Busch Garden (March 23)

We woke up this morning to rain and encountered more rain on the way to the hotel to meet the John's daughter, son-in-law, and the grandkids. We hung out at the hotel for awhile then took a shuttle over to the park. We armed ourselves with umbrellas and walked around the zoo part and enjoyed the wonderful exhibits. They are better than any zoo we have been to. The rain finally ended and turned out to be an awesome day. Even better, the rain kept a lot of people away, allowing the boys to get on rides without the usual wait. We enjoyed the sky ride that gives a view of the park from above. We got the package that includes unlimited food, which worked out great. The meals were quite good. We were quite tired at the end of the day, but it was super to be able to have a day with them.

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Lake Louisa SP (March 20)

We drove up to visit Jane and Tom with Skip and Shirl and fish one of the lakes there. We brought roasted chicken and enjoyed a nice lunch In their campsite. We launched the kayaks on the side of the fishing pier, which was a little muddy, but doable. This is a gorgeous lake and not too big. There are no bigger boats allowed. Joan led the day with two keeper bass and one keeper crappie, although we were not keeping today. John and Skip both caught undersized bass, while Tom lost a couple. We were using white/chartreuse mini-Clousers. This is a very nice campground with excellent fishing opportunities. We have plans to stay here for a week next year.

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Lake Griffin State Park (Mar 5-12)

Thursday - It was only about an hour to get here, but not an easy drive due to heavy cross winds. Site 17 is much smaller than the one we had at Rainbow Springs, but should accommodate us nicely. After getting set up, we biked down to the river and John fished with the Tenkara rod for a while. He did not even get a single bite. One thing we have noticed here that we don't care for much is significant road noise from Highway 441/27/25. We have heard sirens all afternoon and are hearing them at this moment.

Friday - We met our kayaking friends near Silver Springs State Park at Ray's Landing and paddled the Oklawaha River ten miles to Gore's Landing. We all got soaked as it rained for the last third of the trip. This is a gorgeous section of the river, with all nature and no houses. Thankfully, we each had a dry pair of sweats to put on. On the way back we stopped at Stavo's Restaurant for the best pizza we have had in a long time. 

Saturday - It started off rather cool (about 50 deg), so we took our time getting going. After pancakes for breakfast, we took a walk down to the water and sat for awhile. We then hiked the nature trails here and saw the largest live oak tree we have ever seen. It was hundreds of years old and huge. We then returned to camp and got our wet stuff hung out to dry. 

Sunday - Perry and Julie came over today to kayak/canoe the Black River into Lake Griffin with us. We paddled about a mile and John stayed back to fish. He usd his 4 wt. with a small chartreuse Clouser, but after fishing several places shallow and deep, didn't get a single hit. The four of us then drove over to Red Oaks RV Park to have pizza with Judy and Laurel. We had a great visit and walk around the park.

Monday - Skip and Shirl joined us here for the day and even brought baked spaghetti for dinner. We took a walk, but mostly just visited and enjoyed the perfect weather. 

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Rainbow Springs SP (Feb 19-Mar 4)

Thursday - It was a good trip here, despite some very windy conditions on the way. We got in and set up on site 22 then went to the Front Porch Restsurant for dinner. We both had fried chicken which was excellent. We then stopped by Mike and Christina's to visit them and also met friends of theirs Susan and Charlie. They also enjoy fishing, so we had fun talking about our experiences with them. We are bracing for temperatures that are expected to get down into the 20s tonight. We are hoping there will not be anything frozen in the morning. We haven't seen temperatures that low for a very long time.

Friday - We have wanted to check out Crystal River Archaeologica State Park and Wildlife Refuge for a long time but just never got around to it. What a great area. There are places to launch kayaks, hike, and fish from shore.on the way back we stopped at Swampy's restaurant for dinner.

Saturday - We attended an open house at Three Sisters Springs for the new Boardwalk, and were treated to hundreds of manatees. We got there very early to avoid crowds.

Sunday - It was a nice service at Dunnellon UMC, with an outstanding message. 

Monday - We drove to Crystal River and launched at Hunter Park. Fishing started slow, and all we were able to get into were ladyfish and small mangrove snapper. It was beautiful out on the water and we saw a lot of birds, including osprey and brown pelican. On the way back we stopped for dinner at Swampys.

Tuesday - It rained off and on all day, so we made a Walmart run and got some things done here.

Wednesday - It rained some more off and on today, but we went out to Yankeetown anyway and fished a little from the bank. There were only a few people there and no one was catching anything. We quit after several minutes with no hits. We then checked out below the spillway and John used a flyrod then a Tenkara from the bank with no success. Next, we went over to the bypass park and again John tried the Tenkara, but this time caught several bream and tilapia. Finally, we stopped at Lombardo's for pizza, which was very good. 

Thursday - We drove to Crystal River and visited new friends Ed and Priscilla at their vacation home on a channel that feeds into the river. We had wanted to do a fishing trip, but the weather wouldn't cooperate. Instead, they drove us around to some of their favorite places to fish and then took us out for dinner at Charlie's Seafood. We had a great time with them and got to know them better. 

Friday - We met several of our northern kayak friends at Inglis Spillway and after setting up a shuttle to the Isaac Walton Lodge where we would end up for lunch, we put in and paddled down river. It was quite cool, but comfortable, and a very beautiful paddle. John saw many tilapia splashing on the way, but he was not fishing today. We had a very nice lunch at the lodge. 

Saturday - Today was the annual reunion in the Villages with folks from the area in Vermont where Joan grew up. We have been going to this for the last ten years. It is always great to see everyone. This year we met at Golden Corral in a private room. There were also several there who graduated H.S. With Joan. Afterwards, we went over to Julie's and Barry's home along with Judy and Laurel and visited in the afternoon. John usually fishes their pond but got rained out today. In the evening Mike and Christina brought his mother and her sister over to see the campground and our motorhome. We had a nice visit. 

Sunday - After attending another really nice service at Dunnellon UMC, we drove over to Rockcrusher Canyon RV park in Crystal River. We have always wanted to check that one out. The place is huge with over 900 campsites, but is well shaded, with a lot of trees around, and the sites are not on top of one another like so many RV parks we see. We drove together in Joe's truck to The Freezer Tiki Bar on the water in Homassasa. The place was really packed, and we had to wait in long line, but the food was great and you got a lot for the price. It was great to visit with Joe and Debbie, a fun, very active couple, we met at Trackrock several years ago.

Monday - We (mostly Joan) got some laundry done, then put in on the Rainbow River at the park by the 484 bridge. We paddled up river, then into a back area and fished with Tenkara and cane pole. The Tenkara had a chartreuse nymph and a small chunk of Gulp worm and the cane pole had a watermelon colored small plastic worm. The Tenkara proved to be the most effective, catching three small bream and stumpknockers (spotted sunfish). The cane pole struck out. We had a beautiful paddle and followed it with the fish we didn't catch sandwiches at Swampy's. It got into the low 80s, which felt great. 

Tuesday - We had great plans to head out early and put in at Ft. Island Trail Park, but when we got up it was very foggy. We waited to see if the fog would lift, but it looked like we would be socked in for awhile. We decided to inact plan B and put the wheels under our kayaks and walk them down to the launch here. We only got to fish a short while here before the fog lifted and the sun came out. We have come to the conclusion that we need to fish the first and last hours on this super clear river in order to be successful. We managed to catch a few stumpknockers (spotted sunfish) and one small bass.  

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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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