I think I’ve seen them in Florida as well. 3 feet tall or so?
You’re thinking of the Great Blue Heron. It can get confusing, there is the Great Blue, the Tricolor, and the Little Blue Heron. The Tricolor and the Little Blue are more into hunting crabs than chasing fish, the Great Blue even eats small gators. They hunt at different levels of the food chain. A Great Blue will tolerate a Tricolor or Little Blue around, but chase off a Great Egret that is hunting the same fish it is. Things can get even more confused when a Great Blue mates with a Great Egret, but that seems to be mostly a South Florida thing, along with hanging chads.