This will be the second year in a row I took an escape after my band's MPA. It is nice after a busy few weeks to take some time to do something I enjoy that takes a little extra time and money.
On Thursday night I met my BBFL in Lake City (armpit of the south) and we drove to Brevard NC, arriving around 1:30am. This trip we decided to step it up a notch and take a break from camping and stay 3 nights using AirBnB....good choice!
We started riding on Friday, with our first set of trails totally just over 13 miles and climbing over 1000 ft.
Riding in FL can get our butt ready for the pounding, but not much can prepare you for the climbing! It usually takes an hour or so to get the blood flowing into your legs, but once it starts the climbs get easier. Besides a minor tumble these trails paid off with stunning views of NC:
Day 2 started fine, until my bike took a shit. Here is a picture I took of a waterfall before an hour long walk/coast downhill to the car:
And the ride details:
Luckily Dupont State Forest is close to Brevard (14 miles) and we were able to snag a rental bike (sweet $3000 full suspension!) for the remainder of the day. Big shout out to The Hub for their AWESOME and FRIENDLY service to help me out so far from home.
The remainder of the ride was insane, with 1500' of climbing and 2 BIG descents. Here is the ride map/elevation profile:
Brevard/Dupont was a success, and in my top 3 favorite riding destinations I have visited yet (Raccoon Mountain and the McKenzie River Trail are on my list too). As much fun as the $3000 bike was, I can't justify owning one here in flat FL.....Good times!
I have had the great pleasure of taking some of my family and friends in the past 2 weeks. While I enjoy the solitude of fishing, it is nice to share the experience of hooking into a nice fish with people who don't normally get to do that.
I took my co-teacher out, on the paddle board, last Monday. It took my friend a while to get the hang of the board, but once he did it was fish-a-palooza. Although the day was on the slow side, we did bring home a flounder and lower slot red.
This past weekend I took out my step-dad, who is a few times a year fisherman, but a manly man all the way. I rented him a fishing kayak, and we were off!
We fished the outgoing as well as the incoming and got a inshore slam!
Also, the tide was VERY low. We almost didn't make it through what I call the "wormhole". It is hard to tell by the below picture, but that kayak is in 3" of water!
After the day out with dad I took the afternoon on Sunday for solitude and strictly artificial. It was a great example of perfect conditions and slow fishing...did manage a 24" red though.
I know this has been a terse report, but that ok. Stay tuned for a report on my recent fly fishing endeavors.....yikes!
The weather in NE FL this time of year is either sunny and mild or windy as hell.
Last weekend I had a chance to experience a 48 hour window of < 5 wind at ALL times and temperatures in the mid 60's.
I started the weekend waking up before 6am and heading to a launch called "Cedar Point". One of the local guides, Capt Rich Santos, frequents this area and has a fantastic youtube channel showcasing this NE corner of the Timucuan Preserve.
I launched just before sunrise and paddled up horseshoe creek at dead low tide. No wind/low tide= EASY sight fishing. I immediately saw a school of tailing redfish as well as some "lone wolves" chasing bait, which was great considering that the air temps were in the mid 40's.
Here is a quick video I made of the morning:
I caught two redfish in the low 20" range, but sight casting to them and hooking up was a thrill.
The bite slowed down and I was off the water by 10am. Fun morning!
Sunday I started the day early with by teaching buddy on his 28ft Pro Sport ProKat. We ran 18 miles offshore St Augustine to similar conditions as the day before....glassy seas!
Our first spot was in 85 ft of water, with a 30ft high school of snapper under the boat. Between the 4 of us we had to have caught over 100 snapper....too bad the season isn't until later in the year :(
Our second spot produced sea bass in the 13"-20" range and we kept 20!
Fast forward to this weekend to find temps barely in the 50's and wind well over 20kts. My best friend and I planned on fishing this weekend so out in the shitty weather we went!
Every time I bring someone out fishing on the boards I use live bait, and my clutch live bait is mud minnows on a jig head.
Despite the TERRIBLE weather we got 2 reds in the slot, which was a thrill for my friend, who doesn't fish on the regular.
I don't keep many fish these days (I am sick of it) but my friend brought these home and sent me this pick of the fish in the Big Green Egg-
I had a Disney engineer once tell me after a monorail crash that minor holes in the design's several fail safe contributed to the accident. This is what is commonly known as the "Swiss Cheese Effect".
Flip it around and you can call Tuesday's combination of weather, tides, water temperature, and the luxury of leaving work early the St Augustine's inshore fisherman's swiss-cheese-a-palooza.
I left work around 2:30p to a < 2 mpg east wind, overcast skies, and a low tide at 4:12p.
Low tide is the best time to fish because it allows you to see where the oyster beds are and it also forces the fish our of hiding.
High Tide
Low Tide
Working in St Augustine allows me to fish some areas I wouldn't normally have the chance to on the weekend. Hospital creek was the destination. This creek is not one of the most popular because it is literally in the middle of town and the guys with the boats can run up the intercostal to the more secluded creeks.
The launch is a huge pain in the ass if you don't have some type of secure foot protection. During low tide you have to carefully walk your gear down and avoid slipping in the ankle deep mud.
This trip was really about exploring. After passing under the bridge for the deaf and blind school I immediately spooked a large school of reds...oops.
After paddling around I hooked into my personal best flounder- 17.5"
After securing the flattie in my cooler I worked a quarter mile stretch of oysters and caught a few rat reds....yawn.
I kept watching the spot I spooked the school of reds and after about an hour they didn't just come back but they decided it was time to eat.
I picked this 25" Red from the school!
People ask how I fish off my board....here is a glimpse:
Also my first grouper off the board!
I am planning on trying this spot again this weekend.....more to come.
Jacksonville is a cool area if you know where to go. One of my favorite areas to go explore is the roughly 36 square miles of tidal marshes north of Heckscher drive.
This is a tricky area for boating and even more challenging for a human powered vessel. Every day there is a tidal difference of about 7 feet- meaning that a 7 foot wall of water enters and leaves our river area twice a day. This translates to strong currents (which change every few hours) eddies, and changing topography.
One I paddled 13 miles around Fort George Island in the summer- It was hot as tits.
Barge Traffic
Mayport Shrimp Boats
The floating dock at Kingsley Plantation
Portage across Huguenot Park
I caught my first slot redfish in Browns Creek the day after Christmas- It was awesome
Before
After
Here are some more pictures to highlight my other adventures in this area-
I went from 213lbs to 198ish before Oregon, which is a good thing. Luckily I maintained my weight while in Oregon because of the physical activity I did while there. I got back on Wednesday and ate UBER healthy until tonight....where I unleashed the cast iron deep dish pizza.....here are some pics.
Saugage, peppers,jalapeños, basil, chunks of asiago and mozzarella, and garlic.....woah dude.
Getting to know one another
15 minutes at 500 degrees....hell?
No stick no problem...cast iron ftw
Don't eat your computer monitor
yeeeesssssss
I don't know why it turned out so well, i.e. not sticking or bursting info flames, but I'll take it.
Liz and I just got back form a trip to Oregon....it was amazing. I could write for hours and pages but instead I am just going to post this photo album....enjoy!
