One Fish, Two Fish, Bluefish, Four Fish

We were driving around and checking out some neighborhoods - this model house had a cool quad set of fish paintings. Looks like watercolors. The houses were nice too

Fishing Report 10/28/2014

We went to Browns Creek Fish Camp yesterday afternoon. Free fishing on their pier on Tuesdays. I took the kids over to check it out. Caught a couple of pigfish and Noe landed a menhaden - more practice of the "catching the smallest fish" philosophy.

Fishing Report 10/26/2014

With the loss of my two workhorse rods (I'll say it again - some bastard stole my Epic 686 and the St Croix Tidemaster from my truck), I'm having to use other rods (which is ok - I needed to use the others) to fish. Even though it was way overkill, I rigged up the TFO Mangrove 9wt. Lots of rod just to fish for needlefish. The cork filler started to crumble - I'll have to get used to the voids left (right where I put my thumb and index fingers... - the old adage "you get what you pay for" proves itself again). I'll still cast this rod - I'm sure it'll grow on me. I think this rod wants a heavier line (like a 10wt). I'll try it again soon with an added sink tip extension to see if that perks up the casting. This fish took the Bloody Guts fly and was jumping a bit - enough to attract an observant osprey. The bird picked up the needlefish while it was entangled in the fly, and started to make off with it. It didn't get far before the line went tight and the needlefish slipped from it's grasp. That doesn't happen everyday.... I also saw a few other fish (maybe slot reds) rolling in the shallow surf, and stepped on a couple of fleshy (and angry) fish - maybe a flounder??? Nice day in the surf flyfishing!

Fishing Report 10/24/2014

We went fishing at the jetty - at two different spots. We caught Pinfish, Pigfish, a tiny Black Sea Bass and a couple of Rock Blennies. The wind was in our faces so it was hard fishing. NOTE: My ST Croix Tidemaster (with Shimano Symetry) and my Barclay built Epic 686 (with Abel Super 5N reel) was stolen from my truck bed while we slept at the RV campground. BASTARDS!!!! I loved that Epic 686/Abel...

Florida Museum of Natural History

If you are in the North/Central Florida area, this museum is a must do. I found the quality of the exhibits to be even better than the ones we had visited earlier this year (Smithsonian and Carnegie). There was a decent Megalodon and Shark relative traveling exhibit. There were some really cool paintings of different sharks from a "Shark-alphabet" book. We liked the art so much we bought the book. There was a coastal zone exhibit. The neat thing about this was they had an extensive description of the animals and plants in the salt marshes (so I can tie up better flies). I'm proud to say the kids could identify nearly all the animals in the water column display (and they've probably held or touched a live one of each throughout the summer). Like most museums, there are some really wonderful gems to be found if you take the time to look at the displays tucked in the corners. This fishing one really brought to light how man's practices can not possibly be sustained. I can personally attest to just how much fun it is to catch fish - but we all must make decisions to keep or release the ones we catch. I have kept some and I have release a ton more, but I know I can do better. The fossil exhibit was the crown jewel of this museum - one of the best and most informative displays I've seen to date. We paid the extra fee to go through the Butterfly Rainforest exhibit and it was totally worth it! Tremendous butterfly density and superb plants! This is by far the best butterfly exhibit we've been to. I was proud to show my family the awesome learning center that I had spent so much of my time at decades ago. UF is a pretty cool place!