Skonker Paloozer

Skonker Paloozer Photo Essay

Thanks for reading this week’s post, Skonker Paloozer. Mike Conneen came up with the name, ‘though I doubt that’s how he’d spell it.

Mike and I just finished a fishing road trip. Although the trip was great, fishing was WAY less than stellar, thus the name.

We started at Raysville Campground, on Clarks Hill Reservoir in Thompson, Georgia.

 

Nice place, nearly deserted when we were there. The first evening, fish were breaking in the lake. I went down with a Clouser Minnow and got a 10-inch bass almost immediately. I took this as a good omen. It was not.

My tent on our site.

 

Lake at dusk.

 

Launch sequence initiated!

 

Mike and River, on the lake.

We launched our vessels the next morning. I got a 12-inch bass at my first stop on the same fly. I took this as a good omen. It was not. Neither of us had another strike all day. And, I lost my favorite pocketknife besides.

How River goes fishing.

 

 

Dawn, Hunting Beach.

Our next stop was Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina, a beautiful place. I went fishing just as a cold front arrived. I later had to use a dryer to get the water out of my clothes, including my raincoat. I did get a redfish and a flounder while fishing through the deluge, the only ones I would get the entire trip. Mike stayed ashore during the rain and launched after it stopped. His luck was identical to mine, minus getting soaking wet.

The Lone Redfish, Kimosabe.

 

Night sky from the beach. Mars is the brightest “star”, and you can see Taurus and the Pleiades as well as Orion.

 

Boardwalk through the Marsh at HISP.

 

Bridge to Hunting Island. The marsh is tremendous. You know there are fish there somewhere!

We tried a creek through the marsh the next day, launching on a low rising tide. Neither of us touched a fish all day.

Marsh dusk, HISP.

 

Fort McAllister.

 

River and Mike get silly.

Another day, another move. Next was Fort McAllister State Park. The fort is a well-preserved Civil War earthworks fort, with a museum, very well presented. We launched on a salt creek on a high, outgoing tide and hit it hard all day. Neither of us touched a fish, on anything we tried. We did not try bait, however.

We were camped on an island.

 

There was lots of wildlife!

 

Mike is amazing!

 

Dawn, Fort McAllister State Park.

 

Sunset, Fort McAllister State Park.

 

Our final stop was Crooked River State Park. We launched on the Crooked River on a high, outgoing tide and hit it hard all day. Mike got a few reds and trout at a single spot he lucked into. I got a small trout and hooked and lost one other one. The redfish habitat here looked superb- mud flats interspersed with large and plentiful oyster mounds (featuring live oysters), surrounded by thousands of acres of Spartina grass. But I did not see or touch a red all day.

 

Local wildlife.

 

There were lots of oysters.

 

This guy is still waiting for his first Crooked River bite.

So, in ten days, I got five small fish. Skunkapallooza, indeed! As frustrating as the fishing was, we had wonderful if chilly weather most days. The stargazing was tremendous. Sunrises and sunsets likewise, awesome. We saw plenty of wildlife. The company was awesome. And we didn’t need the first aid kit! It certainly could have gone worse.

As some clever shmuck (me) once said, “I usually have to pay a lot of money to get fishing like this!”

We got home Tuesday. Thursday I launched the kayak in Mosquito Lagoon- one snooklet, two redfish, including one about 20 pounds, and three solid trout, one on fly. And a fly-caught puffer, as a bonus I guess. It helps to know the spots, since none of them were sight-fished.

First fish. Took about 20 minutes.

 

A couple trout in, this red took the lure.

 

Attack of the snooklet!

 

This beast decided to play, too.

 

That’s the Skonker Paloozer report. Thanks for reading!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Take a walk! Stay active!

John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2022. All rights are reserved.

Sienna Mini-Camper Van- The First Trip

Sienna Mini-Camper Van- The First Trip

camper enjoying campfire
At our Davidson River campground site.

 

This blog post is about the Sienna mini-camper van- the first trip! It was to North Carolina and it was delightful!

The Plan

Our plan had several threads-

-stay off the interstate as much as possible
-visit Susan’s sister in Athens, Georgia
-visit Jim and Kathy Tedesco in western North Carolina
-hook up with John Gilbert
-go hiking
-go fishing
-and perhaps most importantly, test the livability of the mini-camper and make notes on necessary tweaks.

As a result of all of this, the post may be long for some readers. My apologies.

Plan Into Action

On a Friday morning we were loaded up and were off. Our goal that evening was Suwannee River State Park. We took SR 46 to US 441 to US 90. The construction on 46 made driving that portion unpleasant.

US 441 was a succession of ugly strip malls until we were past Ocala. After that it was lovely. We stopped at a pull-off at Paynes Prairie State Park. A boardwalk went out onto the lake there. Under the boardwalk was a large alligator. There were three guys there. One was leaning over the rail, arm extended, phone in hand, taking pictures of the alligator. I said to him, “Don’t drop your phone.” He said, “If I drop it, he can have it!”

pier, Paynes Prarie State Park
The pier at Paynes Prarie

 

alligator
Waiting for a telephone.

 

Lake City is not a place you’d want to visit.

 

 

Suwannee River State Park was pleasant. I’d had an idea of fishing there but the water was too high. We went for a short walk, with beautiful views of the confluence of the Suwannee and Withlacoochie rivers. We hadn’t budgeted much time there, not enough to see the place.

 

 

confluence of WIthlacoochie and Suwannee Rivers
At the confluence…

 

Susan, SRSP

Sleepy Time

Soon enough it was time to test the camper. I’d slept in it once but Susan had not. She suffers from claustrophobia. Would we have to turn around and go home?

We had too much stuff in the Sienna mini-camper van. The cooler took lots of our floor room, and her portapottie took the rest. I had hung a cargo net for our bulky clothes items. We laid down on the bed with our heads to the back of the van and she said, “I can’t do this.” “Do a spin!” I said. “Put your head at the other end.”

It worked. That’s how we sleep in the van now, with our heads forward.

The mattress that we bought on Amazon was awesome. We were very comfortable, even though the cargo net was in our faces.

On to Georgia

Due to the distance to Athens, we spent three hours on I-75 before hitting more back roads through some lovely Georgia countryside. The cotton was ripe in the fields. There were big bales of it, round, like hay bales. We didn’t stop, though- we had an agenda.

It was great seeing Kathleen, it had been a long time since I had. Visiting is weird in pandemic time. We sat outside, with masks on. No hugs, no kisses. Hopefully no COVID either. Two of Kathy’s children and some of her grandchildren were visiting too. The kids made happy noises until after dark, while we told stories, shared old memories, and laughed.

Davidson River

Susan and I slept in the van, and left for North Carolina the next morning. All beautiful back roads, with 15 MPH speed limits where the switchbacks were. Setting up camp once at Davidson River campground was a breeze- just prep the kitchen!

If I could have dialed up whatever weather I wanted for this trip, I could not have done as good a job as what we actually got. Cool, crisp nights, warm, cloudless, sunny days, just spectacular.

The next morning Jim Tedesco showed up with flies and fly rods, and waders for Susan. We all went fishing in the Davidson. Fishing wasn’t epic but we got a couple of trout and had a lot of fun. They day passed quickly, too much so.

on the Davidson

 

tiny rainbow trout
My soft hackle trout

 

Jim was there again the next morning. We went to Pink Beds hiking trail and took a five mile walk through autumn woods.

At the trailhead, Pink Beds

 

map of the trail, at the trailhead

 

Jim and Susan pose along the trail.

 

The autumn colors were beautiful.

 

This was a snack stop.

 

Another spot along the trail.

 

After lunch we went hiking up a tributary of the Davidson, wearing waders, carrying fly rods. We found some trout up there and on a dry fly I caught one of the smallest ones I ever have, little larger than a salmon smolt.

fly fishermen
Jim and Susan work a pool.

 

waterfall
This fall drops into the pool shown above.

 

Susan works a different pool.

 

Wednesday Jim and Kathy came to pick up Susan, and John Gilbert came to pick up me. Sue was going sightseeing, I was going fishing. Gilbert and I fished all morning, returning to the campsite for lunch. There was a magical moment there when a gust of breeze knocked a lot of leaves off the trees. We watched, spellbound, as the leaves drifted down like giant, colorful snowflakes falling from a cerulean sky.

fly fisherman
John Gilbert works a pool on the Davidson.

 

We fished all afternoon, too. Neither of us touched a fish all day. At least one of us didn’t care.

Back Roads Take Longer

Thursday saw Susan and I packing our van and rolling out. We intended to stay at Crooked River State Park in Georgia that night, again travelling by back roads.

These roads were really slow, at first because they were steep and curvy, and then because there were lots of small towns. At lunchtime we were a quarter of the distance we had to go. We had lunch at a local eatery in Clinton, South Carolina. Then we hit the interstate. As it was we pulled into our campsite at sunset, after a very long day in the van.

Heading Home

In the morning we pulled out, looking forward to sleeping in our bed at home that evening. We again took back roads, thus avoiding I-95 through Jacksonville.

For lunch we stopped at a fantastic little eatery in Palatka, Caribbean 450. I wish it was closer to home!

Things We Learned

A few of the things we learned on this trip-

-we need to learn how to better budget our time on the back roads. I think 200 or 250 miles is the most you can comfortably expect to drive in one day. If you want to stop and visit at interesting places, and we do, then it will be less.

-our cooler, an absolutely awesome Orion 65, kept our food cold with only two gallons of ice for the entire trip. Sadly, it’s just too big for the van. I think we need a small refrigerator.

the cabinets were a must-have. They came in so handy!

-the cargo net needs to be moved further aft, if I can manufacture attachment points back there.

-most importantly, camping in the minivan is entirely viable. We had room for our clothes, cameras, fishing gear, books, computers, food and kitchen gear, books- everything we need to make an extended trip. And it’s comfortable!

We’re already planning another trip!

Special thanks go out to Jim and Kathy Tedesco and to John Gilbert for helping to make our trip so memorable!

A few facts from the trip-

Distance travelled- 1,427 miles

Average fuel economy for the Sienna- 22.9 miles per gallon

Expenditure for fuel- $125.27

Thanks for reading about our Sienna mini-camper van- the first trip!

 

No affiliate links are included in this blog. If/when we start adding them, we will add a disclaimer. All links are for the reader’s benefit.