Oscar Scherer SP (Jan 10-23)

We arrived about 12:30 and quickly got ourselves set up. We needed supplies, so we did a Walmart and veggie market stop and John picked up his new glasses we ordered when were here in December.
Friday - We have wanted to fish Lemon Bay, so we made arrangements with new friends we met at Koreshan (Dave & Mary from Canada) to meet there. Sadly, we discovered there had been some red tide that had come through and chased many of the fish away. John had a large fish break off, but other than that, only caught a lizard fish. Dave had to settle for a needle fish. Not a productive day, but a good paddle anyway. We saw two dolphin and a bald eagle. On the way back, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner. We ate the fish we didn't catch.
Sunday - We attended electronic church at Bayside Community. Great music and message. Joan's brother Skip and Shirley came in this afternoon and plan to be here four days.
Monday - The four of us went over to Blackburn Point and launched kayaks and fished for a few hours. Skip and Shirley caught a few trout, with one being a keeper. We came up empty. They were trolling near the boat channel in their Hobie.
Tuesday - Shirley needed some down time, so the three of us headed off for a kayaking/fishing adventure. Joan had heard that a great place to get on the Myakka River was where Hwy 41 crosses it about 25 miles south of here. When we got there we could not find a place to launch. We decided that plan B would be to put in at El Jobean, which was not too much farther. We put in and headed down a residential channel that made its way to the river. Skip trolled his way towards the Hwy 776 bridge while we fished around the channel near the canal. He was to call us if he got into fish. The call never came. Joan did a great job landing a nice sized cat fish, but would have much rather caught a trout or red fish. This was a long trip for one cat fish, but good to see a new area.
Wednesday - We successfully made our reservations for here next December. While we were driving out of the campground, the instrument panel lit up, reset itself, and the speedometer read 70 mph while standing still, the tack read 5000 rpm when idling, and the temp gauge read max. John called the dealer where we had this replaced and he said we could take it to any GMC dealer. Since there was one not far from here, we called them and told them our situation. He said to bring it in tomorrow at 9:00 AM.
Thursday - We brought the Envoy into the dealer and they checked it out. They confirmed that the instrument panel we just had replaced was indeed defective. He said they would order one and we could bring our vehicle back in at 2:30 tomorrow and they would replace it. We are not sure why we had to leave the car when they replaced it in Naples and not this time, and even when we asked, he would not commit to why. Anyway, we are hoping it will finally be fixed tomorrow. John baked an awesome loaf of bread in the Dutch oven over & under charcoal.
Saturday - We drive through downtown Sarasota and met a group at Coquina Beach to kayak. This outing is organized by the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program. Our leader was Brad, who also works at Mote Marine Aquarium. He was very knowledgable and pointed out many interesting marine animals. It was very windy, but we all managed quite well. It got much quieter back in the mangrove channel. On the way back, we stopped at Applebee's for our usual 2 for 20 sirloin. In the evening, we walked over to campfire circle for a presentation by Ranger Wendell on birds of Oscar Scherer SP. It was very enjoyable.
Sunday - in the morning, we walked out and checked on the baby eagles. They are really getting big. We launched here in the park and fished to the channel. John caught 2 snook, three mangrove snapper and a small toothy barracuda. Joan had a nice one break her off. It was really nice on the water.
Monday - Since a cold front is approaching, and we might not be able to fish for a few days, we decided to put the kayaks in again. Joan started things off with a jack crevalle. John followed with a couple of ladyfish and three mangrove snapper. All were catch and release, but fun. We also saw an osprey catch his dinner and another fighting with a bald eagle. We also saw an immature bald eagle flying high overhead. Afterwards, we made a Walmart run, then took a campground walk. There are a few families here because of the MLK holiday.
Tuesday - Mostly hung out around the campground. We went to the coffee social and met some super people.
Wednesday - Since the red tide has the fishing pretty messed up, we decided to go on an explore. We started by going back to Lemon Bay Park. We went into the information office and talked with Jack, a volunteer there for about an hour. Since he lives in the area and has worked in many of the natuaral areas, he was a wealth of information. He also was a social worker, so he and John had a lot in common. We then hiked the trail there that includes a boardwalk that extends out into the water. It was very nice. We drove through Englewood and stopped at Indian Mound Park and enjoyed watching a group of dolphin. This also would make a good place to launch and fish, or fish from shore. Driving further south brought us into Placida and Gasparilla Sound. We went out onto the fishing pier to get a sense of what was happening there. Two men had caught large stringers of sheepshead. John talked to one of them and he said that they just began hitting today, otherwise the fishing has been terrible. Sheepshead mostly hang out where there are barnacles on pilings or shorelines. The will eat crabs or pieces of shrimp, but are tricky to get hooked. The fly rods probably would not work well. We have never caught one on a fly. Finally, we stopped at our favorite pizza place (Fratelli's) for a slice of Sicilian pizza each. It was a beautiful day, with temps around 70 deg and sunny.

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