Koreshan SP (Dec 26-Jan 8)

Thursday - We had a good trip down with no problems. We are in and set up at 2 PM in site 14. It is warm and rather humid and feels like it could rain, although there is a nice breeze.

Friday - We put our kayaks in on the Estero River here in the park with our friends Mary and Dave from Canada. We decided to target tilapia with the same set up we were successful using on the Myakka River. John caught two fish that resembled tilapia except for coloration. They had black and white stripes running laterally along their bodies. He also caught two tilapia one small and one somewhat larger, while Joan caught one that was about the same size as John's larger one. Dave unfortunately did not catch anything. There were many Kamakazi kayakers out on the river today plus bigger boats that don't seem to understand what idle  speed no wake means.

Saturday - Since there is forecast that storms are headed this way, we decided to put the kayaks in again while we can. We tried fishing for saltwater species with bigger flies, but never got a hit. It was also harder with even more canoes and kayaks out and more wind. 

Sunday - Raining here. It was a very nice service this morning at the Estero United Methodist church, not far from here. After the service, it was still raining a little, so we went to Bass Pro Shop so John could get some needed fly tying materials and we could just do some looking around. Before heading back, we stopped for veggies at a roadside stand and then went to Publix for some needed items. John had to follow the Bears game on his iPhone app, because by being in the Tampa area we were forced to watch Tampa Bay get killed by New Orleans. Sadly the Bears were able to make a game of it but not quite pull it off. 

Monday - We put in on the river again, and hoped that by going out earlier, fewer people would be on the water. However, this was not going to prove to be the case. There were still way too many kayakers for good fishing, but we enjoyed the paddling anyway. A family passed us and one of them had a Downers Grove North t-shirt on, so John enjoyed meeting a family from his home town. We also enjoyed watching some manatees on the river. John managed to catch two tilapia, but  were too small to make them worth while filleting. John tied four Clouser minnow flies with new craft fur and dumbbell eyes he got from Bass Pro Shop.

New Years Day - Happy New Year friends. This morning we drove over to Ding Darling wildlife refuge, which is on Sanibel Island with our friends Mary and Dave. We launched our kayaks at mile three on the nature drive. Dave is beginning fly fishing and John fixed him up with one of his Clouser minnows. He managed to catch several fish including a couple of trout, but they were too small to keep. John also caught several fish with the trout coming up two small as well. This is a beautiful area with no buildings anywhere to be seen, just hundreds of birds. On the way back, we stopped at Bowman beach to check it out and get our feet wet. It was way too crowded.

Thursday - Again, since we have a cold front coming in tomorrow, we have adjusted our kayaking schedule around that. We put in at Lovers Key State Park Kayak launch with our friends Mary and Dave. We paddled and fished for two hours in this beautiful place, but never got a hit. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the scenery and especially seeing a dolphin swimming around. On the way back, we decided to go through Ft. Myers Beach, which was a huge mistake. Traffic was bumper to bumper and it took us an extra hour to get to Skip 1 seafood restaurant where we met for a delicious grouper dinner.

Friday - We got rain and wind in the night, which was quite noisy since we are camped under a monkey tree that has huge pods that dropped on our roof during the night. Thankfully there was no damage and we awoke to sunshine and a very cool breeze, with temps in the low 50s. Chicken and rice on the Dutch oven today. Yum!

Saturday - Thankful for playoff games as it is cold and rainy. 

Sunday - We got a reprieve in the weather today, so after a wonderful worship service, we decided to go back to Lovers Key and launch the kayaks again. The first thing that we noticed when we got there was that wind had stirred up the water and made it very murky. This did not exactly increase our confidence for catching fish. We finished for two and a half hours without a single bite. To console ourselves, we stopped for pizza at Enzos on the way back.

Monday - Cold here by Florida standards. We did some needed cleaning and light maintenance and watched the BCS Championship Game. Yeah Noles! 

Tuesday - Sunny, but still cold. B&N trip to use wi-fi. 

Wednesday - It sprinkled in the AM with wind and warmer in the PM. We got things ready to leave here in the morning. 

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