Little Manatee River State Park (Feb 5-18)

IThursday - It rained hard in the night and into the AM, but we had put up most everything outside so we wouldn't have to put it up wet. We got out late AM and went to Walmart and gassed up both vehicles. We had not filled the MH since December 2 and it took only $78 to fill it. Nice!  We restocked and were in site 23, had lunch, and set up by about 3:30. We noticed the washers and dryers were not in use so we did a couple loads.

Friday - More laundry early followed by a walk down to the river. We decided we needed to check out a few areas to see if anyone was fishing and catching, so we drove to Ft. Hamer, Emerson Point, Terra Ceia Bay, and a bay in downtown Ruskin. The result was not encouraging. Looks like the water will need to warm up before there is any significant action. In between we had lunch.dinner at The Crab Shack on Terra Ceia Bay. We were disappointed in our meals, John expected a tuna fillet on a salad, but instead got tuna salad. Maybe he misread the menu. 

Saturday - We went on a hike with Ranger Kim this afternoon. It was great and we got to see a pair of bald eagles soaring overhead as well as learning about sand pine communities. Afterwards, John fished by the old kayak launch and caught a nice sized bream on the Tenkara. It warmed up a lot today. Hopefully it will continue to warm up the bay and activate the fish. 

Sunday - We went back to Sun City Center UMC and were blessed again. We feel right at home there. We had plans to have hamburger dinner with Skipand Shirl at our site, but were pleasantly surprised that our friends Dave and Pat and Bill and Joanna would be able to join us. After dinner we all headed over to S&S's for a nice fire. 

Monday - We knew rain was going to rain around noon, but we hoped we could get some kayaking and fishing in before it came. We put in and began fishing around Hunters Pass and began catching trout right away. They were all around 13", which is a little short to keep. It was fun anyway to get into trout again. The rain came, but we were able to get kayaks put back up before it got too heavy. We had lunch in the shelter there then headed over to Goodson's Farm in Balm for strawberry shortcakes. Yummy! The rain pretty much washed out the rest of the day. 

Tuesday - We bid farewell to our friends D&P and B&J this morning. It has been quite windy and cool today, but regardless we accompanied Skip over to Lake Manatee SP to see if we could catch some hybrid stripers from the dock. Joan landed one on her third cast, but after that it was all John with two stripers and a really nice crappie. Skip took on job to be the filleter and cooker. 

Wednesday - The four of us went down to Ft. Hamer and put the kayaks in. We headed to our back bay and hole and quickly caught a couple small snook and ladyfish and Joan caught a larger ladyfish. We tries some other back areas, but nothing. We caught a couple more, but nothing to bring home. We went over to S&S's for venison stroganoff. Delicious!!!!

Thursday - We said goodbye to S&S, then headed back to E.G. Simmons Park. We caught some small trout and a few ladyfish, but no keepers. We saw a bald eagle soaring overhead. On the way home we had dinner at Beanies. It was excellent and filling too. In the evening we met up with our friends Mary and Dave and enjoyed a fire with them. Sadly, Dave has to get back to work, so they are returning to Canada tomorrow. 

Friday - We went back to EG Simmons Park and saw folks (Rosie and Don) who we have met here, who also kayak. We fished from shore, but the cold front has shut them down. We found a protected spot and had a picnic lunch, then took a nice walk. It was a beautiful, but cool and windy day. 

Saturday - Happy Valentines Day. We mostly stayed around camp today. We walked to the lake where John fished, but only caught one little bream. We enjoyed a fire and conversation with Rosie and Don. 

Sunday - After another very nice worship service, we headed over to O'Brien's Farm for our usual BLT and strawberry shortcake. Yum! We returned to Lake Manatee State Park to see if the hybrid stripers would still be around dock, But sadly, they have found another place to be. We enjoyed visit while we were there with our friends Dave and Pat at their campsite. We hope to be able to visit them when we get back to Georgia since they live close by near Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Monday - Windy, but warm today, so we checked out a boat ramp on the Little Manatee River near Sun City to see if that might be a good place to launch. Not so much! We also checked out Hideaway RV park to see if that might be a place we would like to stay for a while while we are here in the winter. It is one of the nicer parks we have been to, but I don't think we're quite ready for this yet. State Parks are just too nice. We went over to EG Simmons County Park one more time, had a picnic lunch and casted from shore. No fish this time.

Tuesday - It was very warm today, but a front and rain will take care of that. We got the rest of the outdoor stuff taken care of and plan to hunker down tomorrow. 

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Lake Manatee SP (Jan 22-Feb 4)

Thursday - We arrived about noon, about the same time as Skip and Shirl, got set up, and did a quick run to Publix and O'Briens. We had spaghetti dinner and shared a fire at their site in the evening.

Friday - We had planned to drive over to E.G. Simmons County Park to launch the kayaks and fish, but it got very windy in the morning. We decided instead to launch at the fish camp down the road. We tried to get under the bridge into a back area, but it was too windy, so we fished in some sheltered areas for awhile. Skip and Sherl team caught one crappy while the John and Joan team caught a small bass. It was a good outing considering the wind was so strong.

Saturday - After the campers coffee, where one of the rangers mentioned that a great place to visit is Dakin Dairy near Myakka City, Fl. We first stopped by Jiggs Landing to show Skip and Shirl, then we had lunch at Linger Lodge, which used to be a fish camp, but now is a uniquely Florida destination restaurant. The food was quite good. We then went to the dairy and it happened that a tour was going to begin in a few minutes, so we decided to go on it. This is a 2000 cow operation and quite different from anything we had ever experienced. We found it to be very interesting and fun. 

Sunday - Super worship service at Happy Gospel Church @ Lakwood Ranch this AM. Very friendly people made us feel right at home. After BLTs at O'Briens, we put the kayaks in at the fish camp and fished for a couple hours. The weather warmed up nicely from a chilly 48 degrees this morning. Joan caught two tilapia that we brought home, but John's 13 1/2 inch bass was a half inch too short to keep. 

Monday - It was too windy to fish, so the four of us went into Bradenton and hit a few thrift shops. We found many Beany Babies that we put on Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Afterwards, we went to Neal Preserve and had lunch and hiked the trail there. 

Tuesday - We said goodbye to Skip and Shirl and hello to our former pastor, A.C. and his wife Kathy. A.C. married us 9 1/2 years ago. It was great to visit and catch up with them since they retired from the UMC. We had chicken and rice cooked on the Dutch oven, which seemed to be a hit. 

Wednesday - we got our errands done in the morning, including Joan's haircut, and fished in the evening. Things started off slow, but later, with some coaching from two men on the other pier, we began to catch nice hybrid striped bass. The secret was to keep the Clouser from going too deep. John filleted them when we got back, and their should be enough for a nice dinner. 

Thursday - We waited for it to warm up, then drove over to Ft. Hamer Park to put in there. We first went up to a hole we know about and got out of the kayaks and fished from a sand bar. Joan started things off with a small redfish, then a little while later, John caught a couple of ladyfish and a small snook. That was going to prove to be all we would catch for the day. When we got back to the camper, we cooked up the fish we caught yesterday plus the tilapia we caught earlier and enjoyed a nice fish dinner. In the evening, we returned to the fishing pier to see if the stripers would show up and Joan put on a show to the delight of some onlookers and the amazement of two locals. John caught a couple on the Tenkara, while Joan caught about 10 on the 4 wt We gave the fish to the guys there along with a Clouser that was the same as Joan's. 

Friday- We had a peanut butter English muffin, and headed cack to the fishing pier to see if there might be a morning bite. Joan had quick success with a nice hybrid striper. Sadly, that was it for the morning except for a few hits. John tied some flies including a grass shrimp that he saw on YouTube. For dinner we went to O'Brien's for BLTs and strawberry shortcakes. In the evening, we headed back to the pier and this time John started it off with a striper on his first cast with the Tenkara. Soon he had another on, but it took the whole tippet. Joan had some hits, but the only real catcher this time was our friend Jeff, who was using minnows. Thanks to him, we brought home three and John cleaned them. 

Saturday - The pier was full when we got down there about 5 PM, so we just watched for awhile. We saw a group of folks catch a couple stripers. When they left, John gave Joan a rod set up with a Clouser he had tied yesterday. She casted in and hooked a nice striper, while John went and got a stringer, she had caught two more. By the time John had them on the stringer, she had another. John finally got a chance and had one on his first cast, and another on his second. We put 11 on the stringer and released at least six more. We had a nice pile of filets after John got them done. We invited friends, Jeff and Dawn over for dinner Monday. 

Sunday - Great service at Happy Gospel, then enjoyed Super Bowl. 

Monday - We took our coffee down to the fishing pier and once again Joan put on a clinic. Jeff was there too and caught a couple and John caught three, while Joan caught about nine hybrid stripers. Our friends Mary and Dave came over to visit and check out the park, then we went out for pizza lunch. Our friends Dawn and Jeff came over for dinner to help us eat fish. They brought over awesome potato salad and pecan bars that were like pie. 

Tuesday - It was too cold and windy to go out and fish, so we visited and got things done around camp. It warmed up enough by late afternoon to go down to the pier and fish. It was slower this time, but we caught enough to help friends we met earlier here fishing to add to theirs and have a nice dinner with their families. The sunset and moonrise were awesome. 

Wednesday - We have some rain coming in tonight, so we wanted to get everything picked up outside so it wouldn't be wet when we leave here tomorrow. We went to O'Briens farm and had our last BLT and strawberry shortcake while we are here. We went down to the fishing pier one last time and met some friends down there. Joan caught most of the fish once again, catching six, while John had to settle for one. We were able to visit for awhile with our friends Guy and Nancy, who came in today in the site right next to us.

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Oscar Scherer SP (Jan 8-21)

We got here at 9:30, which was in time for the pancake breakfast, but too early to get on our site, (17) so after breakfast, we went to Walmart and picked up some things we needed. By the time we returned, folks were off the site and the hosts had it ready for us. We needed the ramps for the right rear tires to get level.

Friday - In order to insure we would get a washer and dryer, we were at the restroom that has them at 6:15 AM. There are only two, so we were there for awhile. After we got that done, we went to Scrambles for breakfast. Joan had the idea to go over to the Venice inlet jetty for awhile. John decided to fish while Joan took pictures. We saw a man land a nice black drum, which was encouraging. In a few minutes, had one on as well. It put up a great battle for John using an 8 wt fly rod. Another fisherman offered us a net and Joan deftly netted it when it got close enough. Many fishermen commented they could not believe John caught a fish that big on a fly rod. We got it back to camp where John filleted it and we had it for dinner. Joan gave it a Perfect 10 score. It measured 23 3/4" and weighed 7.5 lbs. 

Saturday - Our day started with a return trip to Sarasota National Cemetery to pick up the wreathes we put out before Christmas. Again, many hands made light work, and we were done quickly. We had plans to meet our friends who are camping, but it was still too early, so we went into the park and explored. After checking out the lake, we hiked the Canopy Trail and the Nature Trail, which were very nice. On the latter, there was an observation tower where we could see in all directions above the canopy. Next we met our friends Tom and Jane and went down to the river to fish. We all caught fish, but not the big tilapia we were hoping for. We then went back to their campsite for hotdogs, beans, and chips, along with a nice visit. 

Sunday - It was a really nice service at Venice-Nokomis UMC. After, we went over to the jetty and had BLTs at the little cafe there. It was beautiful and calm there, and warmed up nicely. We didn't fish and didn't see any action by the dozen fishermen there. We watched NFL playoffs in the evening.

Monday - We drove back over to the jetty and fished for awhile, but despite the good tidal flow, we never got a bite. We moved to the other side of the park by the kayak launch but had the same result. Finally, we tried several places along the Intercoastal, but nothing. We decided to stop at Ace Hardware and Publix on the way back and just as we got back, the skies opened, so we watched a movie, then later, the Oregon - Ohio State game. 

Tuesday - We put the kayaks in here by the office and paddled out and fished on the way. We were not seeing action until we got into a bay on the other side of the Intercostal. We fished it for quite awhile, but only got some hits, no hookups. We may try this area again on Thursday. We put the kayaks up, showered, and headed to Franky's for pizza. We then took our full tummys to the jetty to enjoy the subset. We were too tired to fish ourselves, but saw one young man who had caught a black drum, sheepshead, and a flounder. 

Wednesday - Today we went to the Tampa RV Supershow. We went into at least 1M units, but saw nothing that spoke to us that we needed to upgrade. We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Bradenton on the way home. 

Thursday - We put the yaks in at the picnic area and fished South Creek here in the park. We caught several snook, two of which were decent sized. Our friends Christina and Michael surprised us by dropping by. We drove over to the jetty and fished, but no bites. They consented to stay for a few nites and have pitched their tent on our site. We are looking forward to having some time with them. 

Friday - Christina had some computer work to do, so the three of us went to the jetty early in the morning and fished from shore. Michael netted some bate and he used them, but had the same result as we did fly fishing and canepole fishing, zip. After a big breakfast, we got on bikes and peddled the Legacy Trail down to the Venice train depot. This was about a 14 mile round-trip but is not too difficult since it is flat.

Saturday - After another big breakfast, we said goodbye to our friends. It was wonderful having them here for awhile. We relaxed today by John tying some flies and Joan knitting. We could hear the bluegrass concert that was going on by the Nature Center from our site, which was great. 

Sunday - We attended another nice worship service, then after a Walmart run, went to the jetty and had BLTs for lunch. Too crowded there though, so we will probably limit trips there to weekdays. We watched championship games in the late PM and evening. 

Monday - We decided to put in here at the park and check out a bay on the other side of the ICW that looked promising last week. We saw a lot of bait and action. Sadly, today the area was quiet, so we returned to the creek and fished there. John caught a small snook and a small jack crevalle. The slight cold front we had yesterday must have been enough to shut the fish down. 
Tuesday - Our day started early (6:00 AM) with laundry, followed by coffee at the Nature Center. Since the weather was unpredictable, we decided to go to Casperson Beach Park and fish from shore instead of kayaking. We tried several places and John caught a nice jack crevalle on the ICW, while Joan lost a flounder on the beach. On the way back to camp, we stopped at Joseph's and had the best Gyros we have had in ages.  

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Lake Manatee SP (Dec 29-Jan 7)

Monday - We made the short (33 mile) trip in good shape and got set up on site 41. We stopped by our friends Tom & Janes site and visited for awhile. In the evening, Tom joined us down at the boat ramp and fishing pier to fish for awhile. He caught a small crappie and John caught a small bream. It was rather slow.

Tuesday - We were going to head over to Ft. Hamer Park with Tom and put the kayaks in there, but the morning was quite foggy with a band if rain heading in. Instead, the four of us went to O'Brien's Farm and had BLTs followed by strawberry shortcakes. T&J had some errands to run so we went down to the docks here and used the new Clousers John tied today. The white with red eyes won with a 13 1/2" bass a 13" crappie, a small crappie and a small bream. The chartreuse/white with chartreuse eyes only caught a small crappie. 

New Years Eve - It was a cloudy, windy, spitting rain day. 

New Years Day - We fished the pier for awhile, but it was only casting practice. We had a wonderful pork tenderloin and sauerkraut dinner and visit with our friends Tom & Jane. 

Friday - We fished again in the morning, but again, nothing. We then said goodbye to our friends, who are moving on to Myakka today. 

Saturday - We got up early and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then headed over to Coquinta Park south of Anna Maria Island to kayak with the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program. We have done several of these and really enjoy them. We meet great people and always learn something from the guide Brad who works at Mote Marine. We paddled just under four miles, with some of it fighting a strong headwind. Next, we had lunch at the Seafood Shack and enjoyed their grouper sandwiches. We stopped at Jiggs Landing on the Braden River to check out plants we helped put in last year. They didn't look great, but this isn't exactly the growing season. Lastly, we stopped at O'Briens Farm and split a strawberry shortcake. 

Sunday - It was another really nice service at Sun City Center UMC. 

Monday - We got an early start and were on the water at Ft. Hamer Park near Parrish by 8AM. We paddled to a back area, and because the tide was out, we had to get out and pull our kayaks to a hole we have found. Joan started things off with a nice redfish, then a nice snook. We both caught several ladyfish and John also caught a couple of reds. We then came back out in the river and caught some larger ladyfish. John then hooked a 42 1/2 inch Florida gar that gave him quite a ride. Skip and a couple of friends showed up and they caught several jack Crevalle and ladyfish. 

Tuesday - We got on the water early again at Ft. Hamer Park to fish for awhile before meeting our friends (Bill & Karen) from our northern kayaking group to paddle with. John caught a few ladyfish while Joan wrestled with a large catfish. When we went down River with our friends, Bill said he would really like to see John catch a ladyfish on the fly rod. In two casts John obliged with one that came out of the water twice. He also caught a nice snook later. We had a nice 4 mile paddle down River and back. It was great getting to visit with them and then sharing BBQ in Parrish. The weather today was perfect with lower humidity, 75 deg, and a nice breeze. While we were out on the water, we saw dolphin, a roseate spoonbill, bald eagles, and a tri-colored heron.

Wednesday - Today is cleanup and get things ready to leave in the morning. We also stopped at O'Brien Farm to pick up veggies and have their awesome Click HereBLTs and strawberry short cake for dessert. We will have to do without for two weeks. 

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Oscar Scherer SP (Dec 15-28)

Monday - We arrived and were set up on site 5 by noon. We had some Christmas packages and envelopes to get in the mail and needed to do a Walmart run. Hunger hit so we went to Joseph's for pizza. In the evening we tried fishing in the lake here and John caught two small bass, one on the Tenkara using a greenie and one on the cane pole using a plastic worm.

Tuesday - Our day was filled with coffee at the Nature Center, talking with new friends, Don and Allen, and a few maintenance items on the MH. Later, we took a walk on the South Creek Trail to the picnic area. 

Wednesday - We ran a couple errands, then drove down to North Jetty Park where John fished but didn't catch. We had lunch at the little cafe there which was quite good. We then checked out a park along hwy 681. It looks like a promising place to launch the kayaks on the nice lake there. Skip & Shirley arrived and will be here for a few days. In the evening, we enjoyed a fire with Skip & Shirl. 

Thursday - The four of us launched at Blackburn Point. We saw a lot of bait action but the only hookups were Joan with a 3" too small sea trout and John with a lizard (junk) fish. 

Friday - We all put in here at the park by the rangers station and headed out across the Intercostal Waterway. John led the catching with an 18" snook (too small to keep and out if season anyway) and a very nice pompano that took several minutes to land. Skip caught a couple of Jack Crevalle. The ladies let the guys do the catching. The pompano will be dinner tomorrow because John's chicken and rice in the cast iron Dutch oven was on the menu for tonight. 

Saturday - We fished fresh water today at Scherer - Thaxton Preserve, just a few miles from here. The only way to access the lake is with a kayak or canoe. John was the catcher with two bass < 14" and a bream, which was eating size, but not worth the trouble alone. This is a beautiful new park, and a great place to hike. No pets though, and no restrooms. 

Sunday - The four of us drove down to Estero to meet Joan's cousins at Stir Crazy Restaurant. We had a great time visiting with them and catching up. The food was great too. On the way back we stopped at Bass Pro Shop and got a new Tilley hat for John, using a gift card, and new two-way radios to replace one that broke. 

Monday - We said goodbye to Skip and Shirl. Too windy to kayak so we stayed close, hiked and visited. 

Tuesday - Still too windy. We drove to Venice-Myakka River County Park and fished the Myakka from shore. Only caught a couple small bluegills. We then drove to Snook Haven County Park and walked around there. John fished and caught two bream. We had a very nice lunch at the restaurant on their deck overlooking the Myakka River. 

Thursday- Merry Christmas friends. Today we drove over to Deer Prairie Creek Preserve to check it out. This is a beautiful area that offers hiking, biking, fishing, and wildlife viewing. We fished it with various gear and John managed to land a 15" LM Bass on a June Bug Kanami worm. We decided that since we had steak planned for dinner we would let it go. We saw a lot of fish action that looked to be talapia, but were unable to get them to bite. There are plenty of alligators, but enough room to give them a wide berth.
Friday - We launched the kayaks at Blackburn Point and headed north along the ICW to start. There was no tidal flow, which might explain the lack of action. We headed into a back bay and Joan promptly hooked a nice snook, which gave her a good fight, coming out of the water once. It measured 18 inches, which is quite respectable on a fly rod. This was her largest snook. In a few minutes, she landed another that was smaller, but still gave her a good fight. John followed shortly with a 16 inch redfish that gave a good pull. It needed to be 2 inches longer to keep, and snook are out of season, but need to be 27 inches to keep anyway.

Saturday - It was warmer today. We had a great breakfast at Scrambles Cafe. Next we drove down to the Venice Boat Ramp and watched the boats. John fished from shore and caught a few pinfish on the a tenkara. In the afternoon, we put the kayaks in here at the park and paddled over to a spot where we have been successful in the past. Unfortunately, it didn't produce anything except a small mangrove snapper for John. We tried a few other areas, but nothing was producing today. There was a lot of mullet around. 

Sunday - We attended a very nice contemporary worship service at Venice-Nokomis UM Church and met some friendly folks. 

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EG Simmons County Park (Dec 2-14)

Tuesday - It was a nice, one hour trip down and 50 miles. We got in and set up before a quick rain shower hit. We drove to Publix to pick up a couple items, then into Ruskin and had excellent Mexican at Los Amigos. Finally, we came back into the park and fished at the inlet. We first tried cane poles with Gulp, but that didn't work, so we switched to fly rods with white Clousers and caught a few lady fish. Fun to catch, but not good to eat.

Wednesday - We Didn't get started too quickly this morning, so by the time we were ready to put the kayaks in, it had gotten too windy. Instead, we drove over to the place where we finished last evening and tried there. John decided to try the Tenkara rod and was rewarded with an 11 inch flounder. One inch too small to keep but a good sized fish on the light rod. We are having to use Avon skin-so-soft repellant to combat the no-see-ums, which have been pesty. It works. The wind slowed down in the evening, so we launched the kayaks and fished until the sun went down. John had the only action with a ladyfish that delighted some kids who were with their parents onshore. He also caught a spotted sea trout that like the flounder earlier was an inch too short. They need to be 15 inches to keep. It was a beautiful evening. 

Wednesday - We put the kayaks in the same place as yesterday and fished out in the flats, in the channel and didn't get bit until we went into a back bay not far from where we launched. Joan landed a nice, but too small flounder, while John landed a ladyfish. We watched another kayaker land a quite large black drum in a back channel, where we were seeing more action disturbing the water. In the evening, we wore the ladyfish out in our spot from shore and lost count.  

Friday - Skip and Shirl joined us today for a day of kayak fishing. Sadly, we never found the fish. It was a great day to be on the water anyway. They also brought pot roast done in the crock pot to us which was delicious. 

Saturday - We wanted to check out a local flea market, but were disappointed. They really loved their junk. We picked up some veggies, then returned and biked around the park, to check if anyone was catching fish. Not so much. John tied some flies, mostly repairing some the ladyfish tore up. He decided to use mostly flash material instead of hair to see if it would hold up better. After dinner we returned to our channel, and caught a couple of ladyfish. The new flies seemed to hold up better. It was very windy fishing as a front seemed to be coming through. 

Sunday - This morning we attended Sun City Center UMC contemporary service. This has become our favorite when we are in the area. The music was wonderful and the pastor's wife did a narration as Mary, and what she would remember of her early years. It was very moving. In the evening we returned to our channel. Joan had a large fish on that showed itself, but it broke off. Nothing else was biting except the cold wind. We gave it up early.

Monday - Rainy, windy, and chilly, so we stayed close to camp. 

Tuesday -  We made a Walmart run, and after lunch fished with cane poles and Gulp from the closest fishing pier. The cold front has the fishing shut down for awhile it appears. 

Wednesday - We put the kayaks in on the other side of the park and fished for a couple if hours. John caught one ladyfish. We got no other bites. It is still windy and cool. 

Thursday - W kayaked again along the new trail and fished some of the areasalong it. Although the tide seemed to be perfect and until the end, less windy, we got no hits at all. The cold front that persists has shut down the fishing here. We had dinner at Beanies south of Ruskin at the recommendation of friends Bill & Karen. They were right, the food and service was great. 

Friday - We drove over the Skyway into St. Pete to Bill Jackson's and picked out nets and anchors for the kayaks. We have lost fish trying to hand land them and the anchors will help us stay on the good spots. We had larger ones, but they were just too heavy to deal with. These have claws to dig in to the bottom.

Saturday - Today was the laying of wreaths at the national cemeteries, so we got up early and drove the 50 miles down to the one in Sarasota. This is an awesome event that we look forward to every year. There were about 2000 people there to lay 5000 wreaths. On the way back, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for a nice lunch, Walmart, a veggie stand, and Ft. Hamer Park to fish for a few minutes. Joan caught a snook that was only 20 inches too small to keep. The season is closed anyway. 

Sunday - Sun City Center UMC is our home church when we are here, at Lake Manatee SP, or Little Manatee River SP. Instead of the usual contemporary service , they had a Christmas Cantata. It was called Love Came Down and was superb. The church was full and very appreciative. After lunch, got some things ready to leave in the morning. In the evening we fished our spot one last time which allowed John to catch a nice sized ladyfish that fought more like a large trout. Disappointing!

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Lake Jovita (Nov 7)

We drove to San Antonio with plans to launch the kayaks at the little park there near town. When we got there, it was just too windy to enjoy it, so we decided to fish from the pier there. We tried several options, but nothing was working. After a couple hours we were about ready to quit when John had a huge bass hit his blue fleck plastic worm. He had his hands full landing this monster with a 12 foot cane pole, but was able to get it to the Katak launch. It turned out to be 24" long with a 13" girth and weigh 7 lbs on the scale. Afterwards we celebrated by having lunch at Pancho's Mexican Rest. In San Antonio.