I decided this past Sunday that the Canoe needed to hit the water again. Its been too long. ReelMojo and I decided to launch and do a 12 mile paddle down river. Of course.... a little fishing was on the agenda. Deciding to keep it simple, I stayed with the same setup that I had a few days earlier. 1/16 oz Chartreuse Road Runner with a gulp Minnow. So far that has been a good combo.
The paddle took us a about 5 hours and the water was LOW. We hit quite a few rocks and on one set of rapids put a small hole in the front of the canoe. We kept plowing right along though.
The weather was great and the views definitely "Old Florida." The fish were in the deeper spots with less current flow. If you found some structure, in most cases it was fish on. Stumpknockers were small - decent sized but still fun. The ones I did take went with the Bluegill from the day before. There were bass there but they tended to be more spooky.
What amazed me the most was how isolated you appeared to be out there. The Alafia is a jewel.
Tightlines and enjoy the pics.
Fishindad
This final pic is the past 2 trips catches combined.
SWEET EATS
Where did y'all put in, over near Alderman's Ford? We used to come down from Lakeland and hit the Alafia 2 or 3 times during the warm months. Always had a great time.
Yup. Put in at Aldermans. The water was LOW. I actually put a hole in the front of my canoe going over one of the rapids and hitting a rock. Nothing a little fiberglass repair kit wont fix. It was sure nice out there though.
It's a beautiful stretch of water. I've been down it once from Alderman's Ford all the way into Tampa Bay, came home with a cooler full of bass, bluegill, catfish, redfish, trout, flounder, and snook. That was back around 1983, but I remember it like yesterday!
