Recently, after moving to the Florida Keys, I renewed my interest in fishing and went out on a deep sea fishing expedition. I enjoyed myself so much that I decided to give backcountry fishing a try.

My foray into the backcountry with Paul Flumerfeldt of Extreme Fishing was a completely different fishing experience than being out on the open sea. We got up at the outrageous hour of 5:30 a.m. and drove up to Everglades National Park from Key Largo where we put in our boat at the Flamingo boat slip.

My first glimpse of what the day was going to hold was when a 13 foot crocodile came right alongside our 19 foot Action Craft and gently bumped the side. I was frantically looking for my camera but stopped short as Paul gave me a lesson on crocodile aggressiveness. So, unfortunately, there aren't any pictures of the crocodile.

As we headed out, it began to rain. Paul said that most guides should have rain gear on their boats, but I would check before going out. I had purchased one of those long-sleeved vented fishing shirts-I did want to look the part. I was glad that I had it. Even without the rain, it would have been a chilly ride into the Everglades.

On impulse, I had purchased a straw hat at Jack's Bait and Tackle on the way in. Wearing the blue plastic pants and jacket, I looked like a country Smurf on steroids. We took pictures of me in said outfit, but they didn't even make it to the end of the trip. They've gone up to digital heaven.

We rode quietly out into the Everglades soaking up the scenery. We traveled through Coot Bay and along the Wilderness Waterway. Paul started learning the backcountry by canoe twenty years ago. He knows pretty much every inch of the Everglades National Park all the way up the west coast.

Paul spent some time teaching us how to cast properly. It seems that I had actually learned something on my previous fishing trip, and I was not completely helpless. My first cast went pretty well. Then we worked on perfecting the technique-making it go higher and further.

He taught us how to use short jerking motions with the line to imitate the sound of a fish snapping at the bait. We were using plastic lures called jerk bait, which looked like mullet or a smaller game fish.

Paul suggested that if you can borrow a rod and reel from someone before you go out, it's a great idea to practice casting. Put a bucket in your yard and try to keep hitting it. If you've never experienced casting before, you'll end up burning up

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