Four years after its first release, Captain Rodney Smith’s “Enjoying Life on the Indian River Lagoon Coast” continues to be a valuable asset, sharing priceless information about one of our planet’s critically important, most diverse and interesting estuaries. Part memoir, part how-to, and part guidebook, it is the first book of its kind totally dedicated to the outdoor activities available along Florida’s Indian River Lagoon Coast. As a long-time fishing guide and instructor, Captain Smith is the founder of Coastal Angler Magazine, a strong advocate of the Indian River Lagoon.
In Enjoying Life, Captain Smith has borrowed from his personal journal, filled with a lifetime of adventure and experience, to share many unique and entertaining stories and life lessons with his readers. With more than 220 pages of tales from North America’s greatest lagoon and estuary, as well as eight full-color pages of stunning photography, readers will benefit greatly from his first-hand experiences.
He shares his tales of close encounters with gators, snakes, sea turtles, sharks, manatees, bottlenose dolphins, and other critters he’s met along the waterway, and touches on a broad spectrum of important topics. Things like climate change and sea level rise, conservation, tides, bird watching, beach combing, the Gulf Stream, Indian River Lagoon history and much more fill the pages before you.
Captain John Kumiski, a fellow IRL guide, had this to say about Captain Smith’s book. “I gained new insights into the workings of the IRL system in every chapter, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares at all about the history and future of the Indian River Lagoon.”
Bob Stearns, a recipient of the Florida Outdoor Writers Lifetime Achievement Award for a lifetime of writing and editing outdoor tales, had this to say. “A very enjoyable read and a truly entertaining peek into a unique part of Florida.”
Captain Smith freely shares useful information on guiding, gardening, surfing, and kayaking. But most importantly, he expounds on fishing for a wide variety of premier game fish and other marine life found in the Indian River Lagoon. He shares unique tips and techniques in chapters dedicated to exploring the Banana River Lagoon’s world-renowned “No Motor Zone”, and valuable information about shrimping and crabbing in the Lagoon’s crustacean-rich waters.
As an additional bonus in a series of guest chapters at the end of the book, contributors Grant Gilmore, Ph.D., Estuarine, Coastal and Ocean Science, Inc., Randall Parkinson, RWParkinson Consulting, Inc., and Troy Rice, former Director of the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program, add keen insight from each of their unique perspectives.