Double Haul
03-22-2012, 10:03 PM
These Suwannee’s are Beautiful but Expensive / Exploring God’s World
The sun was just peeking over the pines and we were cruising the South Georgia back roads on our way to North Florida for m churches annual canoe trip. We had ambitious plans of boating some of the fabled Florida strain swamp donkeys that inhabited the destination’s rivers when something happened. A strap popped loose and Pirate Wader’s boat kissed the concrete. We stopped as soon as we saw the boat hanging vertically off of the tailgate but the long smooch would prove too much for Pirate Wader’s beloved Guide 119.
.
Next time you take a sip of a cool refreshing beverage, pour a little on the ground in honor of PW’s deceased 119. This homeboy has seen some river fishing but is now going to pasture in the farm ponds of pike county. We checked to see if we lost any other items and it appeared everything was there. Later on down the road we decided to back track so we could borrow a kayak from my cousin. We also realized that one of Pirate wader’s paddles was missing as well as 2 spare rods that did not have reels on them. Some one else must have beat us to the paddle and the rods because they were nowhere to be found. The Value of the boat: 350$, the rods: 250$, the paddle: 150$. When you throw in gas at 180$, this is starting to get expensive. We licked our wounds and hit the road again with a borrowed replacement yak and new straps. http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/002-2.jpgFour hours later, we were setting up camp on the banks of a river that teemed with wildlife more than any river I have seen.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/003-1.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/004-2.jpg
We had enough time for a quick paddle up and caught 4 suwannee’s between the 2 of us. I caught mine punching a speedcraw through matted vegetations as Andrew scored with a buzz frog and a trick worm. We hit camp with high expectations for tommorow’s float.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/010.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/005-2.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/011.jpg
We hit the water early and were ready to start catching bass but the bass had other plans. We paddled up a spring creek and were in awe of how clear the water was. This blue hole was 50 feet deep and we could see the bottom in low light conditions. Unfortunately my camera would not work so maybe Andrew will post some pics of the spring.
We pushed on. We found an area where Suwannee bass were sitting in every open sandy pocket but these fish would not hit anything we threw. To make matters worse, we saw a rather large woman in a bikini catch a bass on a Zebco 33. Ouch!!! That hurt in so many ways. I knew we were entering the latter stages of a skunk when Pirate Wader was considering throwing an egg weight and a treble hook at the numerous schools of mullet that we encountered. All I could do was laugh at how bad the fishing was and just lay back and enjoy the scenic beauty and wildlife that the river offered up. I then decided to change my tactics from flipping and finesse sight fishing to power fishing with a spinner bait. On my third cast of burning a spinnerbait over the grass I was rewarded with a heavy thump remniscent of a shoalie bite. I was so ready to end the skunk that I swung this beauty in the boat like Saturday morning Bassmasters.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/2012-03-17_15-37-11_389.jpg
Pirate wader also ended his skunk by burning a spinnerbait.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/006-1.jpg
He also caught a largemouth on a buzz frog.
All in all, we caught a total of 8 bass. At a trip cost of $930, That means that each bass cost $116.25 a piece. This all begs the question: Was it worth it? Can you really put a price on a Suwannee bass or the opportunity to explore the unique waters they inhabit? We camped with members of my church and many other churches. We heard some great sermons that we probably needed to hear. We met some really great people and the money we spent to sign up for the trip funded a small mission trip to repair a half way house. While I don’t think Pirate wader and I could afford to lose this much gear on every trip, this trip not only gave us an opportunity to catch fish but a chance to focus on more important issues of spirituality as we explored God’s World.
James 5:16
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/2012-03-17_09-18-04_390.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/2012-03-17_14-35-16_808.jpg
The sun was just peeking over the pines and we were cruising the South Georgia back roads on our way to North Florida for m churches annual canoe trip. We had ambitious plans of boating some of the fabled Florida strain swamp donkeys that inhabited the destination’s rivers when something happened. A strap popped loose and Pirate Wader’s boat kissed the concrete. We stopped as soon as we saw the boat hanging vertically off of the tailgate but the long smooch would prove too much for Pirate Wader’s beloved Guide 119.
.
Next time you take a sip of a cool refreshing beverage, pour a little on the ground in honor of PW’s deceased 119. This homeboy has seen some river fishing but is now going to pasture in the farm ponds of pike county. We checked to see if we lost any other items and it appeared everything was there. Later on down the road we decided to back track so we could borrow a kayak from my cousin. We also realized that one of Pirate wader’s paddles was missing as well as 2 spare rods that did not have reels on them. Some one else must have beat us to the paddle and the rods because they were nowhere to be found. The Value of the boat: 350$, the rods: 250$, the paddle: 150$. When you throw in gas at 180$, this is starting to get expensive. We licked our wounds and hit the road again with a borrowed replacement yak and new straps. http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/002-2.jpgFour hours later, we were setting up camp on the banks of a river that teemed with wildlife more than any river I have seen.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/003-1.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/004-2.jpg
We had enough time for a quick paddle up and caught 4 suwannee’s between the 2 of us. I caught mine punching a speedcraw through matted vegetations as Andrew scored with a buzz frog and a trick worm. We hit camp with high expectations for tommorow’s float.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/010.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/005-2.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/011.jpg
We hit the water early and were ready to start catching bass but the bass had other plans. We paddled up a spring creek and were in awe of how clear the water was. This blue hole was 50 feet deep and we could see the bottom in low light conditions. Unfortunately my camera would not work so maybe Andrew will post some pics of the spring.
We pushed on. We found an area where Suwannee bass were sitting in every open sandy pocket but these fish would not hit anything we threw. To make matters worse, we saw a rather large woman in a bikini catch a bass on a Zebco 33. Ouch!!! That hurt in so many ways. I knew we were entering the latter stages of a skunk when Pirate Wader was considering throwing an egg weight and a treble hook at the numerous schools of mullet that we encountered. All I could do was laugh at how bad the fishing was and just lay back and enjoy the scenic beauty and wildlife that the river offered up. I then decided to change my tactics from flipping and finesse sight fishing to power fishing with a spinner bait. On my third cast of burning a spinnerbait over the grass I was rewarded with a heavy thump remniscent of a shoalie bite. I was so ready to end the skunk that I swung this beauty in the boat like Saturday morning Bassmasters.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/2012-03-17_15-37-11_389.jpg
Pirate wader also ended his skunk by burning a spinnerbait.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/006-1.jpg
He also caught a largemouth on a buzz frog.
All in all, we caught a total of 8 bass. At a trip cost of $930, That means that each bass cost $116.25 a piece. This all begs the question: Was it worth it? Can you really put a price on a Suwannee bass or the opportunity to explore the unique waters they inhabit? We camped with members of my church and many other churches. We heard some great sermons that we probably needed to hear. We met some really great people and the money we spent to sign up for the trip funded a small mission trip to repair a half way house. While I don’t think Pirate wader and I could afford to lose this much gear on every trip, this trip not only gave us an opportunity to catch fish but a chance to focus on more important issues of spirituality as we explored God’s World.
James 5:16
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/2012-03-17_09-18-04_390.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l514/rcausey407/2012-03-17_14-35-16_808.jpg