Rocky Bayou SP (Oct 17-21)

Friday - It was a hop skip and jump here today. We got set up and took a walk around the campground. Even though we were here back in 2009 it took a while for it to become familiar again. After showers and dinner, we drove down to the boat launch and fished awhile. Nothing! John doesn't think that trout and reds are in the bays yet in their winter locations. We did see a pair of dolphins chasing bait. They are always so cool to watch. We are planning on going over to Henderson Beach State Park next week and try over there closer to the Gulf.
Saturday - We launched the kayaks at the boat ramp and fished for about 3 hours. John had the only action, landing a 23 inch ladyfish that gave him a very good fight.We saw some fish crashing bait, but not a lot. We received some local advice for places to try,so we will give them a try next time.

Sunday - The last time we were here, we attended the Niceville United Methodist Church and really enjoyed it, so we decided to return again this year. On way, we stopped at The Coffee Shoppe and had a nice breakfast, then hiked at The Turkey Walk Park in Niceville. The boardwalk that runs along the river is spectacular and runs about three quarters of a mile. There are a couple of places where people can swim. The worship service was very nice with good music and a great message about anger.
We did a Wally run then just hung out around camp for the rest of the day.

Monday - We got a tip from the ranger here that the fishing is very good over by the Destin Bridge. We had intentions on launching the kayaks there, but when we got there, it looked like there was considerable area to fish from shore. There were several people already fishing, which is a good sign. We saw considerable amount of bait and the tide was moving very well through that area by the bridge. We fished hard for a couple of hours, but the only fish we caught was a small ladyfish. We only saw one other ladyfish caught all the time we were there and noticed that most people had left. It was a beautiful area, and although we had limited success, we enjoyed our time there. We stopped and had lunch under the bridge in the shade.

Tuesday - John had the brite idea to take a Tenkara rod down to the boat ramp and see if we could catch some pin fish using bits of Gulp Nightcrawlers on a bead head nymph. After John caught a couple of nice sized ones, he gave Joan a try. She had a nice sized one on when a school of 10 pound Jack Crevalle came by. One grabbed the pinfish and of course broke off the light tippet and took off. After dinner, we returned to the boat ramp to see if the Jack Crevalle would return. Sadly, they did not, we fished until dark anyway, but caught nothing. A man was fishing when we got there, but left leaving his rods there saying that he would be back soon. In a few minutes one of the rods began shaking, so Joan reeled in a nice freshwater catfish. John put it on a stringer and gave it to the man when he returned. Very strange!

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