nature – Velox Seeker

Florida Trip Gear Selection…

With weight and space restrictions forced upon us, careful gear selection was critical. We decided on two reels and two rods apiece. We packed a variety of plastic paddle tails and jigheads. We figured that if necessary we could find a local tackle shop to resupply if we miscalculated. We packed minimal clothing since most hotels have laundry facilities. The only purchase we made specifically for this trip were pairs of Simms ZipIt booties.

Definitely recommend Simms Guide Socks with these.

Our rods of choice were the Shimano Zodias 5-pc travel rods.

Reels of choice were either the Shimano Excense C3000 or a Shimano Twin Power C3000.

For reel sizes, 2500’s work well, but we opted for the C3000 size. They are built on the 2500 frame yet have a bigger spool. A Shimano Vanford 2500FA would be a great choice due to it’s lighter weight.

Water bottle holder, rod holder and pliers are essentials!

We like soft sided zippered boxes like these. They keep everything contained and easily accessible. Four of these will fit inside a Yeti Panga.

We always carry a spare spool of line and leader material.

We opted for Gecko boxes because they are waterproof and inexpensive. We want our jigheads and lures kept dry and out of the saltwater. When we use a lure and need to change, it goes into a separate bag until we can wash them off in freshwater.

Inside the Gecko box is everything we need to fish for a full day. What you see above is our Day 3 selection. We were carrying too much tackle the first day. By day two we were slowly paring things down to lighten our load. We also carried 1.5 liter water bottles and a Gatorade apiece. The Gatorades were very nice after a long day of wading. Especially considering a long walk on the beach back to the car in the blazing sun and heat.

Clothing was as you would expect. Lightweight breathable garments with hoods. We wore buffs and hats, fingerless sun gloves and sun glasses. it was easy to submerse ourselves and let the breeze cool us off.

There were a couple of funny moments. On our first day of wade fishing, we both had sharks on our minds. We were waist deep and I noticed a bow wave coming right at us. I pointed it out to her and we both started backing up towards the shore. Then it dawned on me…bow wave and no dorsal fin showing. It ended up being two manatees that came close enough to check us out before moving on. Pucker factor temporarily high!

On Day 2, we wade fished the back bay. The wind and waves were up, as was the tide. The water was stirred up and visibility wasn’t that great. She was up ahead and leading. We were up on a sand flat and were fishing the deeper troughs. I told her to keep her eyes out for sharks and she responded by saying she hadn’t seen any. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and sure enough, a 4-5ft Lemon shark glided right by me in the trough. Yah, I can’t rely on her to spot sharks! Lol.

On Day 3, we were fishing the back bay and were catching Jacks. Those little suckers fight like mad. We spotted another Manatee cruising around and a pod of Dolphins working the troughs we were in. Obviously we got out of their way. It was a neat experience for us Okies. Surprisingly, it didn’t seriously effect the fishing as we were soon into Speckled Trout.

Anyway, I figured I would share the gear we used in case anyone was interested or planning a similar trip. Thanks for reading…

Florida Trip 19MAY2025…

Both of us needed a change of pace. So we booked flights on Allegiant, reserved a rental car and a hotel and packed the necessary gear. Certain times of the year, Allegiant flies round trip from Tulsa to St. Petersburg, and the flights are inexpensive ( $185-ish ).

True to form, this was a Spartan affair, with no frills or major luxuries…at least we weren’t in a tent this time! We packed our travel rods and reels in our Yeti backpacks and combined everything else into one duffel bag.

I used the Salt Strong app, Smart Fishing Spots and the Salt Strong Community for all of my research on what to bring and where to go. We decided that we would target Redfish, Snook and Speckled Trout, but in reality, we’d accept catching anything.

The weather was great and the fishing was better than expected. Doing our research and due diligence really paid off.

We carried everything we would need for the day.

Since we weren’t catching much on the Gulf side, we opted to fish the bay off behind the main beach. Both of us love to wade fish, so this was what we came to do.

It’s mandatory to tie on a new leader after every Snook.

If you struggle to tie the FG knot…buy a DaiichiSeiko Knot Assist 2.0. Thank me later!

We had a great trip and all of our chosen gear worked perfectly. We mainly used Shimano Zodias 5-pc rods in Medium Light and Medium with Shimano Twin Power C3000 or Shimano Exsence C3000 reels. We were spooled up with 10 pound braid and 20 lb monofilament leaders. We threw 7gr-10gr jigheads with various plastic baits to great effect. We did bring TFO Traveler 3-pc rods as backups, but they seemed ridiculously heavy and unwieldy compared to the Zodias rods. They ended up being more of a nuisance than anything. But they gave us peace of mind in the event we broke a rod. I think that if we do another trip like this, we will each pack two Zodias travel rods, since they fit inside the Yeti Pangas.

Would we move to Florida just for the multitude of fishing opportunities? Hell no! Way too much traffic and way too many people. But the funny thing for us was that there were probably 20,000 people on the ocean side of the beach and we fished the back bay for two days and only saw one other person back there.

We will deem this a successful trip and we learned a lot. I definitely see us doing another trip like this.

Outing…12 June 2024

The other evening, I decided to pull up Google Earth and search an area that we fished near. I had seen people over there but wasn’t sure how to get into the area. GE and other maps gave us a rough idea so we made a plan and went for it.

This morning we arrived around 0730 and sorted our gear. I wanted to just explore but she talked me into taking a rod along. I’m glad she did! We located the trailhead, there are several, and commenced our hike. By using the “measure” feature on Google Earth, we had an approximate distance of 1.8 miles to reach our objective. We had no idea what lay in store for us but that’s how we like it. Keeps a sense of adventure about the outing.

It ended up being an old portion of a campground that the State couldn’t afford to maintain anymore and was completely overgrown. The “road” was more of a 4-wheeler track and had several mudholes as well as steep hills. Several sections of the trail were almost completely overgrown, but we kept going.

Finally we popped out on a sand point just above the lake and we noticed a concrete structure down further along the shoreline. It turned out to be an old boat ramp that had seen much better times. On a whim, we both started casting out to where we could see Shad jumping and something chasing them.

BAM!!! I hooked into something with shoulders! It peeled drag and bent my rod and the fight was on. It turned out to be a schoolie striper! I have never caught a striper from the shore, always from a boat, and was excited to say the least.

The action was pretty steady and a lot of fun. My rod was a more powerful rod than hers so we would switch off. She caught 9 plus a largemouth and together we caught 23 stripers and 3 large sand bass. We were both quite surprised that we were catching stripers but there was structure and baitfish so it made sense. Had we gotten there earlier in the morning we probably would’ve caught a lot more, but when the sun started beating down full force, the bite stopped.

I’m pretty sure Zip was still worn out from yesterday as he crawled into some brush in the shade and took a nap.

Once the bite quit, we decided to explore the area as well as the shoreline. We marked a few campsites on our map for future reference. As I’ve said many times, I enjoy exploring and seeing what’s over the next hill or around the next bend. I hope to continue doing it for as long as I can.

2024 has been a weird year for us. We haven’t been able to make any substantial plans like returning to the Cossatot River or even spending a full week anywhere. It has been very frustrating being tied to home. But we are managing to squeeze some outings in even if they’re only for 6-8 hours. We will continue to do our best. Catch you on the next one!

An Outing To The River, 10 June 2024…

As mentioned before, we love this river and although we don’t own it, we and others like us, did not appreciate the Oklahoma Wildlife Department putting this access point on TV as well as holding clinics here. We’ve come across some odd characters who were up to no good and in fact, 4 people were recently cited by Game Wardens for using nets and spearguns on the river. No, I didn’t call them or tip them off, I wish I did though.

Anyway, the river level was at 6.12 feet and crossings were really easy this time. The temps were in the 80’s and full sun so we got there around 0815. I wanted an earlier start but the misses vetoed that idea.

We opted to fish upstream this time since a flood had completely changed the river and removed a huge log jam that made going upstream last year a grim endeavour.

We were into fish within our first few casts and the day looked promising. We weren’t catching anything of size, mostly ones between 8-10 inches, but they were FAT. Some sections we would throw our standard 2 inch EuroTackle B-vibes and wouldn’t get a bite. Fish that same section throwing a minnow lure and the action was fast and furious. Other sections was the exact opposite and that is why we carry two rods, one is a baitcaster rigged with a lure and the other is a spinning rod rigged with a plastic.

I am so glad that I regularly walk 3-5 miles a day. It really helps, especially when wading upstream or even going out to retrieve stuck lures in fast current.

And as the day progressed and the sun climbed higher in the sky, it got hot! Zip spent an unusual amount of time swimming and basically staying in the water. Smart dog!

It seemed that the further up we waded, the bigger the fish were getting. About 2.5-3 miles upstream we started to catch some in the 12-14 inch range.

We really wanted to keep exploring further upstream but time constraints prevented it so we started back to the car. It’s funny how when you’re fishing you really don’t notice the heat but the minute you are just walking, you really feel it. And it hasn’t got hot here yet, but it will soon.

Thank you for reading…more to come

I Caught A Bluegill…

A friend of mine invited us to fish his pond, and only a fool would say no.

He told us that his pond has a lot of crappie and bluegill, and since we’ve been on a “crappie and bluegill kick” we took appropriate tackle.

In short order we were into bluegill and having a great time. I opted to move down the bank closer to the creek mouth. First cast and I hooked a scrapper of a bluegill. It took me left and reversed course to the right. It dove deep and I managed to get it to the surface only for the water to explode! Next thing you know, I’m trying to keep my rod from breaking and trying to maintain some semblance of control with my reel as the drag was screaming. I scream for her to grab the net and help me. Getting a fish out of weeds with a net is a classic Abbott and Costello skit let me tell you. Anyway, she got the job done and we drug the net, and the fish and a pile of weeds up onto the bank.

That’s my bluegill with the 2.5gram jig still in place. The bass was never hooked.

Have no fear! Both were safely released back into the pond alive and well. We caught several more bass before we had to go, but this was a memorable moment for me and I will never forget it.

And I can still hear Steve laughing from his porch as we brought that fish in. Well played Steve!

10,000-8000 year old Atlatl Point…

A while back I did a blog post entitled “An Oasis” where I briefly mentioned finding an atlatl point while roaming around a particular area that we like to visit.

I am well versed in “outdoors skills” or as they call it these days…bushcrafting. I tend to notice things that are out of place within an environment and this was a classic example. But what started it all off was the topography as well as the flora and fauna in the surrounding area. Once you start putting the pieces together, a bigger picture begins to emerge.

This area is now part of a lake that finally filled up in 1989. I was roaming this area before that time. I can remember the two natural springs as well as the cliff overhangs and natural shelters that offered protection from the elements. Also, I noticed some of the flora that seemed to me to be a bit out of place. Upon further research it was discovered that some Archaic groups were thought to have cultivated some of these plants.

I am not an archaeologist or paleo-botanist but interestingly enough, I tend to forage on these same plants when outdoors. Why pack a lunch and carry extra weight when I can feed off the land. But back to the topic at hand…I had always thought that this area would make a good seasonal camp for our ancestors. There are two high points nearby that allow hunters to see quite a distance out over the prairie/savannah. An asset that our ancestors would not have overlooked. Coupled with natural shelter and water sources close at hand, it seems like a no-brainer to me. Yet one atlatl point does not confirm this idea but it doesn’t detract from the idea either.

These two were found in close proximity to each other. But I seriously doubt the bone would have survived for as long as the point has been around.

Obviously broken yet interestingly, it appears to have been resharpened.

So, what does any curious outdoorsman do? They seek out the experts for more information.

I spoke to a friend of mine who has a sister that is an archaeologist, or more correctly, a lawyer who helps First Nations tribes repatriate artifacts back into their tribes. Once the picture was sent and information given, I got an email from her stating all of the legal ramifications of picking up said atlatl point. Great! Not what I wanted to hear. However, she was gracious enough to forward my information along to some colleagues in the field who ended up getting me into contact with our State Archaeologists.

I offered to take the archaeologists to the area and briefly explain my thoughts and then see what happens. They were excited, yet due to budget constraints were unable to put anything together. I’m sure they see a lot of atlatl points anyway…so I wasn’t surprised.

But it was interesting to get a report from 4 Professors about this atlatl point. Consensus was that it was from the late Paleo-Indian to early Archaic Indian Period (10-8k rcybp) and was classified as a Dalton point. I was pretty excited, but I’m a nerd! I was curious about their position that “it probably washed down the river so it will be virtually impossible to locate its source.” However, a simple glance at a topographical map will show that this is a very small spring-fed tributary that doesn’t extend too far from where the point was found.

I offered to send it to the University but never received a reply back. I think it belongs in a museum but again, they probably have quite a few already.

In my mind…it confirms my theory that this area has been in use for millenia, and for good reason.

The Black-capped Chickadee…

I have a fondness for the Black-capped Chickadee. I am not a “birder” per se, but I do observe nature quite often.

This little bird is a “beast” if I do say so. And they are quite the characters I might add.

We have a bird feeder that we stock during the winter months. We also hang a suet feeder to supplement their diet.

During the heart of the recent winter storm when the snow was blowing, the wind howling and the temperatures were plummeting…these little guys were at the feeder. I was safely ensconced in a chair by the fire while they were “out in it.” I had a choice, they didn’t.

I would observe them taking turns flying up to the feeder. One would start “shoveling” seed out of the feeder and onto the ground where the other birds were gathered and waiting. This went on for hours.

When the feeder was empty, one would show up on the porch railing, raising all kinds of hell. Then we’d venture out and refill the feeder and things would quiet down. Nature’s comedy I suppose.

I like to think they are “grateful” but I don’t speak Chickadee. I’m not bothered by filling the feeder for these “tough guys” at all, even though they can be demanding. We help out when and where we can…like we’re supposed to do in our role as stewards.

Something to ponder….