The stuff post cards are made of

Hackney is poking around in Kissimmee grass patches and pods of lily pads in a place called Coot Bay.

It’s one of those beautiful areas that you think of when you think of south Florida fishing. The stuff post cards are made of.

The beauty is obvious and will be obvious in the Live show and photo galleries. It’s the noise, though, that is really interesting.

There’s a steady wind that keeps a dull roar going with periods of gusts that flop and plop the lily pads on the surface. Behind that is the constant groaning and chirping of coots. Then there’s a various amount of other birds yelping and singing in the background. From a distance it sounds like a school yard at recess. But it’s all set off by a local angler with a radio blaring 1980s country. George Strait, Randy Travis mixed in with a little Meryl Haggard and Kenny Rogers.

If you close your eyes it’s like you’ve stepped into some sort of Twilight Zone. Through it all Hackney is catching a few. He just added a third. Not big. But in the middle of the serenade Hackney just keeps plugging away.