Econlockhatchee Report

Thank you for reading this Econlockhatchee Report. It wasn’t supposed to be an Econlockhatchee Report, but that’s how it played out.

Subscribers without photos- go to https://www.spottedtail.com/blog/, please.

Monday morning at 0830, Susan dropped me off at the 419 bridge over the Econ. Even though the algae sign was still there, the water was not green, so I launched the canoe and went.

This greeted me as soon as I launched the canoe.

The gauge was at 0.77, and I’d say the water is too low, not for fishing, but for paddling. It was a ten-mile-long obstacle course. I went over, under, and around log jams, and had to drag or carry the boat in a lot of places.

Yes, it was an obstacle course.

At 1630 I arrived at Snow Hill Road, pretty well spent, having caught a handful of bass. Didn’t have much fishing time because of the obstacles. Still it was a beautiful day with lots of birds- an eagle (three times), a couple swallow-tailed kites, a few limpkins, woodpeckers, hawks, and the usual assortment of herons and ibis. I saw an ibis with a little fish in its beak, never saw that before. There were lots of fish, although they were mostly Plecostomus and tilapia. Did see a school of channel cats, never saw that before, either. And of course the giant reptiles, can’t forget those.

In a perverse way it was fun, but I’m going to want more water before I try it again!

Tuesday I fabricated a camera mount for my canoe. It’s not a piece of art, but does the job. Afterwards it got tested on Lake Mills. It worked pretty well.

Wednesday found me on a different stretch of the Econlockhatchee, with the new camera mount. The river, still low, was much easier to negotiate in this stretch. Fishing was OK (although the fish were running small) and the pictures were pretty good. But at home, a problem developed with my photo software.

Fly fishing from the canoe…

…produced several bass, if no big ones.

Got this very hungry bluegill, too.

Used the spin pole as well!

A nicely rigged Culprit worm.

After ducking under the tree.

I wanted to fish Thursday. But what happened was a visit to the Apple Store, not nearly as much fun. It was time for a new computer and the photo software issue clinched it. Cha Ching.

Apple gave me a 10 percent discount for being a veteran. Of course there was a catch- I had to order the machine on-line. We did that at the Apple Store, but I couldn’t walk out with it- it had to be delivered. On Friday.

So instead of fishing Friday, I sat around and waited for the new computer to arrive. It did, nice and safe. So now I have two computers, a funky, balky old one and a shiny new one.

I intend to spend more time fishing next week.

That’s my Econlockhatchee Report. As always, thanks for reading!

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

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

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