Since I decided to wuss out and put off my first saltwater excursion on the new Pirogue, due to an interesting sunburn on the inside of my legs, from the knees down, I figured I'd spend some of my down-time posting a Trip Report.
The Weeki Wachee River is kind of "semi-famous" for the "Live Mermaid Show" at the main spring at the head of the river. An amphitheater has a huge glass wall with the spring on the other side. The mermaids perform underwater ballet, usually as part of a "play." The girls, (not a lemon in the lot!) wear a fish costume that covers from the hips, south, and take air from numerous clear breathing tubes, positioned at strategic points throughout the spring.
They do make it easy to get caught up in the fantasy.
Of course, the main spring is strictly off-limits, so there's no use asking about the bag limit. :evil:
There's a nice write-up on the entire river that flows out of a 64 million gallon-a-day spring, right HERE.
Roger's Park, where I put in, does charge a $2 per car entry fee, most of the year. The park has both a boat ramp, as well as a canoe/kayak walk. Those two are located on a canal just of the river next to the swimming beach, and about a 100 ft dock separates the two launch sites.
Here's a pic of that dock, looking towards the boat ramp and the main river.
Just as you leave the canal and turn upriver, this is what you'll see, and it is pretty typical of most of the river. Paddling upstream, houses mostly on the left, nature at it's best on the right.
And a little more of the pristine beauty!
Places like this one should be great for fishing, looking at the partially submerged structure. But it makes fishing difficult when every 5 minutes or so, someone motors along side and ask if you've caught anything! (Well-meaning igits!)
That's my one complaint about the river, too many boats, too large for the river, and grossly over-powered! That said, I do have to admit that every one of those stink-potters paid strict attention to the "No Wake" and "Idle Speed ONLY" signs posted all up and down the river. Got to give them credit for that.
Take a close look at the picture below. See the top of a palm tree, right in the middle? No, not the tall one, the one below that, just above the surface of the water, right above the dark shadow going across the middle of the pic. That lower palm has a 20 foot long trunk growing horizontally out across the water!
I backed my Pirogue in along side that palm trunk, tied off to in, and had lunch. Quite a few boats passed by, going up or down stream, very few noticed me in my secluded parking spot! Here's the view from there:
A little further up-river, occupying the largest part of a bend in the river, is the "Hospital Hole." This hole in the river bottom is about 160 feet deep! It gets it's name from a local legend about sick fish, sometimes large schools of them, holding over in the hole and being healed.
Now, there just may be some truth to this legend. (There usually is.) I have a bit of a background in the diagnosis and treatment of freshwater fish diseases. Down in that hole, there is a layer of water containing hydrogen sulfide. At concentrations of just a few parts-per-million, this can be deadly to fish. Higher concentrations, death can be almost instant. But at very low levels, it is entirely possible that it has an anti-parasitic action, and probably anti-bacterial, as well. If the fish sense this stuff and cruise around in the lower concentrations, the hydrogen sulfide could be therapeutic.
Just off to one side of the Hole, was a short, shallow canal, only a bit longer than the boat. When I backed into it to stop and take some pictures, I could touch both banks. Here's that canal from the outside, looking in:
Even further up-river, I found a nice place to take a "boat portrait," with the boat being held by my "Cajun Power Pole."
Just after I snapped the picture, a veritable flotilla of inner tubes came 'round the bend! A convoy!
They even had a "rear guard," keeping an eye out for stragglers and deserters!
You'll notice there's been very few pictures showing houses on the river. That's because I intentionally kept them out of the frame, wanting to show the "natural side" of the river. But I guess that would be a disservice, as it would not depict the river as it really is.
So, here's a couple of pictures of those homes lucky enough to be located right on the river:
And again:
As I posted earlier, most all the houses are built on the left side of the river, when going up-stream. But you will find large "subdivisions" lining both sides of quite a few canals that run off the river. All these were build years ago, before much control was exercised over development of such areas. I doubt if anything like it could be done today.
Ah, I did bring along a fly rod and did some "stand-up" casting test. And they went well, I'll have no problem doing some stand-up sight-fishing with the fly rod out on the salt water flats.
But I also found that with the short-distance cast that is usually needed in fresh water could very easily be accomplished while comfortably sitting in the boat seat, also made with plans from Uncle John's. (Originally designed by none other than Southern Paddler's own "oldsparkey." Way to go, Chuck! )
As evidence to that, here's my "Catch-O'-the-Day!"
Interesting enough, I have to wonder if I could have claimed an IGFA class record for the Blue Crab caught on a fly rod? Yep, the cap spider you can see in that bluegill's mouth just minutes later, caught a darned crab! If I'd had a net with me, I could have made it "official." As it was, the little bugger held on tight until I just lifted him out of the water. Good thing, too. I don't think the boat is big enough for me (with bare toes) and an angry blue crab running around loose.
That wraps up my recounting of my first trip in the Pirogue! Hope you weren't bored to tears with it.
When the sunburn heals up enough to where I can actually walk again, I will be taking the boat out on some saltwater flats and do some serious fly fishing. Expect another overly long "Trip Report" on that one! :lol: 8)
Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL
The Weeki Wachee River is kind of "semi-famous" for the "Live Mermaid Show" at the main spring at the head of the river. An amphitheater has a huge glass wall with the spring on the other side. The mermaids perform underwater ballet, usually as part of a "play." The girls, (not a lemon in the lot!) wear a fish costume that covers from the hips, south, and take air from numerous clear breathing tubes, positioned at strategic points throughout the spring.
They do make it easy to get caught up in the fantasy.
Of course, the main spring is strictly off-limits, so there's no use asking about the bag limit. :evil:
There's a nice write-up on the entire river that flows out of a 64 million gallon-a-day spring, right HERE.
Roger's Park, where I put in, does charge a $2 per car entry fee, most of the year. The park has both a boat ramp, as well as a canoe/kayak walk. Those two are located on a canal just of the river next to the swimming beach, and about a 100 ft dock separates the two launch sites.
Here's a pic of that dock, looking towards the boat ramp and the main river.
Just as you leave the canal and turn upriver, this is what you'll see, and it is pretty typical of most of the river. Paddling upstream, houses mostly on the left, nature at it's best on the right.
And a little more of the pristine beauty!
Places like this one should be great for fishing, looking at the partially submerged structure. But it makes fishing difficult when every 5 minutes or so, someone motors along side and ask if you've caught anything! (Well-meaning igits!)
That's my one complaint about the river, too many boats, too large for the river, and grossly over-powered! That said, I do have to admit that every one of those stink-potters paid strict attention to the "No Wake" and "Idle Speed ONLY" signs posted all up and down the river. Got to give them credit for that.
Take a close look at the picture below. See the top of a palm tree, right in the middle? No, not the tall one, the one below that, just above the surface of the water, right above the dark shadow going across the middle of the pic. That lower palm has a 20 foot long trunk growing horizontally out across the water!
I backed my Pirogue in along side that palm trunk, tied off to in, and had lunch. Quite a few boats passed by, going up or down stream, very few noticed me in my secluded parking spot! Here's the view from there:
A little further up-river, occupying the largest part of a bend in the river, is the "Hospital Hole." This hole in the river bottom is about 160 feet deep! It gets it's name from a local legend about sick fish, sometimes large schools of them, holding over in the hole and being healed.
Now, there just may be some truth to this legend. (There usually is.) I have a bit of a background in the diagnosis and treatment of freshwater fish diseases. Down in that hole, there is a layer of water containing hydrogen sulfide. At concentrations of just a few parts-per-million, this can be deadly to fish. Higher concentrations, death can be almost instant. But at very low levels, it is entirely possible that it has an anti-parasitic action, and probably anti-bacterial, as well. If the fish sense this stuff and cruise around in the lower concentrations, the hydrogen sulfide could be therapeutic.
Just off to one side of the Hole, was a short, shallow canal, only a bit longer than the boat. When I backed into it to stop and take some pictures, I could touch both banks. Here's that canal from the outside, looking in:
Even further up-river, I found a nice place to take a "boat portrait," with the boat being held by my "Cajun Power Pole."
Just after I snapped the picture, a veritable flotilla of inner tubes came 'round the bend! A convoy!
They even had a "rear guard," keeping an eye out for stragglers and deserters!
You'll notice there's been very few pictures showing houses on the river. That's because I intentionally kept them out of the frame, wanting to show the "natural side" of the river. But I guess that would be a disservice, as it would not depict the river as it really is.
So, here's a couple of pictures of those homes lucky enough to be located right on the river:
And again:
As I posted earlier, most all the houses are built on the left side of the river, when going up-stream. But you will find large "subdivisions" lining both sides of quite a few canals that run off the river. All these were build years ago, before much control was exercised over development of such areas. I doubt if anything like it could be done today.
Ah, I did bring along a fly rod and did some "stand-up" casting test. And they went well, I'll have no problem doing some stand-up sight-fishing with the fly rod out on the salt water flats.
But I also found that with the short-distance cast that is usually needed in fresh water could very easily be accomplished while comfortably sitting in the boat seat, also made with plans from Uncle John's. (Originally designed by none other than Southern Paddler's own "oldsparkey." Way to go, Chuck!
)As evidence to that, here's my "Catch-O'-the-Day!"
Interesting enough, I have to wonder if I could have claimed an IGFA class record for the Blue Crab caught on a fly rod? Yep, the cap spider you can see in that bluegill's mouth just minutes later, caught a darned crab! If I'd had a net with me, I could have made it "official." As it was, the little bugger held on tight until I just lifted him out of the water. Good thing, too. I don't think the boat is big enough for me (with bare toes) and an angry blue crab running around loose.
That wraps up my recounting of my first trip in the Pirogue! Hope you weren't bored to tears with it.
When the sunburn heals up enough to where I can actually walk again, I will be taking the boat out on some saltwater flats and do some serious fly fishing. Expect another overly long "Trip Report" on that one! :lol: 8)
Mike S.
Spring Hill, FL