Fishing/Kayaking/Camping Trip to Ft. Desoto (March 2-6, 2008)






















Sunday, March 2 - We got up early this morning and did a Walmart run to pick up last minute items for the trip, then picked up the camper from storage on the way in. We finished loading, had some breakfast and were on the road by 10:30. We had a nice drive down and arrived at 12:35. We got set up, had some dinner, then put the kayaks in for awhile. Joan caught a ladyfish, but the best John could come up with was a fish taking a swipe at his bait near the kayak. There is a nice breeze this evening that we hope doesn't turn into a major wind. We are camped on the other side of the loop away from the open water, so we are hoping for a little quieter time this week. Friends from church are coming down tomorrow for lunch and maybe a little kayaking. Pictures tomorrow.
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Monday, March 3 - We took our coffee around our loop and met a couple named Katherine and Roger who were also walking. They are staying in the RV loop in a nice motorhome. They are from Maine and are familiar with some of the places we saw while there last year. Our lunch friends from Trinity UMC came for lunch and kayaking. We ate too much and had a great time with them. Sally and Dana put their new kayaks in for the first time since they bought them and Shirley kayaked for the first time. The day was beautiful, with plenty of sunshine and a nice breeze. After they left, we put the kayaks in and went over to the other side. John caught one small trout on the flyrod, while Joan was catching several on the spinning rod. John finally gave up on the flyrod and switched to spinning gear and caught another trout and a catfish. The trout were all just a little short to bring home for dinner tomorrow. We'll try again tomorrow, hopefully before the storms come through.

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Tuesday, March 4 - It was very windy all night and rainy and windy all day. We took a walk around the campground between rainy episodes, but most of the day we watched movies and news. Thankfully the storms were not as bad as earlier predicted.
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Wednesday, March 5 - The night was much quieter and the morning beautiful. We took our coffee walk around the campground and met a couple (Dave & Pat) who are from Pennsylvania and spend a lot of time in the Keys. Dave also likes to fish and canoe and Pat likes to kayak, so we talked awhile and exchanged notes. We went back to camp and had an oatmeal breakfast. We then took the kayaks out in for awhile and managed to catch dinner. We also caught a lot of smaller trout and many ladyfish, as well as a couple of catfish and pin fish. It was pretty breazy out, but the kayaks handled it well. John fileted the fish and cut up veggies for the grill. Yummy!

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Thursday, March 6 - Today was overcast most of the day, which is not a bad thing, since we got plenty of sun yesterday. After our coffee walk and bacon and egg breakfast, we put the kayaks in for some fishing. We traveled to an area we have not fished before because of a tip that it was a good area. The tip turned out to be a good one and both of us caught several fish including some nice keeper sized spotted sea trout. We released them because we had dinner planned and had just enjoyed a fish dinner yesterday. We could hear thunder in the distance, so were ready to head in quickly if necessary. We had some light rain in the afternoon and evening, but so far nothing heavy. We got some things put away to make packing up easier tomorrow and enjoyed bbq ribs on the grill for dinner. This week has gone by way too fast, but hopefully it won't be too long before we leave for our long trip.
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Friday, March 7 - We had another very windy night and a challenge to pack things up this morning. All things considered, it went very well, especially packing up the tarp. We kept it all anchored down while we were lowering the camper and only unhooked one half at a time and folded on top of the camper. We opted to drive home taking 275 north and avoid the skyway. The traffic was heavy, but not terrible. We don't like going this way with the camper, but thought it was best due to the heavy winds. We are glad to be home and not trying to keep everything in place with the wind. Thankfully, there was no damage and the tarp held up quite well. Again we were on the windy side of the campground. Next time we will get an inside loop campsite.

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