"It's a whole new ball game up there," enthused Capt. Jim Bradley when describing the area where the Suwannee River enters the Gulf of Mexico.

"This is the way Florida was 50 years ago," said the Cotee Master Guide following his return from one of his quarterly trips to Suwannee. "We fished there for a week and seldom saw another boat."

With Bradley on this safari was another Cotee Master Guide, Capt. Everitt Antrim, along with Mate Kevin Scarborough and Tampa's Eric Coppin.

Leaving from his home base of Weeki Wachee, Bradley made the two-hour run to Suwannee by boat where he and his party stayed at Angler's Resort in the wee community of Suwannee.

Similar to other areas along Florida's upper Gulf Coast, Suwannee has clear water, hundreds of square miles of shallow grass flats, and oodles of fish.

Near shore and in the back country, trout and redfish are plentiful.

"Lots of tarpon too," Bradley admonished.

"But nobody fishes for them."

In 40-foot depths, anglers find big, black grouper just about everywhere.

"We sometimes have a problem getting to the grouper because amberjack, ranging from 20 to 70 pounds, grab baits before they reach the bottom," he said.

"In all the years I've been fishing, I've never seen so many amberjack. It's not unusual to see them by the acres on the surface, and I'll guarantee they'll hit just about anything you throw at them."

Large schools of barracuda are also seen on the surface too. Adding to this list of delights are snapper by the blue zillions, cobia, jewfish, kings, Spanish mackerel, and grunts ranging in weight from two to three pounds each.

"There's no big trick to accumulating a limit of whatever you're fishing for," Bradley continued. "However, you'd better use heavier gear when going for grouper and amberjack because 30-pound blacks and 60-pound amberjack are not uncommon."

For reef fishing Bradley and Antrim recommend 50-pound outfits. Antrim pointed out that he got broke off several times and wished he had stepped up to 80-pound gear for some of the fish that he was unable to control.

This group used fresh-caught live bait whenever possible.

"However," added Bradley, "Cotee jigs and spoons also took plenty of fish when we'd run out of bait." Both guides agreed that this quiet, laid-back area of Florida is the perfect spot for R & R. "You'll not find friendlier, more accommodating or helpful people anywhere than at Suwannee," they stated.

Nor, apparently, will you find a greater abundance or a wider variety of cooperative fish.

While neither Bradley nor Antrim even mentioned the freshwater possibilities in the Suwannee River itself, many insiders agree that the river is home to a great number of largemouth bass weighing in excess of eight pounds, bushels of scrappy panfish, scallops by the tubs, and blue crabs everywhere.

For those who'd like to explore the Suwannee area, Bradley can be contacted by calling (904) 596-5639, while Antrim can be reached by dialing (813) 856-5036.