Fishing Clear Lake St Leo/San Antonio (December 28, 2007)

We were hoping to break our dry spell of catching fish by going to a place we have always had great success in the past. We have not fished there this time of year, however. We were somewhat suspcious when we got there and the place was not busy with vacationers. There was a family on the fishing pier, but no other boats on the water. We gradually found out why. No fish! We were out for about two hours and did not get as much as a tap. We tried shallow and deep and various arsenal. Nothing! We are both getting a little discouraged. John checked the fishing blog for last year and we did not get over to Clear Lake last year until about March, when we caught about 45 bass there. Most were released, though. The buildings in the background are of St. Leo University and the Abbey of the Benedictine Monks of Saint Leo.

Fishing Jenkin's Creek (December 26, 2007)

Brother! Three trips to saltwater locations and no fish in the cooler. The conditions were very good, except quite a lot of grass floating in the water. Nearly every cast resulted in grass fouling the lure. Even rigging weedless did not help much. This is a case where live bait would have helped. We could have thrown the bait out, let it sit and wait until the little fish swims into a bigger fish's mouth. It was a beautiful day, though and we saw a bald eagle, many shore birds, such as heron's and wood storks. John also saw a manatee come up for a breath on the return trip up the river.

Merry CHRISTmas to all our friends

We went to a local church service with family and friends where friends from the park here play trumpet, piano and organ. It was a very nice service with an excellent message from the pastor about the harsh realities that Mary, Joseph and Jesus faced on that first Christmas.

On a lighter note. Here is a pancake that John made this morning that has a striking resemblance to Santa. He wanted to save it and sell it on e-bay, but Joan was too hungry and ate it. Oh well.

Fishing/Kayaking Trip to Ozello - December 21, 2007

We launched at a small park on John Brown road. It was very windy, and we had tried to go to Ft. Island Park on the Crystal River. It was just too open there, so we opted to go where it was more protected. We were limited as to how far we could go out due to the wind, so we paddled a ways then let the wind drift us back. Joan caught a small trout and John lost a trout and ladyfish that hit by the kayak, so the pair came back empty handed. It was a nice outing though in a beautiful area surrounded by sea grass and palms.

Fishing/Kayaking Trip to Pine Island - December 13, 2007

Thursday 12/13/07 we went over to Pine Island, near Bayport. The tide was very low when we started, which gave us trouble getting around in some areas. The weather was beautiful with some wind, but not unmanageable. The kayaking was wonderful, but the fishing was very slow. John only managed one small trout, a small pinfish, and a lizzard fish (ugly). John used the fly rod with a clouser and Joan used spinning gear, using a junebug sinking minnow, then Berkley Gulp pieces. We had lunch there, enjoying the view from the beach. The picture showing the closeup of the beach has hundreds of fiddler crabs scurrying away from our approach.

Chicago Trip (December 4 - 11, 2007)

Oh, the pull of grandkids, who can make people do things they swore they would never do, like traveling to the north country during winter. We were greeted by snow soon after we arrived and the weather did not improve during the week we were there. We had forgotten that air can be painful. We did have a great time reconnecting with grandsons Josh & Jake, kids, and friends.

Dollar Car Rental gave us a van for the same price as a compact so we were able to be chauffers, taking the boys to school, piano practice and recital, and gymnastics. The boys stay very busy with all their activities and are growing up too quickly. Jake was awesome at his recital. He has been taking piano for less than a year and just stepped up to the piano and did his song flawlessly. Margaret and Jeff had bought him a new suit, so he looked especially handsome as well.

On Friday, we took a trip to zoo to take in the Christmas lights. We bundled up extra well, fought the Chicago traffic, and enjoyed the lights and animals.

On Sunday, we went over to John's sisters and joined her at John's old and Jeannette's current church. We really enjoyed the Contemporary Service. The music was excellent with musicians and a group of young singers leading. It was great seeing old friends.

In the afternoon, everyone came over the Jeannette's for pizza. It was good to see Jeannette's daughter, Kathy and her friend, Gabe, and Jeannette's grandkids, Tracy, Trevor, and Allison. John's sons Brett, Brian, and Corey were there as well. Brian's paintings were a big hit. One of them was voted "Best of Show" in a recent local art show. He has also won "Best of the Best" in a combined show of artist guilds.

Bluegrass Festival - November 21st to 24th

We love to camp and we love bluegrass. We figured it would be great to be able to combine them by camping at a festival. We made reservations for a site and went not far from home to the Sertoma Youth Ranch for their annual Thanksgiving Festival. When we arrived on Wednesday, November 21st, We were led to our campsite and told where to put the camper and where to park. It was a very small site and in order to get the camper set up and have the awning out, we had to be all the way up against the electric/water post and between two large live oak trees. We finally got it positioned, but when we set it up, we discovered that we needed about 2" more on the front side in order to get the bed all the way up. So we had to take it all down again, re-hitch the truck and move it back the needed distance. This was the most difficult set up we have had so far. We were concerned that whoever was going to be next to us was going to have a large motor home which would not fit into the other half of this area. Our worst fears were realized when a huge motor home pulled in and the driver informed us that we were on his site. We politely informed him that we were careful to take up less than half of the area. After a few minutes, he told us that we could park on the other half and he would kitty corner his rig on the back portion that was larger. That worked.

On Thursday, which was Thanksgiving, We ate a light breakfast had Thanksgiving dinner in the pavilion where the music would be. It was excellent. The ranch provided smoked turkey and everyone else brought dishes to pass. After dinner, the music began, highlighted by Larry Gillis and His Hard Driving Bluegrass Band.

On Friday, our friends Judy and Fred arrived and set up in the field due to limited availability of campsites. Hindsight being what it is, we would have been better off joining them there and not dealing with the close quarters in the camping area. Also, some of the dirt coming from the trees and roads and late night party noise would have been avoided. In the evening Judy and Fred joined us for dinner in our campsite. The music was very good again and were very impressed with a group of kids called the Bluegrass Parlor Band with the Walker Brothers. Kenny and Amanda Smith were the only group we knew before, and they were very good. Kenny's guitar picking was exceptional.

On Saturday morning we had breakfast with them, then made our way to the pavilion for more music. It was very enjoyable except for one individual who felt he had to smoke the largest, nastiest cigar we have ever seen for most of the day. Complaints to park personnel were mostly ignored with only one announcement made that was ignored. Smoking was an important activity at this gathering, with most people participating. It's prevalence was only surpassed by drinking. We figured we were out of place when the man who owned the motor home offered us a drink of his moonshine.

Sunday morning from 10AM to 1PM was was devoted to bluegrass gospel music. It was very nice and the groups who performed really honored the Lord. Also there were not quite as many smoking and folks waited until after 12 noon to start drinking. In the evening we received a call that a friend was in the hospital, so we left.

Our conclusions for the weekend are that we will go to festivals for the day, but will probably not try camping there again. John said that it was too much liking spending a long weekend at a flea market.

Fishing the Chassawitzka River

November 5, 2007 - We fished Baird's creek and caught several bass, but all were too small to keep. Fun though.
November 6, 2007 - We fished with Janet and Paul at Pine Island. We had a great time and the day was perfect. Joan caught a very nice 20" spotted sea trout. We invited it home with us for dinner. It accepted.
November 7, 2007 - We fished on Salt Creek off the Chassahowitzka River and John managed three bass, all of which were too short to keep.
November 8, 2007 - John fished while Sally, Dana, Paul, Janet, and Joan paddled. He managed only one small mangrove snapper. We saw Jack Crevalles crashing glass minnows in one area about the size of a football field. John tried and tried, but nothing would hit his woolly bugger fly.