In the winter months, especially December through February, blustery cold fronts can quickly chill Ding’s shallow waters and turn off the fish. On such days it is easy to get skunked. A day or two after the front has passed usually brings calmer winds and warmer temperatures that get the action going again.

Prepare to get down and dirty after a snook slurps your fly near a culvert...

Use the down time to visit one of Sanibel’s other attractions, such as the Bailey Matthews Shell Museum (the only one in North America dedicated exclusively to the study of mollusks), the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation or the Sanibel Historic Village. The Refuge Visitors Center, with dioramas and interactive info stations, is a must for everyone. These facilities also provide alternative activities for the non-angling members of the family.

A final note of caution: Ding’s very healthy wildlife population includes impressive numbers of alligators (as does Sanibel’s). Anglers should exercise a healthy respect for this fact, especially when wading or walking shorelines. These primitive creatures are both stealthy and amazingly fast (in the water and on land) over short distances. Last summer, a 9-footer that wanted a small snook I had hooked chased me up onto Wildlife Drive. In the past three years there have been three alligator attacks on Sanibel, two of them fatal.

The easiest way to get a taste of Ding’s angling possibilities is to do so by road access. Visitors entering via Wildlife Drive pay entrance fees of $1 per person or $5 per motor vehicle. Frequent visitors should purchase a $15 Federal Duck Stamp, which allows unlimited access to all national wildlife refuges for a year, July 1-June 30. Seniors are eligible for Golden Age passes. The refuge gate opens at 7:30 a.m. and closing time varies by season. Traffic on Wildlife Drive (including bikes) is one way only.

For more information contact: J.N. “Ding” Darling NWR, 1 Wildlife Drive, Sanibel, FL 33957, (239) 472-1100, www. dingdarlingsociety.org, www.dingdarling .fws.gov, or the Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce, 1159 Causeway Road, Sanibel, FL 33957, (239) 472-1080, www.sanibel-captiva.org.

FS