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.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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.










- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone