Great kayak fishing at Cayo Costa State Park, Florida

March 08, 2016

Great kayak fishing at Cayo Costa State Park, Florida

I doubled up on my volunteer ski days at the National Sports Center for the Disabled being a stand ski instructor for the disabled during the first five week session this year doing Wednesdays and Thursdays for 5 weeks to get my ten volunteer days in (my second year - fun, inspirational, satisfying and occasionally challenging). This allowed me to take off for an 18 day trip to Illinois to see my family and then down to Cayo Costa State Park with my long term friend George, who now lives in Bemidlj, MN for a 9 night camping/kayaking/fishing trip. This is the 4th time at this park in five years, but we only just started kayak fishing, which has been great.

Fishing was fantastic with George catching at least 200 fish and me catching at least 100 with many of nice size. The big snook and jack cravelle's were pulling us around in our kayaks. We had three sea trout/mangrove snapper meals (and could have had more). Saw the usual bird life, three alligators, numerous dolphins, etc. Day traffic seems to have increased out to the island SP (you take a 45 minute ferry ride to the island) but the mornings and evenings we had the whole place to ourselves and a few other campers. Most nights on the beach for sunset, you'd see only a few other or no other people (not too many places you can have this happen in Florida). Great shelling on the beach. Only one day of rain...the biggest negative were the no-seeums (nasty tiny biting midges) that made there appearance on the warmer evenings. Raccoons visited our campsite most nights, and actually drug off George's day pack with his fishing tackle and fillet knives, etc. - he managed to find it in undergrowth near a spring about 75 feet away. I also had pelicans swooping down on a big snook I had on the line - just managed to get the fish landed and released before inadvertently catching a pelican too (that would not have been good - they are very high birds up close and personal)

4900 mile round trip driving excursion for road warrior Don. Much fun, a long ways, but I'll probably go back.