The Ding Darling National Wildlife Preserve.

Sanibel Island is a paradise for snowbound Northerners, and the jewel of Sanibel is the Ding Darling preserve, named after a progressive political cartoonist who was one of the US's foremost conservationists. Consisting mainly of mangrove swamp, this preserve is host to countless shorebirds and fish, as well as plenty of crocodiles.

Tourists can observe wildlife on a five mile dirt road by car or bike, but the best way to explore this area is by canoe. We were fortunate enough to have a guide, Chris Dotson, take us through the preserve on his specially equiped 20-foot canoe, but you can also rent a canoe at the Tarpon Bay Outfitters and paddle yourself.

There's plenty of good fishing throughout the shallow salt water bays and creeks of the preserve for sea trout, sheephead, snook, redfish, mangrove snapper, and other species. On our trip we caught too many fish to count, despite the fact that the tides were unfavorable and that there were plenty of "weekend warriors" from Ft. Myers fishing the area with us.

Kris and I had several doubles of sheephead and sea trout, annd we caught plenty of sheephead, snook, and mangrove snappers, too. In fact, only the ospreys had better luck fishing - we saw many instances of these magnificent birds flying over us with a fresh-caught fish in their talons. We caught the trout trolling Mr. Twisters behind the boat as Chris's electric trolling motor propelled us over 4 foot deep bays. Most of the other fish we caught using shrimp on a plain hook. Sheephead have razor sharp teeth, so a short stretch of 30 lb. test leader was essential.

Our guide's knowledge of the natural history, cultural history, and conservation efforts of the area was outstanding. And of course, he knew where all the hotspots were, too. If you'd like to hire Chris, you can find him at www.fishswflorida.com.