A few years ago they decided upon a holiday : a week in central Florida, and then of course, for the angler, a week down on the Florida Keys. They fell in love with the place. If you have been there then you will understand. If not, let me simply say that the Keys offer absolute world class fishing for a number of species, and with the stringent US conservation practises, the general feeling is that sport just gets better and better. How many fishing spots can boast that ? The Keys seems to me like a purpose built fishing haven, indeed the whole place seems to exist purely for recreational angling. And its dead easy to get there.

Rodney is a man who likes to catch fish, but for a while he was slightly puzzled by some of the local attitudes : make no mistake, some of the world's greatest fishing guides work down on the Keys, but Rodney was after all the fishing, and not just what the guide wanted to do. He clicked onto the fact that there was masses of different species to catch, and that with a boat he could begin to access what he wanted to do : variety. By all means chase the big tarpon, permit, bones and sailfish, but there is masses more to do out there, especially when the "main" species might be having a few hours off feeding.

Rodney did begin to hire boats as he and Helen made various return trips, but when they came into a little money the decision was made to go the whole hog and invest in their own high-performance fishing boat. The fact that Helen was diagnosed with MS simply made their minds up even more : increased time spent in the warm climate of southern Florida does no end of good for Helen's health. Rodney really now had the chance to start learning the local waters and soon began to catch a lot of different fish. They reckoned there was a business in offering UK anglers some great value US fishing.

Rodney is incredibly easy going and not for one second would he stand there and lay claim to replacing the incredibly successful and skilful specialist guiding services for the primary species down there. Plenty of qualified skippers run out of the main Keys fishing destinations (Islamorada, Key Largo, Marathon, Key West etc..) and charge accordingly, but go and fish with Rodney and you can completely tailor-make the package to suit you and your mates. Its a kind of fishing holiday I really like : base what you want to do on what you can pay, and remain flexible to take advantage of all that is on offer. No hassle, no pressure, jut lots of fishing.

A lot of the fishing around the Keys is over extremely shallow and clear water, indeed it can be a little disconcerting to steam fifteen miles in one direction and still be able to get out and wade !! You just have got to get the way we fish out of your head and basically go native.

The Keys are perhaps the most consistent place in the world to chase large tarpon, generally from about mid April onwards for a few months, and they get really big and numerous. Everything about these fish is true : serious power, very skilled at throwing hooks, staggering to look at, and even more staggering to catch. Rodney likes to fish like the locals do : the best results tend to come from fishing livebaits on small floats around the road bridges, drifting or at anchor, often at night.