rubble Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 We had a great trip into the ENP this weekend. My brother-in-law does a yearly trip around his birthday with an old buddy of his and he asked me to tag along this year. It was my goal to try and make the run from the Keys to Mingo to close a gap in my boat travels (previous post). We set out Friday morning from Founders Park in Plantation/Islamorada and took a middle FL Bay path to Mingo. Was interesting. Broke the Simrad in on the trip. It was great but lots to learn. Happy with the purchase so far. We grabbed our Permit at Mingo and then ran the outside on up to the Broad. Came back down and fished the mouth a couple of times and fished around Rogers Bay and up to Lostmans 5 Creek. Saw lots of poons. Saw a croc up near Camp Lonesome. Think it was in the same spot we saw one 3 years ago. Not too far from the camp. Left out after breakfast this morning and hit the mouth of the Broad again. Water was dead calm outside so we stayed well of the outside and hammered down and took an outer path back in FL Bay. Had a few hiccups with Simrad. Need to get totally dialed in but I really like that machine for that intended purpose. Luckily i still had my old Garmin hooked up and hit helped out when on some old crumb trails. Just a few pics. Could write a book about the trip. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 Great report......better than being up in Kentucky this past weekend I'm not a camper, but, admire the adventures you guys partake. dc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 Nice! What temps did you guys see? Mod 2 "Bubba" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Moderator said: Nice! What temps did you guys see? Mod 2 "Bubba" Up farther north...we were at 69 at sunrise in Chokloskee, to 71-72 on the outside by 0800 to mid 70's around Wood Key by 1130....then when we were coming back in around 230 PM it went to 78 and then when we went back into Storter it dropped to 72.....temps are all over the place....and, we couldn't find many fish or get on any type of a decent bite. dc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE OUTLAW Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 Sounds like a great trip . Hope some of my advise helped alittle . It was a straight *** Chow in town . Ramp disaster ! 🇺🇸🏴☠️ Did get dinna though ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubble Posted February 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 I’ve got a great “pano” shot from my iphone but it won’t upload to this site. Any suggestions on how to post that pic here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenbone Posted February 14, 2022 Report Share Posted February 14, 2022 looks like you had good weather to make that trip. I’ve made the trip so many times from Islamorada to MINGO , don’t need the gps. I’m sure it was a great adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubble Posted February 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2022 1 hour ago, greenbone said: looks like you had good weather to make that trip. I’ve made the trip so many times from Islamorada to MINGO , don’t need the gps. I’m sure it was a great adventure. What route do you take? We leave out of Founders Park area. Boat is sometimes docked just to the north. We have tried a few routes and keep thinking we need to try something different. Especially to avoid the twisty mile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenbone Posted February 14, 2022 Report Share Posted February 14, 2022 I leave out past Lignum Vitae Key, to Twin Keys, to Rabbit Keys, Iron pipe channel, there you make a decision go north to Clive, Murray or go west towards Sandy, Carl Ross to the Cape. If I fish up to Middle Cape and back to the Keys, I can do it on 1 tank of gas-holds 50gals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubble Posted February 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 If any of you all do instagram, scan this code and you can link right my Gram page and check out some video reels of the trip. Maybe give it a follow and like if you’re interested. I’m not a big instagram guy but it’s kind of fun watching my college son and soon to be college daughter watch in amazement as the old man picks up views and likes on his Gram account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 Who was sleeping on their skiff? 🤪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubble Posted February 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 13 minutes ago, Big Dave said: Who was sleeping on their skiff? 🤪 Just one of our many Googans. If you've camped out there, you know what kind of craziness you can run into. We had 3 groups and both sides were supposed to be permitted with guys we know but somehow someone got Lonesome instead of Rogers. So we had initially dropped a lot of gear on one side and then went fishing. When we got back before dark, we saw a huge tent setup on the side we were going to set a tent up on. Didn't know the guys but one was in an HPX and another showed up just after dark in a 21MA. All older gents. It wasn't the best of scenarios but it was too late for us to pack up and take our stuff to Lonesome so we improvised. The other gents were great. They stayed on their side and we stayed on ours but you know that all conversation is open to each side. It was some of the best laughs I've had in a while. There were things that reminded me of scenes from Blazing Saddles, Step Brothers, Hangover, etc. Lots of fun. But more specifically to answer your question, his name is Andy and is originally from Naples but now lives up in the central part of the state. It poured the rain right before dark and one guy kept saying he was sleeping on his boat if the rain stopped. Of course everyone said he wouldn't and couldn't do it so he was hellbent on showing us. And he did. When the rain stopped he rigged up his hammock and fly and after a box of wine he nestled into his little bed on a boat. The first night the Hammocks were hung on the corner posts running along the edge. While Totally sober, one guy was trying to explain how easy it was to get in the hammock. He's a cross fit guy in tip top shape trying to convince an overweight and out of shape guy that he could sleep there. As he demonstrated and sat in the hammock, he flipped all the way over and nearly came off the platform and into my boat where I just happened to be sitting at the helm taking it all in. As soon as I realized he had really messed up and was in a pickle, I immediately reached in the glove box to grab a camera to memorialize the moment. Camping in the Glades is just different. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE OUTLAW Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 Its nice to know there still are kind campers out there . Last season , I had a permit for one side that I got online , and when I arrived , at the ranger station , and noticed that the other side , showed vacant , I self registered for Big Dave , who was a couple hours behind me . As I rounded the last curve , before the cheekie , I saw that there was all ready people set up , on one side . Kinda ticked me off because I am all about doing thing legit . So after some back and forth verbally , one dude stands up and says , he has a gun , and they are staying . I about flipped out . Kept my cool and set my stuff up and went fishing . Worst experience ever , in all my 30 years of camping there . That night , there was no talk , and my pistol was on my hip . Instead of enjoying the quiet , stars , peace and tranquility , they pull out a 32” tv , battery and inverter and watched a movie . I am going back to the same cheekie , next weekend , and am praying there is not a repeat of last season . There are alot of campers out there this season . 🇺🇸🏴☠️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubble Posted February 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 3 hours ago, THE OUTLAW said: Its nice to know there still are kind campers out there . Last season , I had a permit for one side that I got online , and when I arrived , at the ranger station , and noticed that the other side , showed vacant , I self registered for Big Dave , who was a couple hours behind me . As I rounded the last curve , before the cheekie , I saw that there was all ready people set up , on one side . Kinda ticked me off because I am all about doing thing legit . So after some back and forth verbally , one dude stands up and says , he has a gun , and they are staying . I about flipped out . Kept my cool and set my stuff up and went fishing . Worst experience ever , in all my 30 years of camping there . That night , there was no talk , and my pistol was on my hip . Instead of enjoying the quiet , stars , peace and tranquility , they pull out a 32” tv , battery and inverter and watched a movie . I am going back to the same cheekie , next weekend , and am praying there is not a repeat of last season . There are alot of campers out there this season . 🇺🇸🏴☠️ Yea, unfortunately you run into clowns every you go. We've had 3 issues with permitted chickees in 3 trips. The Park seems to not have that process well oiled. These guys probably didn't want us there and we didn't really want them there but we were all there and we might as well enjoy it. One of our guys was a little hacked about it and I thought it might end up being a little problematic but in reality, guessing we should not have legitimately had both sides permitted anyway since we were all in the same group. We were likely in the wrong and needed to figure out how to make it work and we did. I gotta say those guys were great. They said they had some problems on their last outing. They were fly fishermen and said the guys next to them were chunking live bait and said they thought all fly fishermen were Q~((r. They were like "we don't just fly fish." Lol. Like that made it better. Ha. So we hammered them all night about that since we had 3 hammocks and one single cot tent setup on our side and they were all in one tent. Some of the best one liners came out of those exchanges. Hard to believe we actually got any sleep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 I camp on regular basis.....it's called the Holiday Inn I can't imagine all the planning - $$$$$ - time off from work etc. to have it ruined by this type of stuff. More and more people are coming down and it's only gone get worse. dc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubble Posted February 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 11 hours ago, Big Dave said: Who was sleeping on their skiff? 🤪 BTW, that was a Waterman! 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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