Did Lefty Kreh “invent” the famous “deceiver” in isolation with no other influences upon his creativity? No, even Lefty, like the rest of us, stood on the shoulders of previous generations of fly fishers to “improve” or “modify” some earlier efforts to lure fish into biting.
As far back as 200 A.D. Aeolian, a Greek author wrote of a speckled fish that would rise when he would “fasten red wool around a hook, and fix on to the wool two feathers that grow under a cock’s wattles, and which are in color like wax.” (The Longest Cast, p. 142.)
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We had a great time fishing with our new friends from the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishing Club. Although thunder and lightening drove us out of the water, a lot of fish were caught and the bigger ones broke off and got away. Joe Dail landed the largest fish, a 19 inch ladyfish. Ken Doty claimed an 18 inch Spanish mackerel, while Don Manning won a slot on the tournament chart with a 17 inch trout. With thunder rumbling in the distance, our two clubs met in the picnic shelter and shared fishing stories and techniques.
Mark Hays provided his tasty smoked amber jack spread to kick off the party. The main event at lunch was Mark’s kabobs made of tender venison marinaded in Spiedie sauce and grilled to perfection.
Thanks to Ann Hofmeister and Martha Dail, we had chocolate
chip oatmeal cookies and keylime bars for dessert. Special
thanks to all club members who attended and made this joint outing
a success by showing their friendliness and hospitality to the
members of the MCFFC. You should have been there!
July 21, 2007 Chassahowitzka River
Our July outing will take us to the beautiful Chassahowitzka River. This is a freshwater outing, unless you’re ambitious enough to follow the river to the Gulf of Mexico. We’ll see otter, porpoises and maybe a bear as we leisurely fish the river as it passes through the Chassahowitzka Nature Preserve. We’ll meet at the boat ramp at the Citrus County Chassahowitzka Park and Campground. The park fee is $2.00 per vehicle and $2.50 for vehicles with trailer. Bring your kayak, canoe or Gheenoe; or you might want to rent a canoe there for $10 for a half day. This is a special price for SFF members, thanks to the negotiating skills of our president. If you’d like to camp there, full hookups are $20 and tent sites are $15/night.
President Ken Hofmeister plans to camp there and has reserved the “clubhouse” for our lunch at Noon. Call 352-382-2200 to reserve a campsite or canoe. To get there, drive North on US 19 to Citrus County. At Chassahowitzka, turn left onto West Miss Maggie Drive, a.k.a. Route 480. The campground is at the end of Miss Maggie Drive. For an alternate route, take the Veterans’ Expressway to Route 98. Go West on 98 to US 19 and cross US 19 to Miss Maggie Drive.
Maps and the sign up sheet will be at the July meeting.