Koreshan SP (Dec 28-Jan 9)

Wednesday - We traveled the 85 miles south on I-75, near Ft Meyers, and got set up without any challenges. We will enjoy this site (#3) while we are here. The CG is full, with many families here enjoying winter break.
Thursday - The temp dropped into the low forties last night, but we stayed snug. We are doing some exploring today to find places to launch/fish.
We drove to Del Nor-Wiggins SP and Beach, which is about 10 miles from here. They have a beautiful white sand beach and a nice boat launch that gives access to some good mangrove areas. We fished the beach and pass, but caught nothing. However, this will make a good option for us to put the kayaks.
Friday - We put the kayaks in on the river at the campground and paddled out a couple of miles looking for fish. Unfortunately we never found them. Due to the mild weather we have been experiencing, they must not be up in the river yet. Many other kayakers have been enjoying the river also. John calls them Kamikaze kayakers.
Saturday - We had a great morning with our friends Judy and Laurel. We went out to breakfast and went over to their campground. They gave us a grand tour of their very nice motorhome and their park. We then returned here to do the same. It was great to see them again and catch up. Joan grew up with both of them in
Vermont.
In the afternoon we sat outside in our recliners and almost stayed awake. We then took a walk on the nature trail along the river and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
Monday - We had to decide between Corkscrew Preserve and Barefoot Beach, and chose the latter, to be on the water. We didn't know that there is a county park, which is just a long beach, and a large refuge. To get to the refuge, you must go thru a major residential area that didn't look open to the public. It was a couple miles, but was excellent. We stopped at a nature center and got info from the volunteers, then hiked the nature trail out to Wiggins Pass. This area is the other side of the pass from Del Nor-Wiggins SP, where we were the other day. We fished for awhile, but like others there, caught nothing.
Tuesday - The temps here have dropped and will continue to be un-Floridaish for the next couple days. We restocked our grocery supplies and got Joan a new gel seat for the kayak at the local dealer. We also got fishing tips from the adjacent bait shop. He said there has to be a tidal flow and the reds are way under the mangroves. Also, snapper can be found in the deep holes.
Wednesday - It got down to the low 30s last night, but we kept warm and nothing froze. In the afternoon, we drove over to our friends at Woodsmoke Campground and fished in their pond. John was the only one who caught any fish, four small bass.
Thursday - In the morning, we attended a program on cooking with cast iron that we really enjoyed. Most of the information we already knew, but we picked up several helpful hints and met some nice fellow campers. In the afternoon we drove to Lover's Key and checked out several great places to launch the kayaks or wade to fish. We fished for a short time at the boat launch and at a pass by the road, but it seems the cold weather still has them shut down. This will be a favorite area for us in the future.
Friday - We met Joan's cousins, Dave and Marty, who live in Naples, for lunch at Stir Crazy Restaurant. You ouch out the ingredients and they stir fry it for you. It is a nice place and we had a great visit. In the afternoon, we launched the kayaks on the river here and fished. Our results equalled others we talked to on the river who were fishing. Nothing! We saw a bald eagle close up, which sort of made up for no fish.
Saturday - We started the day by having coffee with the camp hosts, then went over to the Methodist church where we went last Sunday and had breakfast. Our holding tanks in the motorhome were full, so we disconnected and drive over to the dump to empty. The whole operation took about an hour.
Sunday - After a very nice contemporary worship service at Estero UMC, we went with our friends Judy and Laurel to Barefoot Beach Preserve. We had a nice walk both in the woods and along the beach. On the way back we stopped at Big Al's Sports Grill for dinner. We really enjoyed our grouper sandwiches. Finally, we returned home and watched Tebow and the Broncos beat Pittsburg.
Monday - We returned to Lover's Key state park and launched the kayaks. John caught a large pinfish and lost a nice mystery fish that put up a good battle and got unhooked. We had a great time and saw an Osprey and a Dolphin. The Dolphin came within 100 ft of John's kayak. This is a gorgeous area and great kayaking within a no combustion motor zone.

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Oscar Scherer SP (Dec 18-27)

Sunday - We got the place cleaned up and left about 10:30. We arrived here a out 12:15. We got set up and had lunch. We are back in site 91, which has worked well for us in the past. We walked around the campground and noticed a lot of little kids and teens. It is quite busy here. We walked over to the lake and fished for awhile, but there was no action. It is great to be back out in the MH again and be closer to the water.
Monday - Today was explore day, with a little thrown in. We drove south thru Englewood and really liked a huge place called Blind Pass Park. We decided to put the waders on due to the high winds. About one and a half hours of fishing yielded no fish. It was great to see some new areas and enjoy beautiful weather.
Tuesday - We really enjoyed coffee time this morning at the Nature Center. We had the opportunity to meet some people who are here and share experiences. In the afternoon, we launched the kayaks here in the park and fished both in the park and in the flats and channels just outside. John caught a couple of small mangrove snapper and a very nice sized lady fish. Because catching has been so slow, John had said that he would be happy with a nice sized ladyfish.
Wednesday - We had a couple of warranty issues we needed to have taken care of at RV World down the street, so we disconnected and drove there this morning. We walked around the dealership and admired the new rigs while the work was being done, but concluded we were still happy with what we have. We drove back to the campground and got set up again, then drove over to the jetty for awhile. Finally, we went to Fratelli's Pizza and Brew for a delicious dinner. The weather continues to be wonderful, which is much better than last year at this time.
Friday - Our tide apps said the flows would be good mid-day today, so we decided to take the kayaks out again. We went out to a shallow flats area where we have caught reds before, and saw a lot of activity, but came up empty. The mullet were really putting on a jumping show, but are vegetarians. We each tried a few different flies including a crab pattern and topwater to no avail. We moved to a deeper area in the same bay and John began catching on a red/white fly. He began with a lizard fish (junk fish), but then caught a keeper sized sea trout (out of season now). He then began catching lady fish, which are fun to catch, but not good eating. Joan tried the same fly, but today would prove to not be her day.
Christmas Day - Joan's brother Skip and his wife Shirl came down for the day. We decided to go out in the kayaks and fish awhile after dinner. John caught the only fish, bringing a too small flounder and a good sized ladyfish to the boat. We were in an area where mullet (vegetarians) were abundant. Usually there will be trout and redfish mixed in with them, but we could not get anything to bite, despite trying many different flies. Skip trolled around in his Hobie kayak, that is peddled instead of paddled, but was unsuccessful.

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Pine Island Park

Dec 1 - Our search for Seatrout and Redfish continued to an area where we have been successful in the past. We were a couple days into a cold front, but were hopeful anyway. Sadly, however the only fish we caught are commonly called "junkfish" or "bait". It was a beautiful day anyway, with temps in the 60s. We donned our chest waders and started close to low tide hitting the holes with Clousers and a crab pattern that John recently tied. We hoped that when the tide changed and began coming in that our success would change as well, but it was not to be. Next time!

Country Oaks Campground - Kingsland, Ga (Oct 29)

The drive was longer than our usual at 240 miles, but not a bad trip. This is just an overnight here, and we got a nice pull-thru that didn't require us to disconnect the Envoy.

Petersburg COE (Oct 22-28)

It was a very relaxing 91 miles here from Twin Lakes. We were glad we were not heading north because of the monstrous traffic heading to the Clemson game. The take their football very seriously in these parts. We have a beautiful site once again and the weather is perfect.




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Wednesday - Joan's brother Skip and his wife Shirley joined us today.

Friday - The wind finally calmed down enough for us to get the kayaks out and do a little fishing. Skip caught a small perch and a better crappie and John caught a nice perch on a chartreuse Clouser.

Twin Lakes COE Campground on Lake Hartwell

We set up on Site 26, which is just gorgeous. It is dry and sunny, about 80 degrees, with a nice breeze. It took a couple of hours to come over the mountain to get here. We are truly in Clemson country.





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Tuesday, October 18 - We spent most of the day with our friends Tom and Jane at their beautiful home near us here. We took their boat out on Hartwell and did some fishing. We could see schools of bait fish which were being targeted by bigger fish, so we casted towards them. Joan managed to hook and land a nice spotted bass near one of these schools. John hooked one but it jumped as he set the hook and managed to get free. Tom and Jane liked our Regency so well, they drove to Montana to pick up one for themselves. We plan to get together in Florida this winter when they come south.

Michigan Trip (Jul 31-Aug 19)

July 31
We left Trackrock at 11AM after attending the chapel service and saying so long to friends. The drive was about 140 miles, most of which were quite curvy and hilly. The MH did a great job handling them all. We arrived at Volunteer Park about 3 PM and set up on a level, pull-thru site, so we didn't have to disconnect the Envoy. This should serve us well for a one night stay.
Aug. 1
We left at 8:30, drove 169 miles, and arrived at Whispering Hills RV Park about noon. This is a new park and good enough for a nite on the road, but probably not a destination campground, unless you were interested in something in the area like the horse museum. The sites are level, although not shaded, and the roads are paved, but rough. The restrooms are the best we've seen in awhile.
Aug 2
We drove 140 uneventful miles and pulled into Hidden Paradise Campground about 11 AM. There is a swimming quarry here with inflatable slides, trampoline and rafts that gets a lit of use. The campground has a lot of permanent sites, but also ample sites for nightly use. The facilities are not new, but seem clean. We are in another pull-thru site, so we didn't need to disconnect the Envoy. We plan to be here for two nites.
Aug 3 We woke up to a thunderstorm this AM and much needed rain. We are hoping it doesn't add humidity to the heat.
Aug 4
We decided to stay on I-69 instead of secondary roads and after driving 220 miles, we pulled into Waffle Farm Campground. The CG is on a chain of lakes and is huge. We got another pull-thru site and will stay here one night. It is well maintained and even the seasonal RVs are clean. They have a well-supplied store and the washroom facilities are adequate.

Aug 5

Made it to our final destination near Hersey, Mi. We got set up and made a much needed Walmart run to Big Rapids about 15 miles back south. The campground is nice, but quite open and sunny. It is warm here, but not as hot as we have been experiencing. The best news is that we are right on a designated trout stream, Hersey Creek. We added a trout stamp onto our license and will try it this evening. We drove about 190 miles today and were glad to be in one place for awhile.
Aug 6
After fishing the river next to the CG in the AM with no results,
We had a great afternoon with John's boys, GF, and spouse. We hung out at the CG for awhile, then drove to Big Rapids for pizza and wings. It was fun to catch up with stories and get to know Brett's GF, Nellie.
Aug7
We took a ride to Luddington and enjoyed the Lake Michigan shore, drove up to Manastee, then back to Cadillac. On the way we stopped at several NF Recreation Areas to check out fishing opportunities, but were created with hordes of mosquitoes. After dinner at The Dawg House, we met Brett, Nellie, and Brian at Mitchell SP.
Aug 8
Margaret, Jake, Josh, and Rosie arrived at the campground and we hung out here for awhile. After dropping Rosie off at her grandparents house, we took Margaret and the boys out to dinner at Chase Creek Smokehouse. We had a great dinner and better conversation.
Aug 9
Margaret, Jake, Josh, Brian, and we took a day trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore today. What a beautiful place!! The boys had a great time climbing the dunes as we tried keeping up with them. We hit torrential rain on the way, but the weather cleared, and turned out perfect. We finished the day with dinner at Red Lobster.
Aug 10
We took advantage of the cooler temps to take a bike ride on a local bike path. We passed a Methodist campground and stopped to check it out. The campground part was not too impressive, but the grounds and facilities were. Later in the day we drove to the farmers market and picked up some peaches, strawberries, and corn. The were excellent. John fished the river nearby and caught a small rainbow under the bridge on a white wooly bugger.
Aug 11
We had a great dinner and time at Nellies place with her, Brett, and Brian. Nellie prepared an outstanding goulash.
Aug 12
We drove around the area and checked out other campgrounds in the area. We liked Merrill Lake County Park, but we are still not sure what we are going to do when we leave here on Monday.
Aug 13
Rain in the area all day so we hung out in the campground.
Aug 15
We are on the way back to Trackrock and stopped at Potawatomi Recreation Area fir the night. We launched the kayaks on the chain of lakes here, but were limited to a couple bream. The evening was gorgeous. This is an excellent campground with many seasonals that are very well kept.
Aug 16
Happy Birthday Brett & Brian. We are back at Lost Paradise, between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. We stayed here on the way up and found it ok for an overnight.
Aug 17
Reprise at Whispering Hills. We got settled, had dinner, then took a refreshing swim. Another overnight stay. We are getting a whiff of a skunk that was on the side of the road on the way into the campground. Nice drive today of about 136 miles.








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Standing Indian NRA (Jul 26)

We drove to Hayesville and met our friend Steven from Trout Unlimited. We then drove to the Information Booth at Standing Indian. After we put on our wading boots, we hiked 1.5 miles upstream and went in. It took John quite awhile to catch the first fish, but things improved as the day passed. We each caught several nice rainbows and Joan hooked, but lost the large fish of the day. We were using dry flies and as long as it had yellow, it didn't seem to matter what pattern we used. Even though it hit 90 in Blairsville, it was nice and cool on the stream, since we were at 3000 feet elevation.

Cooper Creek Restoration Project (July 16)

Click the following link to check out the plans and pictures from the project. This was a joint venture of the National Forest Service and Trout Unlimited Blairsville and Blue Ridge Chapters. The file is quite large, so make sure you have a high speed internet connection.

https://sites.google.com/site/johnjoanw/documents

Smokemont Campground (June 20-23)

This campground is in Great Smoky Mountain National Park and has Bradley Fork running thru it. If you are looking for a quiet secluded getaway, this is probably not what you're looking for, at least not while school is out. It is a popular spot for families and tubing on the river. We enjoyed fishing it, but had to hike and get away from the campground. We were not well prepared for the amount of water in the river, so our success was limited. John thinks we needed to have larger flies, which was pointed out by some locals we talked to. It was quite rainy, but that's not unusual for the Smokies. We were unable to fish at all on Thursday, so we hiked the Bradley Fork trail to the bridge and checked out places to get in and out of the river to fish for next time.

It is about 90 miles here from Trackrock, and just north of Cherokee, NC. There are no hookups in the park, but the MH worked great for dry camping. We ran the generator each day to recharge the house batteries. We also filled the fresh water tank for dish washing and to operate the toilet.

View Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/SmokemontCampgroundJune2023






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Smoky Mt. Nat. Park (June 8)

We took off early and headed up Rt. 129 including the famous "Tail of the Dragon" which is a motor cycle challenge. This is not a route we would choose to drive the motorhome. We planned to fish the Little River near Elkmont Campground, but just as we started to fish, a storm came through and chased us off the water. We stopped at Sugarlands Visitor Center to wait out the storm, then headed back over Newfound Gap. We stopped at the spot on Walker Camp Prong, where we fished last week and Joan managed to catch two nice rainbows while all John could do is watch. We made it back to Trackrock about 9:00 PM after driving 250 miles. We love the Smokies, but will use the southern part more in the future.

Smoky Mt. National Park (June 1)

We joined our friend Steve from Trout Unlimited for a day of fly fishing in the park. We decided on Walker Camp creek north of Clingman's Dome on Rt 441. It was gorgeous here and we actually caught several nice, wild rainbows and brook trout. The fish here in the park are mostly small which makes Joan's nine inch brookie a near trophy trout. The weather was perfect and while the lower elevations were in the nineties, we enjoyed being in the seventies.

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Lake Chatuge (May 30)

Our neighbors here at Trackrock invited us to join them on their boat for some fishing and tubing with their seven beautiful children. We had a great day with them and appreciated being included.

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Standing Indian NRA (May 16-20)

We took the MH 38 miles to one of our favorite places near Franklin NC, despite forecasts of rain for most of the time. We donned our rain gear and sweats each day along with chest waders and fished the Nantahala River and Kimsey Creek that flow through the campground. Despite higher and faster than expected water, we managed to catch several wild rainbow and a couple wild brown trout. We had the best success using Parachute Adams and Prince Nymph, and did better on Kimsey Creek. The nights got down in the 30s, but three micro-fleece blankets kept us warm at night. This campground has updated restrooms and showers, but the sites have no hookups. We had an opportunity to use the ramps we built, since the site had an appreciable slope and it keeps us from having the levelers lift the front wheels off the ground.

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Kayaking on Hiwassee River (May 13)

We met near the McDonalds in Murphy, NC and went downstream a short distance and went upstream on Valley Creek until it got too shallow. We then turned around and returned. It was perfect weather and good to be back on the water with our friends. We topped off the outing with lunch at Brothers in Murphy.


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Fires Creek (May 10-11)

We received two days of excellent instruction on small creek fishing from Steve B. from our Trout Unlimited Chapter. We fished several areas of Fires Creek in N.C. that are not stocked, but contain only wild trout. These fish are smaller than hatchery trout, but much smarter. We caught several fish each and learned a lot about reading a stream and hatches that occur here. Dry flies we found most effective were Adams Parachute and Female Adams Parachute. Wet flies that worked were Bead Green Weenie and Prince Nymph.



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Hike Inn at Amicalola Falls SP (May 3-4)

We hiked the 4.8 miles into and out of the inn and stayed overnight with the Mountain High Hikers group we belong to. The inn is beautiful, provides excellent views, food, and service. Pam from the group will be putting pictured, including some of ours on YouTube. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBwCZIwfQUc

Close Call (Apr 27)

We spent the evening down in the laundry room that is below ground level watching radar and listening to emergency weather alerts. We took this one very seriously, since it was the same supercell that devastated Tuscaloosa, Al. It was huge and deadly. As you can see from the picture, it was a close call. Trackrock Campground is south of Blairsville, so that puts us on the picture just below the letters on the map. We thank God for protecting us and pray for those who were seriously affected by this monster storm.









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Waterfall Tour (April 23)

Visited today

De Soto Falls

Mountain Crossings Store at the top of Blood Mountain

Helton Falls

Vogel State Park

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Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness Area (Apr 18)

We met others from Mountain High Hikers at the rest stop in Andrews and then caravanned to the parking/picnic area at the trailhead. We hiked the memorial loop and poplar loop which together are about two miles. The poplar loop has some of the largest Tulip Poplars on the east and would take three men stretching their arms to reach around them. There has never been logging here. The wildflowers were spectacular. Many of the hemlocks have died from Wooly Adelgid infestation and were presenting a hazard, so to preserve the natural feel of the place, instead of sawing them, the blew off the tops at about head height with sticks of dynamite. It made it look like a tornado had passed thru.
After the hike, we returned to the picnic area and had lunch. The group then went on another hike, but we had enough for our first hike of the season, so we left to check out Snowbird Creek, which is nearby, and try some fishing. We drove back several miles on Snowbird Creek Road and passed a NF campground. We passed a hatchery truck with two men stocking the creek. By the time we got to the end of the road, we could see where they were putting the fish, so after they left we tried to catch them. We each lost more than we caught, but we each caught a nice trout, with Joan catching the larger one. We went thru trying most of our flies and found that the would at first take, then refuse a fly after they had seen it a few times.
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Whitetail Ridge COE - LaGrange, Ga (Apr 7-9)

It was a mostly pleasant 194 mile drive today with little wind but many more hills. Traffic was light on Rt. 27, but we hit a little construction on I-185 and again on 109 here in LaGrange. The temp here now is perfect with just a light breeze. We misjudged how busy it is here with kids out of school and barely got a site. Thank you Lord.
We fished from shore and Joan started things off with a bream on a brown bead-head wooly bugger. John got a slow start on the same fly, but then caught a bigger bream on a smaller chartreuse bead-head nymph.

Friday - It was very cloudy when we got up and whenever we thought about launching the kayaks, it got very dark and looked like rain. We settled for shore fishing and catching what we decided are pumpkinseed. They are yellow and green and very pretty fish.

Saturday - We found out this morning that a budget agreement has been reached and we don't have to pack up early. Good news!
The weather looks like a repeat of yesterday, but we got a break long enough that we thought we could launch the kayaks for a couple hours of fishing. It was perfect on the water, but even though we used proven flies in proven spots, we came up empty. One bright spot was that John tried his new anchor arrangement with great results. It also helps in determining water depths.

Seminole SP - Donalsonville, Ga (Apr 4-6)

It was a rather windy 168 miles of driving today, but thankfully, mostly a tailwind. This is a beautiful park and we have a site on the water. The sites are very large and clean, with mature pine trees and mostly grass.

Tuesday - It was quite cool and breezy today so we hiked the Gopher Tortoise Trail. It travels thru a longleaf pine woods. We saw many bluebirds, but no tortoises. We ended the day with a nice fire. Thanks to our neighbor for leaving early and leaving us firewood.

Wednesday - We drove into Bainbridge today and met friends, Pete and Sybil, who live in the area, for lunch at Golden Corral. When we got back, we finally were able to launch the kayaks and do some fishing. We knew it would be slow, since we have not seen any action or fish, but we ended up catching two nice perch and a large bream. We had the best results with a small, brown woolly bugger fishing in the channels.









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Manatee Springs SP - Chiefland, Fl (Mar 30-Apr 3)

We arrived here safely amidst rain and a tornado watch. We had stopped at a BubbaQ restaurant in Chiefland just as the skies opened up. The lady in the restaurant told us a tornado had just touched down and was headed our way. Thankfully that proved incorrect. We have little signal here, so updates may not always happen. We have a weather radio, and will keep updated. All is quiet for now.

Thursday - All quiet thru the nite. We are currently under a tornado watch, so we are keeping up with the alerts. It looks like we will not venture far today. We will also need to check on the sturgeon that come into the Suwannee River from the gulf this time of year and think it's fun to jump out of the water and scare boaters. We wouldn't want a 200 pound fish to try to get in the kayaks with us. We are not seeing fish in the springs, which is highly unusual, since they usually look like an aquarium. Regardless, we decided to go down to the dock and throw in for awhile. John caught the only fish, a small bream.

Thoughts on the campground: The sites are nice and large, level, and well separated for the most part. They are dirt/sand, so things get dirty, especially when it rains. The roads are narrow and have low spots that collect water. There are deer that roam the campground, which are fun to watch, even though some people insist on feeding them. It is very wooded, with many mature oaks, and we have enjoyed watching woodpeckers and hearing owls in the night. The springs are beautiful, with a nice boardwalk along them and out to the Suwannee River.

Friday - We found a great spot today to launch the kayaks, although it was too windy today to do so. It is about 37 miles from here and called Shell Mound. There is a boat launch, fishing pier, hiking trails, and a potty. There were two ladies fishing from the pier and one of them caught a couple of small trout, so we decided to don the waders and try around shore for awhile. We saw action around us, but did not get a bite. There is also a nice family campground run by the county here that would cost us $15 a nite. It is cooler today, but as said, very windy.

Saturday - We decided not to drive the 37 miles to the coast again today, but to stay close and do some needed cleaning after the rain earlier. We also caught up on our reading and John tied some flies. It was a beautiful day and very pleasant sitting outside.
We also enjoyed talking to members of a research group who study turtles. There was an instructor and many young people who were snorkeling and catching them and putting them into a canoe to be measured, marked, and released later. They also agreed there were no fish, but did not know why.

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Franklin Locks COE (Mar 27-29)

It was just a 30 mile drive here from Koreshan. The sites here are small, but paved and level. The view from our patio looks over a small bay off the river. Sites on the other side of this loop look over the locks. It is quite warm again today, but there is a nice breeze.

Monday - Storms are past us and all is well. It got very windy, a few lightning strikes, a lot of rain, but no damage. Thank you!
It threatened rain all day and finally did rain late pm. We fished for a little while and saw action from some big fish, but could not interest any. We enjoyed watching the birds and gators from our campsite, and talking with our neighbors Bob and Barbara.

Tuesday - We drove back south to the Bass Pro-Shop to see if they had anything we needed for a good price. We found some nice clothes on sale (mostly for cooler weather) and John picked up some fly tying materials to get ready for trout fishing. We then had dinner at the Ale House. Joan enjoyed prime rib special while John enjoyed his favorite, a Reuben.










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Koreshan SP - Estero, Fl (Mar 24 - 26)

We left at 10 AM, drove 166 miles and arrived a little after 1 PM. It was a little windy, but not horrible. John boosted the air rides to 85 lbs which helped, especially when trucks passed us. We have a nice site here (12), which is a little tight, but not bad. At least it is level.

Friday - We (John, Joan, Skip, & Shirley) launched our kayaks on the river here in the campground (Estero River). Even though it is quite developed, it is still a very pretty river. Joan started things off with a small mangrove snapper, but we were not catching anything else for the first couple of hours using Clousers, so John tied on a foam hopper and proceeded to catch three snook. They were small and out of season, so nothing for the table. Instead, the four of us headed south to Naples to visit cousins David and Marty at their very nice place in a golf community there. We shared a very nice dinner with them and their friends.

Saturday - We got up earlier this morning to beat the crowds on the river and once again Joan started things off with a small mangrove snapper and John followed with one of his own. These were both caught on foam hoppers. We went out farther today and found a nice bay to fish. We saw a huge bald eagles nest with young. Too cool. John had a fish hit his hopper eight times and not get hooked.
We returned to camp and shared excellent spaghetti Shirley had prepared, then drove about 30 miles to Pine Island to try fishing there. It was too windy on the flats, so we tried the back channels. However the fish were not there.

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Rainbow Springs SP - Dunnellon (Feb 28-Mar 13)

We had a nice drive thru Ocala NF to get here. Our friends Dick & Pat arrived yesterday. We had a nice chat with them at their site. It is quite warm and balmy here today. It is supposed to cool some this week.

Tuesday - We drove back to The Villages to have lunch with Julie and Barry and two other of Joan's former classmates, Laurel and Judy. We had a fun visit and a great lunch outdoors near a big lake. When we got back to camp, we walked down to the river and fished for a few minutes. John caught a small bass and a shellcracker.

Wednesday - We drove out past Yankeetown and wade-fished in a little park near the boat launch. It was too soft there and we kept getting stuck on the much and there were no fish, so we tried on the Withlacoochee River side but no one was catching there either including us so we headed back. On the way, we stopped at a spillway and fished from shore. We saw one mullet caught but nothing else. The fishing was not good, but we did see two Bald Eagles. One was mature and the other a juvenile and it looked like a fishing lesson was in progress. We also met a group of kayakers who were on the river and also camping at Rainbow Springs.

Thursday - We put the wheels under the kayaks and walked them down to the river to fish the last two hours before dark. John caught two small bass and three bream. We saw some larger bass, but didn't catch any. It was beautiful on the water.

Friday - We got out earlier today on the river and fished until about noon. Joan caught a small bass and John caught about a half dozen bream. The wind came up about 10 AM and made it very difficult to maintain our position in the kayaks. We met a nice man named Roger who gave us some tips on fishing the river and a few flies to try.

Saturday - We had a wonderful day with six friends and relatives shuttled a car down into Dunnellon and kayaked there from the park. It was a perfect day and despite lots of other boaters, quite peaceful. We followed the trip with lunch at the Blue Gator restaurant. The grouper was delicious.

Tuesday - We drove 35 miles to the launch on the Chassahowitzka River and met Skip, Cheryl and Bruce for some kayaking and fishing. Skip and John were the only catchers, with one keeper trout each plus a few other small ones. It was very windy, but warm. We saw many manatees and Joan nearly went surfing when she went over one in shallow water. It made a huge wake trying to get away. Not sure who was more startled.

Wednesday - Our friends, Chris and Sara joined us today to kayak here on the Rainbow River. They have a tandem Sea Eagle inflatable Kayak that performed quite well despite some fairly strong winds
On the river. Afterwards we had lunch at Victorias and enjoyed a good meal and fun chat while watching the boats on the river.

Thursday - We got about an inch of rain last night along with some wind, but nothing violent. We did some cleaning and walking around the campground, had an early dinner and put the kayaks in for a little fishing. It was quite windy, but we were able to find protected areas to use topwater hoppers. We both caught some bream and Joan caught a nearly keeper sized bass.

Friday - Eye doctor appointment for Joan this morning about 61 miles away in Brooksville. Everything looks good.

Saturday - John tied some flies today and instead of fighting the boat traffic at the peak of the day, we waited and put in at 5:30 and just about had the river to ourselves. However, the fish were not as active this evening so we each only managed a few bream. It was beautiful anyway.










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Blue Springs SP - Orange City (Feb 21-28)

It was about an hour and a half to get here with no incident. We got a nice site and it is quite warm.
We walked down to the springs and walked the boardwalk trail. Swimming is closed in the springs and run until March 1 because manatees come up into there to stay warm.

Tuesday - We started our coffee walk and were greeted by a pair of Scrub Jays. These birds are endemic to Florida meaning they are found nowhere else. They are endangered due to loss if habitat. We were not quick enough to get pictures.
We launched the kayaks and fished the far side of the St. Johns River in some really good looking areas, but did not even get a hit. We did see some alligators, red-shouldered hawks, osprey, herons, coots, and cormorants. It was very windy, but what else is new, sunny, and quite warm.

Wednesday - We took our coffee and fly rods down to the fishing pier and fished for awhile, but got no action. After breakfast we got on our bikes and tried out the bike path that goes along the RR tracks that run along state park land. It is a wonderful path that has much more character than most of the Rails-to-Trails paths we have ridden. We biked about four miles to a park and another short trail that went down to Beresford Lake then returned.

Thursday-Bruce & Cheryl joined us today and brought their Hobie kayaks. We paddled past the spring outlet and went for a ways up the Snake River. It was very pretty and typical Florida. We then hiked from our campsite down to the springs and were treated to manatee and a variety of fish. Finally we had Parmesan chicken on the grill, cranberry salad and potato salad for dinner. Yum!

Friday - Another great day on the water viewing Florida wildlife, this time with good friends Chris and Sara who are neighbors at Trackrock. Afterwards we had lunch at Pier 16 down the road and had PoBoy sandwiches.

Saturday - We drive over to The Villages today to attend an annual Vermont reunion with folks Joan knew from her hometown and an adjacent town. We are staying overnight with good friends Julie and Barry who are also Joan's childhood friends. We fished in the evening in a pond near their place and John caught four and lost two while Joan caught one. All were bass and were released.

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Manatee Hammock - Reprise (Feb 14-20)

We are back here for the week and have the site (38) next to the one we had earlier. We had a good trip back here and were set up by 12:30. We walked down to the dock and were encouraged to see some fish action. We got caught up with folks we met last time, then made a Publix Supermarket run.

Tuesday - We wade fished the area near the campground here for about an hour, but nothing biting.

Wednesday - Despite threats of rain, we drove to Merritt Island NWR and wade fished. Between us, we caught about a dozen trout, but they were all just shy of the necessary 15" to keep. Then Joan managed to land a beauty. It was 21" and really put up a fight. It was also delicious, and provided plenty of meat for dinner. On the way back, we stopped at "Fly Fisherman", an excellent fly shop and picked up needed materials.

Thursday - Since the fishing was so good Wednesday at Eddy Creek, we decided to return. Today, however, was a different story. We managed three trout even though we saw only one other fish caught by all the people there all the time we were there. Joan caught one that was 19". The tides were similar, so we are not sure why the difference today.

Friday - Cracker Barrel for breakfast, Staples to pick up a printer, and Walmart this AM.

Sunday - We were truly blessed at New Life Christian Fellowship this AM with our friends Walt and Darla. We also went out for pizza in the afternoon followed by a nice time with neighbors.


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Longpoint Campground - Melbourne Beach (Feb 7 - 13)

We are about 60 miles farther south. This is a Brevard County Park with most (not ours) sites on the water. We will have easy access to the water with the kayaks or wading as soon as the wind slows a little. There was a major Menhaden (bait fish also called Pogey) fish kill here recently, so it is a little stinky. We are not sure how it will effect the fishing. We also have a major front moving through, so we will have our ears tuned to the weather warnings.

Tuesday - We made a Walmart run and checked out kayak launch sites on the way. This is a beautiful area with ample access to good fishing water. It is cooler today and still a little windy, so we are giving it a chance to warm up some before fishing.

Wednesday - It was a beautiful morning with less wind and warm sunshine. We are back to shorts and short sleeves. Most if the smell is gone from the fish kill and hopefully the fishing will be good.
Launched kayaks and fished for a couple of hours, but no fish. It was beautiful, but windy.

Thursday - Very windy again and rain in the area.
We were outside cleaning fly line when the wind changed and temp dropped ten deg in just a few seconds. We retreated inside and the rain came.

Friday - The rain finally stopped, but the sun was only able to make a couple brief appearances. We decided to check out Sebastian Inlet SP and see if there might be a good place to launch the kayaks or wade fish. After checking out the piers and checking with some local fishermen, we decided that the fishing might not be good enough to bother doing either. The park is beautiful with good places to put in and fish and the camping area is nice as well, but is hard to get spots. We decided to throw in awhile at the boat ramp and each caught pin fish that were small, but fun and a ladyfish each that gave us a fun fight.

Saturday - It got very windy again during the night and was sunny, cool, and windy when we headed out. We wanted to check out St. Sebastian River so we drove over to Sebastian and picked up a couple things we needed at Walmart while we were there. We found a nice park named Dale Wimbrow Park and fished from shore. We each caught ladyfish and Joan caught a small Jack Crevalle. We had lunch at Woody's BBQ, then returned to camp.

Sunday - Another very windy day.

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Manatee Hammock County Park (Jan 31 - Feb 6)

We made it here in less than an hour and a half. We got set up, then went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and Walmart to pick up supplies for the week. It looks like some rain on the way, so we may check out Kennedy Space Center tomorrow or Wednesday. The sites are much closer together, so having good neighbors is very important. We were greeted by a Red Shouldered Hawk when we arrived.

Tuesday - First on the agenda today was laundry so we got up early and got er done. We heard people were catching trout on Jakes Creek out on Merritt Island NWR so we drove the 21 miles out there to check it out. The reports were correct. We managed five between us plus one small flounder. Even though it was quite windy, it was awesome to get back into fish. We kept two, which will be dinner tomorrow night.

Wednesday - We scouted several areas in the NWR to put in and fish, but none proved to be better and offer us safety for ourselves and our vehicle than Eddy Creek did.

Thursday - We returned to Eddy Creek. The wind was really blowing out there, so we wade fished. Joan caught 2 trout, 1 lady fish and 1 pin fish. John caught 1 trout. 2 trout were keepers but we had already planned on pizza so it was catch and release today. A year ago, we would not have attempted to fly fish with this much wind.

Friday - It was very foggy this morning so we decided to wade fish again instead of kayaking. We returned to Eddy Creek, and this time we were prepared to keep a couple. It took a change to a yellow-headed Clouser before we got a hookup. We ended the day catching a dozen trout and three were keeper size. Joan also caught a couple Pin Fish and John caught a Sea Robin, that has wing shaped fins and legs. It is a very strange looking fish indeed.

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Tomoka SP (Jan 28-30)

We drove about 200 miles to get here. The campground is near Ormond Beach and is very nice. They are not big rig friendly, because of overhanging trees, but we had no problem. We checked out all the sites and hiked down to the boat launch. There is good access to the Tomoka River and hopefully the fishing will be good.

Saturday - We launched the kayaks at the main boat launch and paddled around this beautiful area. We could see fish activity, including a dolphin feeding, but he was catching the only fish. We checked with other fishermen, but no one was catching anything.
In the evening we went down to the park store and enjoyed listening to a lady who played guitar/ukulele and sang and we had coffee and pie.

Sunday - It was a perfect day for kayaking, but still no fish. Packing up in the morning and heading for Manatee Hammock County Park, near Titusville.





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Oscar Scherer SP (Jan 24 - 27)

We got up early this morning and took the MH to RV World to have a few warranty items taken care of. We arrived there at about 8AM and headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. The waitress, Robin, remembered us. Are we doing this too often? Naw! We will check into Oscar Scherer SP when we pick up the unit.

Tuesday - We went over to the Nature Center for coffee put on by Friends of O.S. Met some nice fellow campers. It is very windy with a promise of bad weather on the way, so activities will be rather limited today.
There were tornado warnings within two miles, so we headed to the restroom to wait it out.

Wednesday - We got thru the storms last night with no damage and it has cleared off nicely. However, it is very windy, so we will not be getting the kayaks out. We enjoyed the ice cream social and music last night at the nature center. Carl and Betty Ross www.tymespast.com provided excellent and fun entertainment.

Thursday - This morning was pancake breakfast at the nature center. Good breakfast and good friends. We were sad that Ron and Dee couldn't get a campsite here for the night and had to leave. We launched the kayaks here in the park and fished for a couple of hours in South Creek. John caught a couple of small snook and a couple of bigger ladyfish. The snook are out of season and ladyfish are not good eating, so all were released.

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Lake Manatee SP (Jan 10 - 24)

It was a short 34.7 mile trip from Oscar Scherer SP to here. When we arrived, the folks had not cleared from our site, so we took the opportunity to check out the lake and kayak launch. There are storms in the area that are creating a lot of wind and humidity. It is much more open here than OSSP, but a nice change. We have the lake for fishing, plus we are not far from the gulf areas, such as Palma Sola, Palmetto, Anna Maria, Longboat Key, and Ft. Desoto.

Tuesday - We drove west on hwy 64, thru Bradenton and parked along the road. We then put on our waders and fished a bay near the bridge that joins Anna Marie Island. John had the hot hand and landed a ladyfish and two nice trout. One was about 16 inches and the other about 18. We stopped at Walmart on the way back and checked out Rye Preserve Park. It would be a long, tricky hike down with the kayaks to launch them on the Manatee River.

Critters we've seen so far:
Bald Eagle
Dolphin
Pine Warblers
Robins
Armadillos
Red Shouldered Hawk
Coopers Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Spotted Sea Trout
Ladyfish
Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great White Egret

Wednesday - We decided to do an explore today due to the cool temps and strong winds. We checked out a few areas around Terra Ceia Bay where we can launch the kayaks and fish when the weather improves.

Thursday - Today was a good one to visit the Tampa RV Supershow held at the state fair grounds near I-4 and Rt 301. It was fun to see the new models of the Regency and Bighorn and to visit with the folks we bought ours from. We also picked up some flyers for campgrounds to visit. It was a great day and we managed to resist buying anything this year.

Friday - We fished at the pier twice on the lake here and Joan caught three fish, including a nice tilapia.

Saturday - We started the day with a coffee social at the host's campsite. We enjoyed sharing experiences and good campgrounds with the other campers. We also returned to the fishing pier where John caught one bream.

Sunday - Joan's brother Skip, his wife Shirl, and son Chad came down and visited for an afternoon of kayaking and fishing preceded by a cookout lunch. Even with the four experts trying all sorts of
flys and lures, we didn't catch a single fish. It was a great time though. Also the Bears beat Seattle, so it was a great day.

Monday - Today was laundry day, so we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then headed to a laundromat named Bright & Clean on the other side of I-75 that was recommended to us by another camper. It was neither Bright OR Clean and many of the washers and dryers didn't work. Never the less we got the job done. It really poured while we were there and we were under a tornado watch most if the day, but all stayed quite calm.

Tuesday - Skip & Chad drove down to meet us on Palma Sola Bay for some kayaking and fishing. We wanted to launch where we waded last week and where John caught fish. However the wind was blowing the opposite direction making that unwise, so instead, we put in on the other side. We saw a group of kayakers head into a small opening in the mangroves so we decided to see where it went. We discovered that it opened into a beautiful bay. We fished it, but caught nothing. That turned out to be the story of the day. Great kayaking, but disappointing fishing. We consoled ourselves by stopping for pizza on the way back to camp. Bella Mia Pizza & Italian Restaurant was excellent.

Wednesday - We decided to hang out today and get our reservations made for late December this year. We were able to get site 91 at Oscar Scherer SP again. We walked down to the fishing pier here and Joan managed to catch three bream and lost two. John did not even get a hit, even though he used identical flies.

Thursday - Ft Desoto kayaking & fishing. No fish. We are really in a slump. The weather was beautiful & warm and kayaking great. It was also great to see friends Jodie & Andy who are working in the campground and Guy & Nancy whom we met at Oscar Scherer.











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Oscar Scherer SP (Jan 3-9)

We had a nice trip down after closing the house for our 2 1/2 month trip. Traffic was not bad and the 95 miles quite pleasant. We got set up, met, and talked to a nice couple who summer not to far from us up north. Joan was able to get her Doberman fix with their nice one.

Tuesday - We launched the kayaks by the Ranger Station and fished for awhile. Joan had one on, but lost it while John managed a few ladyfish. They are not good to eat, so all were released. It was mostly cloudy, but nice, and not too windy.

Wednesday - Today was mostly a down day, except for a little unsuccessful fishing, with our new friend Tom, in the creek that runs thru the park. In the evening, we enjoyed authentic Appalachian music and ice cream down in the nature center.

Thursday - There was quite heavy rain during the night and through the morning. We too the opportunity to make a Walmart trip and get necessary items, then joined many in the campground for a pancake breakfast put on by campground volunteers at the Nature Center. It was very nice.

Friday - Today we went to Casperson Park south of Venice. We told out friends, Tom and Jane about the park and decided to meet them there. We fished a little, but caught nothing, but we enjoyed talking and just walking around.

Saturday - We enjoyed an early dinner at Pop's on the Intercoastal Waterway with Tom and Jane and watched the Colts get beat by NY at our place.

Sunday - In the morning we went to the Nature Center for a very nice worship service that was led by the same couple who did the music program on Wednesday evening.


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