Golf Insider

Have you ever anguished over the most difficult decision a man can face in his life?

Fish or golf today?

Or maybe you've been playing a round and spent some time in and around the water hazards, as have we all. Maybe you saw a small explosion in the water, the sure sign of the famed Florida largemouth bass at mealtime.

Did you wish you had a fly rod to go with your 7-iron?

It's no secret that many Florida golf courses harbor a lot of fish and some of them very big. Anytime you have Florida waters that are essentially out of bounds for most anglers, you know it will hold a lot of fish.

Some golf courses don't care if you fish their lakes, ponds and streams, or at least they look the other way. Others won't allow it at all.

The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes encourages it. True, the fishing grounds are a little apart from the Greg Norman-designed golf course, but you could easily do both in a day.

The resort has fly fishing excursions on the 90-acre Shingle Pond. The pond is next to Shingle Creek, headwaters of the Everglades, which forms part of the course's natural water hazard. It also offers classes for beginners. For more information, call 407-393-4007.

If you've never caught a Florida largemouth bass on a fly, you don't know what you're missing.