"Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun," quoth Noel Coward, and he might well have included Florida fly fishermen.

As high noon approaches and thoughts of central air and frosted mugs dance in your head, be aware that some species of fish will be just starting their engines. In South Florida, the peacock bass heads the list.

Since its introduction over a decade ago the peacock has become the undisputed king of the hill in the canals and lakes of Dade, Broward, and southern Palm Beach counties. This suburban pit bull thrives on heat, bright sun and fast moving flies. Peacocks also keep bankers' hours--good news for those who like to sleep in. Prime fishing hours are from midmorning until mid-afternoon. For peacocks I like sunny days, preferably with a breeze for personal comfort, and to ruffle the surface, making it tougher for the fish to detect my presence as I walk and cast a canal bank.

You'll catch fish with poppers and sub-surface streamers on floating lines although a slow- or medium-sinking line will let you work more of the water column. Any brightly colored streamer moving at warp speed will score, but there are a few patterns you need to carry.

On the surface, yellow, chartreuse or orange/yellow Dahlberg Divers and poppers are deadly. Don't be timid when working them--chug away with long, erratic strips and you'll be rewarded with vicious strikes. Fished on medium sinking lines, No. 2, No. 1, and No. 1/0 Clouser minnows in chartreuse/ white, or fluorescent orange or pink will take fish along weed beds, or suspended over the dropoffs typically found in lakes and canals.

Avoid using too-light rods and tippets. For starters, casting substantial poppers, deerhair divers and weighted flies becomes labor with anything lighter than a 7-weight, and should you hook a respectable peacock in weedy waters, you'll need some beef to bring the fish to hand. An 8-weight rod and 12-pound tippet will handle any fly you toss and any peacock you hook.

In the salt, redfish provide plenty of all-day action as well. Out front of Flamingo in Everglades National Park, reds will work the flats during the heat of the day although they'll tail best in the relative cool of the morning. A low incoming tide at dawn will give you tailing reds early, and cruisers and mudding schools through midday until the water recedes. As always, mullet muds and the numerous stingray muds will serve to concentrate the fish. Unlike the fish of winter and spring, the reds of summer prefer smaller flies--small crab and shrimp patterns are your best bet. Although generally opportunistic at mealtime, Flamingo's August reds occasionally target tiny crabs exclusively, at which time a lightly weighted No. 4 or No. 2 Merkin, or similar pattern in tan, olive or brown is hard to beat.