Whitetail Ridge COE (Mar 24-31)

Monday - We had a good trip here and are in and settled. It is sunny with a high in the mid 60s. After supper, we walked over to the boat ramp and fished from shore. John caught a nice spotted bass on a chartreuse Clouser, which we brought back and filleted. We will have that tomorrow. We are hoping that we can get some crappie this week like we did last year. The water is down compared to last year.

Tuesday - We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, followed by a Walmart run. It is  very windy and quite cool here, so we are mostly staying inside, except for a long walk around the campground. We really enjoyed the bass with mashed potatoes and coleslaw. 

Wednesday - We set the furnace to 55 deg and slept warm even though the temp got down to 32. Thankfully, nothing froze. We fished around the boat launch, but nothing biting, so we came back over to the bay by our site and caught several small fish including bream, bass, shad, pumpkinseed, and pickerel. 

Thursday - It was not as cold last night, getting down to 41 deg. It is windy, but now out of the south, so without the bite. We met a couple (Barb & Dave) who are in the next loop and had happy hour at their place. They are leaving for Cloudland Canyon in the AM.  

Friday - We woke up to rain this morning. It looks like an all day event.

Saturday - It is still rainy, but is letting up. We are glad we have a lot of recorded programs.

Sunday - We attended Ayers Memorial UMC this AM and were treated to a gospel group called One Achord, who sang. The senior member had an awesome voice and a deep love for The Lord and gave a word of her personal testimony and encouragement. Following the service, we were treated to soup, sandwiches, and desserts. The people there were very welcoming and made us feel loved and right at home. 

Monday - What a beautiful day today. We have been busy getting ready to leave tomorrow. The fishing here should pick up with the weather stabilizing, but sadly we won't be here to take advantage. 

View Pictures: Click Here

Cottonhill COE (Mar 19-23)

Wednesday - Having problems with the converter not keeping the house battery charged. We stopped at Camping World, but they didn't have time to replace it. We weren't sure if the RV motor would charge it and were concerned about our food in the fridge. Thankfully, when we got to Cottonhill the battery was fully charged was fine. Anyway, we got in and settled by about 5:30 PM. John fished from shore for about 30 minutes, but nothing. 

Thursday - We got up fairly early and took a nice long walk over to the beach area. We saw several deer on the way plus an immature bald eagle, a great blue heron, a yellow rumped warbler and a flock of downy woodpeckers. It is really spring here with dogwood and redbud in bloom, plus very active birds. What a beautiful day! It got in the 70s with clear skies and a nice breeze. 

Friday - Another bright sunny morning, but too cool to kayak and fish, so we walked again. In the PM we drove over to the visitors center and fished along the shoreline, but caught nothing. 

Saturday - We took our morning coffee walk over to the beach area and met some nice folks who spend the winter together at Salt Springs. Later, we took our Tenkara and pan fish poles over to the boat launch area and managed to catch a couple bream and a small bass. The fishing is not happening here yet. 

Sunday - Two men from Ft. Gaines Baptist Church have conducted a worship service here in the campground for several years. It was good to see them again and here I am very good message. We also met some nice folks from LaGrange and south of Atlanta.

O'Leno SP (Mar 16-18)

Sunday - Heavy rain was forecast for Monday, so we decided to leave a day early and miss driving in the rain. It was quite windy on the way up, but we took back roads instead of I-75, so it was not too bad. Looks like we are in need of a new battery in the Envoy. The Break Buddy drained it on the way up and it would not start when we got here and disconnected from the motorhome. John had noticed that it has not been starting with the same zip it usually does. We have to change sites tomorrow, so after we get that accomplished, we will head to Walmart to pick up the new battery.

Monday - We got a break in the rain mid morning, so we were able to move from site 18 over to site seven.
Tuesday - The rain finally ended so we were able to take a nice walk along the river to the point where it disappears into the ground. We really expected to see a large turbulence, but all we saw was the water moving around in a large circle, like a hugh drain. There were turtles riding along on logs making the trip around every 10 minutes, seemingly enjoying the ride. Our Trackrock friends, the Mast family, life in this area, so we met them for dinner at Alice's Restaurant. It was great to see them and get caught up. 

View Pictures: Click Here

Rainbow Springs SP (Feb 20-Mar 6)

Thursday - In and set up. We had a good two hour trip up here and encountered considerable traffic and some wind. Everything went smoothly, however. Our friends Christina and Mike came over from their house nearby and visited for a while. We got hungry for pizza, so we went to Lombardo's and enjoyed some.

Friday - We had plans to kayak the river with our friends we kayak with up north, but the rain that was due to come in made us cancel. Instead we went over to  Swampys restaurant that is on the river and had lunch with Christina and Mike. It poured with lightning and thunder while we were there, so we were glad we were not on the river in our kayaks. Afterwords we went over to the housing development where they live and walked around and down to the river. Their association has a park that is on the river that everyone there has access to.

Saturday - Every year folks from Joan's home area get together in The Villages for a reunion. We have done this for several years, and recently some of Joan's graduating class have been there. We really enjoy catching up with them. It was a beautiful evening down by the river and Joan enjoyed the scenery while John fished. He caught a small bass using the cane pole with a small rubber worm. The mosquitos were. biting better than the fish. On the way back a beautiful barred owl landed in a tree only 20 feet from and perched quietly while we admired him(her).   

Sunday - We really enjoyed the service, especially the message at Dunnellon UMC this morning. Christine and Mike came over for dinner, then we went for a walk around the campground. We were treated to a song by a family group who had just sung at a local church. The group is called the Redhead Express and they were exceptional.

Monday - Despite the threat of rain, we kayaked the Rainbow River here with our friends Debbie and Joe and their friends Ann and Pal. We first went up to the headsprings, then down to Blue Run Park. It was overcast all the time, but no rain or wind. We crossed the street and had a great lunch at Swampy's. Mike and Christine met us there. 

Tuesday - We drove back to The Villages to meet Joan's high school chums at Oakwood Smokehouse. We had a great time with Julie, Barry, Judy, and Laurel and enjoyed excellent BBQ. We had a little time beforehand, so we stopped at Camping World nearby and picked up needed items. 

Wednesday - We were getting a wrench and an airbag warning light on the motorhome, so we packed up and drove it to the local Ford dealer in Inverness. We were told that the airbag module was bad and they would not have the part until tomorrow. He told us to bring it back in the afternoon, so we could return to the campground and sleep in it tonight. The good news is that it is under the extended warranty from Ford because it is part of the safety equipment. It was also comforting to know that if we had to leave it there, we could stay with our friends, Christine and Mike. THANK YOU!!!!!

Thursday - We had brunch at Mike and Christine's this morning. Mike fixed great pork chops and scrambled eggs. Yum!!!! Motorhome fixed!!!! Under warranty!!! Now the weather can get nice so we can get back to fishing, etc!!! Thank you Lord!!!

Friday - The drive over to Crystal Springs took us through beautiful horse country. We enjoyed the many horse farms along US 40. We joined our kayaking friends from north Georgia and others on a trip from Ray's Wayside Park up the Crystal River towards the headsprings and back. A variety of wildlife greeted us including many entertaining monkeys. It is a beautiful river, which makes for a great paddle. Afterwards we had excellent BBQ at Fat Boys. It was great to see all our friends and get caught up.  

Saturday - Our friends Mike & Christina came over for dinner. John cooked chicken & rice that Joan put together in a cast iron Dutch oven. It was a hit. We were going to have our own fire, but M&C knew about a church group that we're getting together for a fire and music. We met some very nice people who were very welcoming and enjoyed the fire and an excellent guitarist/singer. 

Sunday - We picked up Mike & Christine and went to the same church as last week. Again the message was challenging, and was about the transfiguration of Jesus. The pastor used it to as the question whether we are ready to be changed. Later in the afternoon, we put the kayaks in here on the river and used plastic worms to catch bass. We managed a few small ones, the largest being 12 inches. It was a beautiful evening on the water. 

Monday - John spent much of the morning on the phone with DirecTV. That Is always an experience. We were going to go over to Yankeetown and fish from shore, but while getting into the car we noticed that the right front tire was flat. John was able to pump it up with the air compressor in the envoy, and we made it into town and got it fixed. It appeared that a sharp part from somebody's RV fell onto the road here in the campground and landed just right to stick up and puncture the tire. C&M came over in the evening and we enjoyed talking around the fire. 

Tuesday - Since we have decided to leave a day early, we got things together in preparation. Joan kept her appointment to get her hair cut at Missy's Country Girl Salon. We had a light lunch then did some hiking on some nice trails on the campground. We were sitting on a bench by the restrooms and had a chance encounter with a couple who flyfish in North Georgia and North Carolina. Their names just happen to be John & Jo. The promised to call us when they get back up north so we can fish together. For dinner, we picked up M&C and enjoyed wonderful burgers and pie at the Front Porch. 

View Pictures: Click Here:

Little Manatee River SP (Feb 6-19)

Thursday - We are in and settled. We visited with our friends Tom, Jane, Mocha, and Cupcake. 

Friday - We had plans to put the kayaks in at Ft. Hamer Park with Tom, but rain this morning made us change our plans. Instead, we did an explore and checked out a few launch points and showed Tom Ft. Hamer Park. We came back and had dinner with Tom and Jane and enjoyed Tilapia that he had caught at Myakka State Park. It was really good.

Saturday - We joined the Sarasota Bay Guardians and Satasota Bay Estuary Program with planting native wildflowers and grass at Jiggs Landing Park near Bradenton. This area is part of the regions watershed and the plantings are done to protect it. 

Sunday - The message was titled "Jesus Wants us to Fish". Of course it was about leading others to our savior, but it really got our attention. In the afternoon, we got together with Trackrock friends Bob, Carolyn, Mike and Janice at M&J's place in Lithia. Mike cooked up wonderful chicken and ribs on the grill. We had a great time catching up and joking around and eating way too much. 
Monday - We returned to Ft. Hamer Park and got the same result. Ladyfish! One that John caught was quite large and gave him a really good fight. We would really like to get into some trout, but the cold fronts and rain every few days is keeping that from happening. Anyway, it was a beautiful day today. 
Tuesday - We needed a break from kayaking, so we headed over to E. G. Simmons Park and fished from shore. At least there were several people fishing there, which is much different than what we have been seeing. We didn't see anyone catching any fish, but John managed to catch what appeared to be a keeper sized trout. We didn't have a ruler, but it looked to be about 15 inches. We discovered a back way to get over there, which was about 22 miles. It is a little farther that way (5 miles) but we miss the Sun City traffic. We are getting to like this area more and more.

In the evening we went over to the church and had a very nice Valentine's Day dinner and were entertained by a local high school and their acappella choir. They gave a wonderful performance which made for a very enjoyable evening.

Wednesday - John had bought a high def dish at a yard sale last year, but just put it in the shed, so we drove down to Zephyrhills to pick it up to use with our new receiver when it arrives. We had lunch at our favorite restaurant Mainely New England and enjoyed the fish. Some really nasty weather blue in late last night, but there was no damage in the area. 

Thursday - It was very windy and cool today so we pretty much stuck around I got some things done here, except we ran to the vegetable market to pick up some veggies and go down to Fort Hamer Park just to see how it was there.

Friday - The weather was not so great so we did some biking and hiking in the park here. We also drove over to Balm and had a strawberry shortcake at Goodson Farm. This is the best we have had anywhere.

Saturday - We drove over to Ruskin to try to get our satellite situation resolved, but without success. We stopped at the Ruskin Inlet and fished for a little while, but like everyone else there we caught nothing. The weather is supposed to warm up and be a little more consistent the next couple of weeks, so we are hoping that the fishing will improve.

Sunday - This was our last service in Sun City. We have really liked it here and will return next season. Skip and Shirley joined us here and came over for dinner. We also enjoyed a fire. The temp really dropped after the sun went down. 

Monday - The four of us took advantage of a beautiful day to go over to E.G. Simmons Park to kayak and fish. Once again the kayaking was much better than the fishing. Except for one too small to keep trout, the only fish caught today were ladyfish. Shirley had put stuffed porkchops in the crockpot, so we didn't starve to death. They were scrumty delicious. 

Tuesday - In order to take Advantage of the nice weather, we headed over to Fort Hamer Park to kayak and fish. Joan started things off by tying into a nearly 20 pound Tarpon which began to take her towards Mexico. It took her rod totally down into the water but then took off, rolled and came unhooked. It was very exciting to watch and experience. Joan also caught a keeper sized Spanish mackerel, but they are not really to our taste. John caught two very nice sized ladyfish and one also nice sized Jack Crevalle which gave him a very good fight. Skip got into a few ladyfish as well which were good-sized. All in all it was some fun catching, but nothing for the plate. It was good to see more people on the water fishing, kayaking and enjoying the nice weather.

Wednesday - Skip and Shirley are wearing us out. Today we drove over the Skyway Bridge to Weedon Island and put the kayaks in. This is a great place to kayak and fish, but too much traffic to suit us. John and Joan each caught a ladyfish and missed a few others. Skip had to settle for a catfish, which is not good to eat. On the way home we stopped at the Crab Shack for lunch and Goodson's Farm for strawberry shortcake for dessert. In the evening we had our fourth campfire. 

View Pictures: Click Here

Lake Manatee SP (Jan 23-Feb 5)

Thursday - After A nice pancake breakfast at the nature center, and getting the last few things put away, we headed over here and got set up on site 48. We are on the outside loop which makes it more open and sunny. I don't think we will mind having plenty of sunshine to keep us warm. We headed over to O'Brian's Farm and had strawberry shortcake for before dinner dessert. We can do that because we are old. We also picked up some veggies so I guess that makes up for it. Two other couples saw us eating our shortcakes and decided they needed to be naughty as well. We thought maybe we should get ours free since we drummed up so much business for them.

Friday - We checked out a few launch sites today including one where we have been before called Jiggs Landing. We had our lunch and then fished from shore shortly for a while. We came up with a few bream, which were fun using our Tenkara rod (to see what they are, check out www.tenkarausa.com). We talked to a guy there named Doc Lee, who is a well known local figure here. He gave John some flies he ties and a lot of information about fishing this lake. We figure he enjoyed meeting others who love fly fishing. 

Saturday - We attended the coffee this morning that was at the hosts site and enjoyed seeing some old friends and meeting new ones. We also got a chance to talk to two of the rangers here.

Sunday - We attended another very nice contemporary worship service at Sun City UM Church. Skip and Shirley came in this afternoon to camp here until Friday. We enjoyed a fire on Skip's new fireplace this evening. 

Monday - The temperature in the afternoon was supposed to be in the 70s, so we were not going to let intermittent rain in the morning and forecasts of the same in the afternoon keep us from getting out on the water. Our only concern was with all the cold weather we've had, the water would be very cold and the fish would not be too active. S & S  peddled their Hobie kayak one direction and we paddled ours another and said we would meet up in a little while. We did not see very much activity and the fishing was pretty slow, however, J & J managed to catch two ladyfish and one Jack Crevalle, while S & S did about the same catching two ladyfish and one pompano. We drift and cast while they troll.

Tuesday - The four of us went over and launched at Robinson preserve. It is located on the other side of Bradenton. This is a beautiful park with excellent facilities including a way to clean the kayaks when we are done. John started things off today, on his first cast, catching a keeper sized sea trout. He prefers them to be a little larger, so he let this one go figuring there would be larger ones to come. Unfortunately, this was the only fish caught for the day. The water is still very cold, and two more days like today with the sun shining would be needed to warm it up. Unfortunately another cold front is coming in tomorrow so we will be starting over again.

Wednesday - Lousy weather. The four of us went to several thrift stores in Bradenton. We found a bunch of nice beeny babies to put in Operation Christmas Child boxes at good prices. 

Thursday - It rained all day today, so we watch recorded shows and took short walks when the rain let up a little.

Friday - It was supposed to clear today, but we woke up to more rain. 

Sarurday - Today we kayaked with 8 others through the Mangrove Tunnels at Lido Beach; led by Brad from Mote Marine who is with the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program. A great trip and the weather was just right with cloud  cover and warmer weather. 

Sunday - Great worship again. We will be able to return two more times when we are at Little Manatee River SP. We put the yaks in here on the lake and fished. Still slow with one bream and one small bass. What a gorgeous day. Thankfully the nice weather has returned. 

Monday - Back to Ft. Hamer Park. We went back into our secret spot, but nothing was happening there. Next we hit some areas where we have had some success in the past and hooked into hey bunch of ladyfish. They were fun, but not really what we were looking for. Our friends Dawn and Jeff arrived and are in a site a few down from us.

Tuesday - Today we tried down at a launch site on the Braden River off of Highway 64. There was no one there fishing, which should have been a sign for us. Nothing!
Wednesday - We have been looking forward to going to Palmetto to the Convention Center and attending the Bill Bailey Gospel Festival. They have afternoon free will offering concerts. We listened to a quartet that have been singing for 50 years. They were very good. Afterwards we stopped for Mexican at El Sombrero. We are ready to pull out in the morning and head to our next stay at Little Manatee River SP.


View Pictures: Click Here

Oscar Scherer SP (Jan 9-22)

Thursday - All set up. This site (65) is very long and narrow. Our canopy is behind the M.H. We went to Ilias Greek Restaurant and had the best gyros ever. Next, we got gas and made a Walmart run. It is good to be back here.

Friday - We took the bikes on the Green Trail and checked on the eaglets. There are two and they are being well taken care of by both parents. One was on the nest and the other nearby. We did some errands and ended up at Scramblers Cafe for a Reuben and BLT. Excellent!  Our friends Mary and Dave just got in today, so it was good to check in with them. It was warm & humid today.
Saturday - We launched our kayaks here in the park with Mary and Dave to do some fishing. We fished spots where we caught fish two weeks ago, but never found them. John caught the only fish, a decent sized ladyfish. It was breezy, but nice. Later in the day the wind really came up, so we lowered the canopy and awning just to be safe. The four of us went out for very good pizza at Frankie's, then to the Jetty where we enjoyed watching a dolphin and John threw a fly without success. It got quite cool while we were there and really poured during the night. 

Sunday - Down day. 

Monday - We returned with our friends to Lemon Bay Park. It was a little breezy, but otherwise the weather was perfect. Be headed over to the other side of the bay towards Blind Pass and found it extremely nice there. There is a kayak launch there in a park, but no washrooms. We saw lots of fish activity with pelicans crashing into the water, but not much catching. John caught the only fish, a small trout. John has a theory that  the heavier tippet we began using is limiting the action of the flies. We will return to 10 pound tippet the next time we go out and see if that makes a difference.

Tuesday - We Had to get the blower motor replaced in the envoy so we took it to Sunset GMC in Sarasota. They also found a couple of other things like the throttle body and the evaporator that needed work so we had that done as well. All together it cost us $600, but not complaining the car has done very well for us. It is also running much better. 

Wednesday - We went to the Tampa RV super show today just to see what's new. We committed on not buying anything this year. We did see a Big Horn fifth wheel with a front living room that we really liked and also a Southwind class A motorhome that was nice as well. We also picked up a lots of good campground information, especially helpful will be the north east for our trip this summer.

Thursday - We finally got our lazy selves out of bed and went over to the nature center and enjoyed a pancake breakfast that the hosts prepare every week. Later in the day, we returned and enjoyed listening to a weekly music jam of mountain music. It is non-professional, but very good. It has cooled down a little more. 

Friday - Another cool day. Laundry, Walmart, fill the Envoy. John wanted to see if there are any tilapia here in South Creek. We tried the same tactic we used on the Myakka. Negative.
Saturday - Still cool and it has become windy, so no kayaking again. Instead, we decided to explore and find another place to launch. After some study of maps we have collected, we decided to check out the Nokomis County Park kayak launch. First, Joan was able to get her hair cut at a place recommended by our host here, Pat. Looks good. We drove to the park and found out that until some work is completed, we would have to wheel the kayaks about 100 yards to the launch. No problem. The area was quite shallow and covered with oyster beds, so we will have to watch tides. The area is beautiful and looks very fishy. We have decided to try it out on Monday if the weather permits. We also took a walk over at Casperson Park which is a great area with a kayak launch, hiking and biking trails.

Sunday - We attended the early contemporary service at Nokomis-Venice UM Church and had a great experience. The music was good and the people very welcoming. 

Monday - We launched the kayaks at Nokomis Park and dodged oyster beds until we got to Curry Creek. This is a beautiful area and according to a guy who was in his yard, told us that dozens of snook come around his dock every evening. John got a real surprise by catching an 18 inch juvenile tarpon on a chartreuse Clouser. This was a first for us. He also caught a small mangrove snapper. After, we stopped at Frankie's for excellent pizza. 

Tuesday - We checked out a park that is at the end of Laurel Road called Laurel Park. The park is situated on the Myakka River. There are some good areas to fish, but kayak access would be tricky, plus there are some very large alligators. We fished for awhile hoping for tilapia, and managed a few bream, one of which was decent size. Some small boys who were hiking with their parents, enjoyed holding and throwing them back.

The temperature is dropping again, so we went to Walmart and got some things put away around the campsite in preparation for moving tomorrow. In the evening, we went up to the nature center and listened to Carl Ross do a program of mountain music. 

View Pictures: Click Here