Jia Miller - The Lady Angler - Estero, Florida
Hello, my name is Jia, (aka Lady Angler), and I love to fish. I enjoy every aspect fishing entails from reading the tide chart, gathering the tackle, heading to my destination and hopefully either releasing my catch or fileting it for a wonderful meal. My love of angling includes taking time to stop and watch others enjoying the sport from a bridge, on the beach or a pier, rooting on a fellow angler. I was once told this syndrome is referred to as, “wishin’ I was fishin’”.
Born in Indiana the fishing I did there was basically with a cane pole. My early experiences were going to ponds and lakes with my parents and friends for a wonderful outdoor adventure. As a child after a good rain I recall taking a string tied to a stick with a safety pin as my hook and an unfortunate night crawler as bait and tossing it into water filled ditch, here I was pretending I was fishing, reliving captured memories. Needless to say nothing was caught other than a few maple leaves; however I did nurture patience and the thrill that lingers from the time I was bit, bit by the fishing bug that is.
READ JIA'S BLOG "The Lady Angler"...
My family later moved to Florida where I met my late husband of 41 years. Jack was a flight instructor and together we lived on and operated an airport in Flagler County where Jack gave a variety of flight instruction. There was a lake off the airport where we kept a seaplane. When the airport office had a slow day I was known head to down to the lake, climb onto the float of the seaplane and toss in a line.
Fishing changed for me in 1971 when my in-laws moved from Indiana to this sleepy little fishing village called Estero and I learned to fish saltwater. In those early days we were still running the airport so we would fly one of the planes towards Ft. Myers, find the Estero River, and then look for my in-laws house. We would circle the neighborhood several times to signal we had arrived then head our aircraft to Page Field and wait to be picked up.
The anticipation knowing I was going fishing the next few mornings made sleeping difficult. My father-in-law would wake me up before daylight and off we went in his boat down the peaceful Estero River and out to Estero Bay. There were no channel markers off the river then, as a matter of fact there were no markers in the bay where we fished, so to borrow an old aviation term you were basically flying by the seat of your pants, using this oyster bar or that particular mangrove island as your markers.
In 1973 Jack went to work for the FAA as an Air Traffic Controller and we lived in Jacksonville FL for 25 years. Fishing then was limited to a few times a year with my sister in search of big flounder and in our favorite little community, Estero in search of snook and redfish with my father-in-law.
In 1999 we retired to Estero, built a home on a canal off of the Estero River, bought our first boat and new fishing adventures began. Tides and weather permitting we would fish at least three times a week. If not out in the boat fishing I could be found early morning, out on the dock, coffee in one hand, fishing rod in the other casting a jig. Neighbors would call out from their patios wondering if I had caught anything and their children would come over and we would fish together. It was at this time I was given the nickname The Lady Angler, but I know I am but one of the many Lady Anglers in this area who share the same passion.
Tight Lines,
Jia
READ JIA'S BLOG "The Lady Angler"...
Born in Indiana the fishing I did there was basically with a cane pole. My early experiences were going to ponds and lakes with my parents and friends for a wonderful outdoor adventure. As a child after a good rain I recall taking a string tied to a stick with a safety pin as my hook and an unfortunate night crawler as bait and tossing it into water filled ditch, here I was pretending I was fishing, reliving captured memories. Needless to say nothing was caught other than a few maple leaves; however I did nurture patience and the thrill that lingers from the time I was bit, bit by the fishing bug that is.
READ JIA'S BLOG "The Lady Angler"...
My family later moved to Florida where I met my late husband of 41 years. Jack was a flight instructor and together we lived on and operated an airport in Flagler County where Jack gave a variety of flight instruction. There was a lake off the airport where we kept a seaplane. When the airport office had a slow day I was known head to down to the lake, climb onto the float of the seaplane and toss in a line.
Fishing changed for me in 1971 when my in-laws moved from Indiana to this sleepy little fishing village called Estero and I learned to fish saltwater. In those early days we were still running the airport so we would fly one of the planes towards Ft. Myers, find the Estero River, and then look for my in-laws house. We would circle the neighborhood several times to signal we had arrived then head our aircraft to Page Field and wait to be picked up.
The anticipation knowing I was going fishing the next few mornings made sleeping difficult. My father-in-law would wake me up before daylight and off we went in his boat down the peaceful Estero River and out to Estero Bay. There were no channel markers off the river then, as a matter of fact there were no markers in the bay where we fished, so to borrow an old aviation term you were basically flying by the seat of your pants, using this oyster bar or that particular mangrove island as your markers.
In 1973 Jack went to work for the FAA as an Air Traffic Controller and we lived in Jacksonville FL for 25 years. Fishing then was limited to a few times a year with my sister in search of big flounder and in our favorite little community, Estero in search of snook and redfish with my father-in-law.
In 1999 we retired to Estero, built a home on a canal off of the Estero River, bought our first boat and new fishing adventures began. Tides and weather permitting we would fish at least three times a week. If not out in the boat fishing I could be found early morning, out on the dock, coffee in one hand, fishing rod in the other casting a jig. Neighbors would call out from their patios wondering if I had caught anything and their children would come over and we would fish together. It was at this time I was given the nickname The Lady Angler, but I know I am but one of the many Lady Anglers in this area who share the same passion.
Tight Lines,
Jia
READ JIA'S BLOG "The Lady Angler"...