boating
Fishing October’s Lower Tides on the Gulf Coast
One thing I can’t predict is the weather or wind, and it turned out that we had a fair amount of the latter this past weekend when Hurricane Matthew chewed up Florida’s east coast. Big storms like Matthew produce winds on both coasts. However, it looked like our fish didn’t really care. Trout and reds …
Get Lost (Or Not!) At Dixie County Florida’s Shired Island
Dixie County has a few “roads to nowhere”, but Hwy 357 actually goes “somewhere”. It runs from about the mid-point of Hwy 351 between Cross City and Horseshoe Beach to Shired Island. Shired Island is bounded by Shired Creek and Johnson Creek and connected to “land” by a short bridge over Shired Creek. Once you …
Take a Houseboat Trip on Florida’s Mighty Suwannee River
One of Natural North Florida’s truly great adventures begins at Gateway Marina in the village of Suwannee, at the mouth of the mighty Suwannee River. The river begins some 260 miles north, in the Okeefenokee Swamp of south Georgia, and is navigable about 70 miles from its southern end, at the Gulf of Mexico. Gateway’s …
Heading to Cedar Key, FL With Your Boat? Don’t Forget The Backwaters Near The #4 Channel
Anglers and boaters headed to Cedar Key are sometimes put off by the crowds at the downtown boat basin. Yes, they’re closer to the Gulf of Mexico, and there’s an inside and an outside ramp. If you use the inside ramp, you’ll be in the shallow boat basin and if your boat has a T-top …
Southbound To Yankeetown (Florida, That Is!)
I remember my first encounter with the waters near the mouth of the Withlacoochee River. It was the mid-1980s and my Mom and Dad had just moved from St. Pete to Yankeetown. Our boat, a Boston Whaler Montauk, was well suited to drifting the flats off Pinellas Point or for trolling for Spanish mackerel near …
Swim, Snorkel, SCUBA, Paddle, Camp, Play at Florida’s Manatee Springs State Park
The first-magnitude spring at Manatee Springs State Park produces an average of 100 million gallons of clear, cool water daily. In winter, West Indian manatees swim upriver to the warmer waters of the springs. Popular for snorkeling and scuba diving, the headwaters of the spring are also a great spot for swimming. The spring run …
Down The Less-Beaten Path Through The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
There’s nothing quite like the United States’ National Wildlife Refuge system, and Natural North Florida has three of the best– St. Marks, Lower Suwannee and Cedar Key. All are interesting and worth the trip, but The St. Marks Preserve, located in Wakulla County, in the middle of the Big Bend, is especially interesting to visitors …
Manatees Headed to Warmer Water with Cooling Temperatures in Florida
From: The Fishing Wire The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) encourages boaters to help protect migrating manatees by looking out and slowing down for these aquatic mammals that often rest or congregate underwater and can be difficult to see. “During Manatee Awareness Month, the FWC encourages the public to celebrate manatees by learning …
Fanning Springs Easily Accessed By Boat From The Suwannee River
A short trip up the spring run to the dock at Fanning Springs State Park can bring you the best of two worlds. One, tour the scenic Suwannee River and two, swim in the cool crystal clear waters of one of Florida’s biggest freshwater springs. There are good boat ramps downstream from Fanning Springs at …
It’s Time To Head West Towards The New and Improved Horseshoe Beach Marina!
In the past few years, Horseshoe Beach hasn’t had lots of attention from outdoorsmen who live outside the Natural North Florida region. That’s bad, as it’s a great place to fish—and to relax! This small town, billed as “Florida’s Last Frontier”, is about 25-miles west of Cross City, at the end of CR351. There are …