Loving the Gulf of Mexico
Trip Start
Nov 19, 2007
1
169
172
Trip End
Ongoing
Port Saint Joe, Florida, United States
Friday, October 30, 2009
We pulled into the park without reservations and asked the ranger for a site as close to the water as possible. Not bothering to set up, we headed right to the beach for a long walk and swim.
The beach is bright white, fine sugar sand and the water is a greenish blue that is still warm enough to swim in. We walked, swam, stopped to talk with fishermen and ultimately reached a stretch that was uninhabited for as far as our eyes could see. It was great to be back on the Gulf.
I got my fishing gear with the hopes of catching some fish for dinner and headed back to the beach to find a spot that looked good. It didn't take long to start catching whiting, but none of them were big enough to bother with
fishing on St.Josephs Peninsula
. With the sun approaching the horizon, Jodie took off to take a shower and I stayed with continued high hopes. Just as the sun set I hooked something big and off it went out into the deep water. I kept getting it close to shore and then it would take off again. Each time it was almost landed I strained to see what it was, but there was very little light to see by. In the end, it was a 25" Redfish and Jodie cooked it up within 1/2 an hour of catching it. It provided a delicious dinner and lunch the next day. Fish doesn't get much fresher than that.Sat. Oct. 31st.
Halloween brought some of the best fishing I've ever had. The sky was overcast and the wind was coming from the west at about 15-20 mph. I lost track of how many fish I caught and it got so hectic that I had to stop fishing with 2 poles and use only one. After about 1 hr. I ran through 4 dozen shrimp (cut in half) and started using cut bait from some of the smaller fish. It was amazing and we ended up keeping 3 big sailcats, 2 blues, whiting and black drum. It was incredible.
Sun. Nov. 1st.
We got a lesson in casting a bait net from our new friend Larry, one of the campground hosts. He is an excellent teacher that conveys everything you need to know in a clear, patient and methodical manner. Within 10 minutes, we were both casting round, open falling spreads of the net in an empty campsite. Larry let us borrow the cast net while we were in the park and we both used it from the bridge on the bay side of the park
Andy's 25 inch Red Drum
. It didn't take long and we had all of the bait we needed for another good day of fishing.Mon. Nov. 2nd.
We took a 6 mile ride into town and got some supplies at a small store. The wind was so strong on the way back that we both had to drop down into 2nd gear to peddle into it.
The beach side of the park was calm, so we took a long walk and came upon an eerie and troubling discovery. With nobody else around and no evidence of anyone out in the water, we found a beach blanket laying about 25 feet from the water. There was a towel, a small bag and....a blue artificial leg. We looked again, nobody was around. Images of a drowned 1 legged swimmer or a suicide or a shark attack, kept creeping into our minds. What should we do? We looked even further out to sea and there we saw the splashing from 1, no 2, no, 3 swimmers, way, way out there just within our vision. They were swimming parallel to shore far beyond any distance either of us had ever seen swimmers venture. What a relief and yet an unsettling relief at that. We walked on...
Mon Nov. 9th.
After lots of fishing, biking, walking on the beach and getting to know our new friends Larry and Julie, we took off heading north to avoid oncoming hurricane Ida. The weather reports were ominous and everyone evacuated the park as a light rain began to fall. One thing is for sure, you don't want to be caught in a hurricane in a motor home.
Comments
I like the new site format . the panhandle has always been my favorite part of the state. glade to see you are still biking the wind is just as rough on you as hills. have a good thanksgiving.