RE: NANFA-- short trip to Tampa

Chip Rinehart (crin_at_glassmaster.com)
Fri, 21 Mar 2003 08:08:43 -0500

Great report Geoff,

After all these trips to GA and FL, I was beginning to think SC was the only
state that actually had gators. I have yet to see one outside of the state
which includes five days in FL and last years Okeefest I. ;-) I'm kinda
surprised you didn't find any Elassoma okefenokee at the park. We found a
fair number of them there but the higher water level may have something to
do with that.

chip in SC

> -----Original Message-----
> From: geoff [SMTP:gkimber2_at_alltel.net]
> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 7:57 PM
> To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> Subject: NANFA-- short trip to Tampa
>
> I had the opportunity to go to Tampa Florida this last weekend for
> business.
> I was able to go on Saturday for a little fishing. While I was there, I
> met
> up with Allen Boatman, who is a good man and was willing to meet with me
> despite the short notice I was able to give him.
>
> I arrived at the airport Saturday around noon time. By the time I had
> checked into the hotel and corralled the needed shipping supplies, it was
> about 3pm.
>
> I had chosen the Hillsborough River state park based on the info from
> Monster Florida Fling. While I was on the way, Allen Boatman called me
> and
> informed me that the name of the place on the trip was incorrect. I
> really
> needed Togo tithe Morris Bridge park.
>
> When I arrived at the park, I looked around a big and put the waders on.
> Not for the cold, but to keep the rental car dry.
>
> The water was a couple of feet higher than it apparently was at the end of
> January. I also did not have a seine, so that was also limiting. At the
> park, I collected:
>
> Lucania goodei
> Heterandria formosa
> Fundulus cingulatus (1 female)
> Lepomis sp. (juvenile - may have been warmouth)
> glass shrimp
> apple snail
> alligator
>
> re: the alligator-
>
> While I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes, I was pretty annoyed that I
> had
> not collected more of my target fish species. I noticed a baby gator and
> I
> scooped it up. I looked at it a minute and it started croaking. I
> rapidly
> put it back in the water and decided that this was not a healthy
> environment
> for someone in waist deep water. As I was leaving, I became distracted by
> some floating plants and I forgot to exit the water. A couple of guys
> came
> over to the water and said:
>
> "Damn! You're *beep*ing crazy man!"
>
> Thinking it was a general statement regarding the waders, I asked what
> they
> meant.
>
> "There's a mama gator around here. There were 30 baby's right here a
> little
> while ago and the mama was jumping out of the water at us! You're crazy!"
>
> At that time, I scrambled out of the water and looked around. About 10
> feet
> behind me, there was a relatively large (6-8 feet according to the crowd
> which immediately gathered) female gator. YIKES! I also have no desire
> to
> be eaten by a gator, so I got ready to leave. Before I left, I want back
> to
> the water, and the crowd was poking the gator with a stick. A short
> stick.
> crazy.
>
>
> The next day, Allen and I met and went fishing. My target species
> included
> flag fish, golden top minnows, and heterandria formosa. Allen took me to
> a
> couple of spots near his house and we found all of the above in incredible
> abundance. We even found a couple melanistic chrysotus. We also saw a
> banded water snake. In one scoop, I caught I very small snapping turtle,
> much to my surprise.
>
>
> At Allen's house, I bagged the fish for shipping the next day.
>
>
> I had to work Monday and Tuesday, and I shared a car with someone who
> didn't
> appreciate fish much, unless it was batter-dipped or broiled.
>
>
> All in all, a good trip, although I am a little more paranoid than I was
> before.
>
> Geoff
> ----
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/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org