Mike Evans and the other staff members provide four weeks of classroom training as well as instruction on the water. Topics covered in the curriculum include boat-handling skills, night navigation, offshore navigation, vessel intercepts and boarding, as well as extensive officer safety instruction. Students also learn methods for handling and discharging firearms on a moving vessel and coldwater survival and recovery techniques.

FLETC graduates work for government agencies such as Customs, the Border Patrol, the Secret Service and any other bureaus that require marine law enforcement missions. Demand for the FLETC Marine Training Program, in existence since 1979, has increased greatly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

While serving in marine law enforcement with the GDNR Marine Patrol, Capt. Evans chanced to hook up with his most notable fishing client: President Jimmy Carter, who became a regular customer as a consequence of their first encounter.

As it happened, Capt. Evans was assigned to provide security on the water for the President and his angling partner as they fished on the Georgia coast during a break from Mr. Carter's Washington duties.

It was turning out to be a slow day, and President Carter's companion -- knowing that Mike Evans guided on these waters -- inquired about locations that might yield better results. When the advice panned out, Carter asked Capt. Evans to join them in their boat, but the offer was politely declined, the officer stating that he was on duty to provide security for their vessel. But the president insisted, saying that Capt. Evans' partner could handle his boat.

When the commander in chief calls, you answer! Capt. Evans acceded to fishing with the presidential party that day, and has since guided Jimmy Carter on numerous occasions in the ensuing years.

THE FISH
The red drum is sought year 'round in our coastal waters. Coppery-red, with distinct black spots near its tail, it's prized both as a challenging game fish and as delicious table fare.

Red drum spend their first three to four years in the rivers and marshes, gorging there on shrimp, crabs and baitfish. Ravenous feeders, they can in their first year grow at a rate of an inch a month. Spring fingerlings can reach 8 to 10 inches by July, and by late fall grow to a length of 16 to 18 inches. When maturity is attained, and they measure 27 to 30 inches in length, redfish move to nearshore ocean waters; spawning takes place at river inlets from late summer through the fall months.

Georgia's red drum generally don't migrate, instead living out their lives within a few miles of the sites at which they were spawned. As fish grow older and get larger, however, they do move from inshore to offshore bars and reefs.

Because of increased fishing pressure, protective measures have been taken with this species. State regulations for red drum allow only those in the 14- to 23-inch range to be kept; the creel limit is five fish per day.

THE FISHING CYCLE
Late summer on through the fall is prime time for redfishing. Large schools of 14- to 18-inch red drum can be found in this period.

During the winter months, the reds continue as active quarry. They're larger, and less likely to school up. On cold days, seek out "black" mudflats, which are usually back in coves near feeder creeks. At midday, as the sun warms the dark mudflats, bait will be attracted to the warmer water -- and the reds will follow.