Koreshan State Historical Site (Dec 27-Jan 10)

We had a good trip down and pulled in around noon. Our site had not been vacated and cleaned yet, so we drove down to the picnic area and had lunch. We've got a good site that has plenty of room.
Friday - We took Skip & Shirley and met Joan's cousins, David and his wife Marty, and Pam at Stir Crazy Restaurant. You pick out what you want stir-fried. We had a great time getting caught up with them.
Saturday - Skip, Shirley and we launched the kayaks on the river here and fished for a few hours. Skip trolls with his Hobie, and we stop to fish, so we didn't do well staying together. Skip caught a Jack Crevalle and a small snook, while John caught two small talapia. It looked like rain all morning and radar showed a line coming in, but it never materialized. It was windy on the water, but manageable.
Sunday - It was a very nice service this morning at the Estero United Methodist Church. We went to the contemporary service and instead of a band, we sang carols. It was nice, since usually they stop right after Christmas.
Monday - Today we launched again on the Estero with new friends, Dave and Mary, from near Toronto. They have an inflatable Hobie, which they peddle, and also has a sail. John caught several talapia and a small snook. He also had a nice snook come out of the water twice before breaking off. He also lost a couple others. Fishing under shaded docks proved the most productive. Joan had a fish take a good swipe at her fly, but couldn't hook up.
New Years Day - We met a friend Charlotte, with whom we kayak in Georgia, at the boat ramp, and went nearly three miles out the river. We wanted to find out if it is doable to get out to the flats to fish. It is over four miles so something we would probably  not do. On the way back, John stopped to fish some likely spots, and caught two and missed two snook. They were not huge, but fun anyway. When we got back we decided to go out to lunch. The only places in the shopping center near the park were Burger King and Jeff's Chinese. We chose the latter, which was actually quite good, in spite of the strange name. In the evening we went over to Dave and Mary's for wine and nachos. We had a nice time with our new friends.
Wednesday - We went to the airport and picked up Jean-Paul, Joan's son, who will be staying with us for a week.
Thursday - The three of us went to Lovers Key to kayak. Jean-Paul rented a sit-on-top for himself and we headed over to the park. John fished while the others paddled and he managed to catch three jack crevalle and one Ladyfish. One of the Jacks was good sized and gave John a real good fight. It took several minutes to land. There was a lot of boat traffic here.
Friday - We took JP to Barnes&Noble so he could do some work and use their wi-fi. A very intermittent problem we have had with the Envoy has been acting up, so we stopped at a GMC dealer to have it checked out. They said it is a defective instrument panel and the could replace it on Monday. They will need to keep it over night, but would give us a loaner. On the way back, we stopped at Delnore-Wiggens SP to watch the sunset. It was beautiful. John fished, but caught nothing. Some guys were catching Pompano very deep. Not possible with a fly rod loaded with floating line.
Saturday - We have wanted to go over to Sanabel Island for a long time and finally did today. We went to Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge and after going to the Visitor's Center, we took a four mile hike on the Indigo Trail. It was pretty, but the views were limited. Next we drove the Nature Loop and made several stops. John fished a few likely looking spots, but produced nothing. This is a really beautiful area, and would be a great place to come to and launch the kayaks. JP took some really nice pictures with his Nikon. Click here to view: Click
Sunday - Another nice service and an awesome band at the Contemporary Service. We had a down day today and stayed in camp and made bread and chicken with rice in the Dutch oven. Awesome!
Tuesday - Envoy appears to be fixed. Only $680.
Wednesday - We got JP back to the airport this morning. It was fun having him here for the week. He seemed to have a good time. In the afternoon, we put the kayaks in on the river and headed upstream. We had a beautiful paddle, but not even a hit.


View Pictures: Click Here

Oscar Scherer SP (Dec 17-26)

We left Zephyrhills about 9:30 and arrived here about 11AM. We got set up, had lunch, and took a walk around the campground. We relaxed in the shade of the First-Up in the afternoon and after dinner we headed to Venice Inlet to catch the sunset and fish from the jetty. Joan caught the sunset while John caught three good sized pinfish. It is great to be back in the parks. It has been quite warm, which is supposed to end by the weekend.
Tuesday - We launched the kayaks by the office and headed towards the channel that goes towards the ICW. We fished around the channel with no results, so we fished likely areas on the way back. John managed three mangrove snappers that were fun, but too small to keep.
Wednesday - We had breakfast and decided to try Turtle Beach with the kayaks. We saw a lot of action, but they were mullet. John talked to a mullet fisherman afterwards, and he said that he has not seen any reds or trout in this area yet.
Thursday - In the morning, we stopped at Family Optical and picked out new glasses for John. We will pick them up after we return in January. Afterwards, we drove over to Shamrock Park to check out the ICW there. John fished there from shore, but again nothing. We talked to an older gentleman who fishes there every day and he said that he hasn't caught any fish there for a couple of weeks. Our friends, Bruce & Cheryl pulled in to their site down a few from us. We enjoyed getting caught up with them.
Friday - The four of us went on a nature with the assistant park manager, Jerry. He was very informative about the history of the park and things that are being done to maintain the habitat for plants and animals. In the evening we went back to the jetty with our friends and watched the sunset and huge waves coming in and breaking on the seawall. Finally we all went to the nature center where they showed "A Christmas Story" and served popcorn and cookies.
Saturday - Today we joined our friends in biking the Legacy Trail to the Venice Train Station and later kayaking South Creek. When we got back from that, we enjoyed a presentation by the naturalist on bald eagles. We biked about 14 miles today and kayaked about 5. Finally we went over to the amphitheater for cookies and hot chocolate and participated in a karaoke style Christmas carol singalong.
Sunday - We said goodbye to our friends this morning, had breakfast and went on an explore. We wanted to see if there was action on the Venice Pier, so we began there. Negative! We next went to Casperson Park and walked around there fore awhile. They continue to make improvements to an already very nice place. We checked with a few folks fishing there, but nothing biting. It is beginning to warm up after a significant cold snap.
Monday - We hung out around the campground and took several walks/hikes. Later in the day, we drove down to the Inlet and watched the sunset. It was a beautiful evening.
Tuesday - Merry Christmas friends. We pray the day finds you well and full of joy at the birth of our Lord and Savior.


View Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/OscarSchererSPDec1726

Colt Creek SP (Nov 23)

This park is one of Florida's newest, and is only a few miles from us. It was a cool, bright day, with a moderate wind. Instead of waiting in lines today, we chose to cast our lines. We began fishing at the pier, but after 15 minutes of not seeing any action by ourselves or the others, we decided to move on. There is little on this lake where there is access to the water due to heavy weed cover, so we headed to the other lake. Joan used a foam hopper and John used a small plastic worm. Finally, John hooked a nice bass just off the weeds, but it got itself wrapped up in them and broke off. That was the total extent of our action. This was actually more than anyone else we saw.
We were blessed to see many water birds, a buck deer, two alligators, many horses (with riders), and two huge hornets nests.

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E. G. Simmons County Park - Reprise (Nov 15)

It was overcast and spitting rain a little, but the tides were predicted to be so good we went anyway. It didn't rain at all after we got here, but the fishing was rather slow. We caught four trout between us, but they were all undersized. John had a nice snook on, but it jumped and spit the hook. It was a pleasant day and nice to see our friend Mike from Trackrock who stopped by to say hi. We stopped at Pizza Hut on the way home. It was quite good.

View Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/114754015214438395393/EGSimmonsCountyParkRepriseNov15

Honeymoon Island (Nov 13)

We went with Skip & Shirley today and launched the kayaks on the causeway leading to the island. We paddled quite a distance towards the island and began fishing when we saw fish rolling. The first fish caught was a ladyfish that John got, followed quickly by a Spanish mackerel that Joan brought to the boat. Joan caught another mackerel and John caught a keeper trout and too many ladyfish to count. It was a beautiful day to fish and good action. The traffic getting to this area is heavy, with many traffic lights.

View Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/114754015214438395393/HoneymoonIslandNov13

E. G. Simmons County Park - Ruskin (Nov 5)

We got to the park about 10:30 and launched the kayaks from shore at the end of the road past the boat ramp and playground. We went out into the flats and fished around the channel. John had the hot hand today with three keeper sized trout, one small and one keeper sizes flounder. John measured the fish according to the small paddle we use to position the kayak while fishing and the trout were about 15". We like them to be about 16" or larger, because they are easier to fillet. taking pictures of trout is quite difficult, because they never stop fighting, and are very hard to hold onto. Both of us caught numerous ladyfish, which are a lot of fun on a fly rod. the first thing they do when hooked is to jump way out of the water. We became interested in a group of manatees that were very active at the far end of a bay we were fishing. There was a lot of churning waters and flailing flippers. We thought it was most likely mating activity and confirmed that by looking it up when we got home. It was a gorgeous day, with temp in the upper 70s, with hazy skies. This is a beautiful park, with many bays and channels to fish. We stopped for Chinese on the way home.

View Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/114754015214438395393/EGSimmonsParkRuskinNov5

Jenkins Creek (Nov 2)

We launched our kayaks and headed out to the grass flats. The tide was low and just beginning to come in. We saw some action and John caught a needlefish, followed by a pinfish, and eventually a pufferfish, to complete the "junkfish slam". Later he caught a small (9 inch) sea trout, then just before returning to the launch, an 11 inch mangrove snapper that put up a good fight. It was a perfect day for kayaking, with a nice breeze to keep us cool.

View Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/114754015214438395393/JenkinsCreekNov2