing to fool around with.

[saltydancindave 0]

Charley was forecast going to St Pete & Tampa. Frances was forecast to hit the Palm Beaches & Jeanne Ft Lauderdale. All 3 went thru the area around Arcadia. 173 MPH winds of a Cat 4 are really loud. Trying to dodge flying debris will most likely make one look like a fool, more so than getting in the batters box for a few MLB fast ball pitches !

[gatorfly 0]

Bottom line about Florida is that it is a sportsman's paradise. My family moved here when I was 2 so I grew up outside. Bass fishing is great down here. I definitely agree that golf courses have some of the best bass fishing around. On most of the lakes and canals all you really need in a aluminum Jon boat or flat back canoe and trolling motor. In South Florida, offshore is where it's at. When the Mahi are running, just remember to keep one on the line. The school won't leave a hooked fish so, as long as you have one on the line, you can keep alternating playing one while casting for another and pull the whole school.

 

We also have some pretty good hunting. Our deer are a joke but hog, duck and turkey are great down here. In duck season, 3 of us can limit out in under 10 minutes on a good day. Hog hunting is fun but isn't very challenging. The things are so dumb they will charge at a pack of dogos or even a hunter. Smart money is always on the 140 lb armor clad dogs or .44 mag hollow point over the hog. I generally go for the young ones or the sows because the meat is better but there's nothing like a 400 lb boar taken with dogs and knife to get the adrenaline going.in general, if it has balls, it'll taste terrible unless it's brined, dry rubbed and heavily smoked.

 

As far as where to live in the state, it depends what you want. Even in Palm Beach county, there are areas like Loxahatchee and Jupiter farms that are pretty rural. The good thing about that is you don't have the city feel at home but if the Mrs. wants some culture, you aren't that far from the arts, good food etc. Its also only 30 min to the coast so if you have a boat or charter one, you can get get to some great salt water fishing pretty quickly. Central Florida is nice but a little too cold in winter for me. The coast of florida is much more populated. The further inland you get, the less crowded. Where I grew up (Wellington) is the edge of civilization in Palm Beach county. Its 15 min to the cane fields / glades yet still has golf courses, tons of shops, bars and restaurants and even a mall.

 

A lot of Floridians have cabins up north, usually in the Carolinas. In NC they call us half backs. It's because most of us come from up north (NYC in my family's case) and made it half way back. The ability to go north when it's 105 degrees and 99% humidity is great. It'll also give you an excuse to keep buying trout rods.

 

One thing that is surprising to some is the amount of red necks in Florida. Many of my friends dive jacked up diesel trucks, have airboats, swamp buggies, center consoles and duck boats decorating the back yard and might die if they go 30 min without a wad of tobacco in their mouth.

 

As far as snakes and gators, it seems like a lot of this has been overplayed. I have stepped on gators more times than I can count while duck hunting and the worst I've ever had is flooded waders from being knocked down by one swimming off. The fact that we hunt gators down here seems to keep them afraid of people and in line. I was a boy scout as a kid and can count the number of venemous snakes I've encountered in the wild on one hand. I'll take rattlers all day over a copperhead. At least I can hear them before I'm in trouble. I have yet to see a single moccasin in my 23 years of living here. I kinda view them as a north florida/Georgia thing. The turtles will drive you nuts fishing. My go to bass lure on a bait caster is a chart tailed worm on a texas rig. I wind up throwing many of them out because turtles will bite off the tail which is the entire point of the bait.

 

If you wind up moving to Florida you won't be disappointed. If I were you, I would visit the keys, Palm Beach county, Orlando/Ocala area and the tampa and then choose between those. Keep in mind that in any of those places you can be as urban or rural as you want. Bring a 7 wt for fresh and an 8-10 for salt and have some fun