Florida Keys Flats Guide - The Pioneers of Flats Fishing

These men were part of the small group of original guides who developed the
shallow water fishery of the Florida Keys and are the pioneers of Flats Fishing.
They remained active guides for twenty years after I first became acquainted with
them in the mid-seventies. I got to hear their stories about what it was like fishing
in the old days. I got to hear Jimmy Albright talk about what it was like in 1935
when he would go to such and such a place for the first time. And when he said "for
the first time" he meant that it was the first time anyone had gone to these places
to fish with a rod and reel, and with the intent that whatever fish they might
discover would be tarpon or bonefish or permit. And forty years later in the
mid-seventies, when he would be telling me these stories, the places he was telling
me about had been well known fishing spots for decades.

Jimmy Albright was also the one who took it upon himself to deal with any
improprieties committed by members of the guiding community while on the
water. He could have cared less what you did on land, but you had to answer to
Jimmy if he had gotten word that you were observed committing some egregious
act of malfeasance such as: motoring or poling too close to someone who was on the
spot first and who was poling or waiting for fish, or using your motor to run across a
flat or fishing area, or any altercation erupting between guides while they were
engaged with clients, etc... These old timers were the ones who developed this
fishery and they were the ones who knew how guides had to operate in order to
keep the fishery robust. There was protocol; there were ways you did things - like
how you would approach a bank or area that had fish - or using your push-pole and
not your motor when near other fishermen. It was all about consideration -
consideration for other fishermen, and consideration for the fish. Thus, everyone
learned the rules and operated accordingly, and if you didn't, then you would get a
call from Cecil who would tell you that Jimmy wanted to talk to you. That's how
things worked, and these things worked smoothly, and as a result the fishery and
Florida Bay were the beneficiaries.

The lives of these men were dedicated to this fishery. They knew nothing else.
They cared for nothing else. This is why when the time came for them to pass on
their last wish was to be buried in Florida Bay.