A friend of ours is a pilot. He happened to be out flying the other day while my son and I were boating. Although he never found us out on the river, he did share these photos with my son and I.
It’s always fun to see a place you recognize from the air! In this first photo, the Edgewater boat ramp is visible right in the center of the image. It’s that rectangular patch that juts out into the water. That is the main channel of the Indian River, which is part of the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway). Straight out from the ramp is all the backwater area where we usually go to fish, and beyond that is the ocean.
Aerial view of Edgewater, Florida – the boat ramp is in the center.
I don’t recognize where they were when this next photo was taken. I suspect they were flying further north.
Aerial view, Florida’s East coast
We landed our boat on an island and my son got this panorama photo while I did some beach combing. This is where I came across the pink crown conch shell. As I walked the beach area, I came across a cross in memory of someone named Owen. We were out on a Thursday and had the place totally to ourselves. We used the Riverbreeze boat ramp, which is south of Edgewater.
While we were over on the east coast of Florida one day, we decided to head south from the Edgewater area and try to find the next closest boat ramp. Down that way the ramps go into the western part of the Mosquito Lagoon. From there, make your way (in your boat) across to the Haulover Canal which passes through to the east side of the Lagoon.
Mosquito Lagoon West
We drove east for a few miles from Rt. 1 on a dirt road and finally came across the small boat ramp. It has room to put in one boat at a time and the boat loads into a narrow channel that feeds out into the open water.
Looking south, the Kennedy Space Center vehicle assembly building is barely visible.
Space Center, Cape Canaveral
I found some crown conch shells and thick clam shells, but the most interesting item I found floating among the weeds in the shallows was this horseshoe crab. It was not alive.
Boat Ramp, where we were, with Haulover Canal, Space Center view
Once we have a flats boat we plan to spend some time fishing in this area. For now, we have to stay close to the Edgewater ramp where we put the little boat in, as it doesn’t travel very fast, or handle waves well!
Catfish (not mine – credit goes to tpsdave @ Pixabay)
Went out on the little boat yesterday and three of us tried our best to catch a keeper. If we wanted to eat a meal of catfish, we could easily have done so. I caught a couple of large cats when we stopped one of the backwater canals for a swim and then fished from the water. We had more room than when we all tried to cast a line from the Gheenoe.
Other than the catfish, I did get a small snook. He was a silver shimmering beauty! It’s snook season right now, and my older son was hoping to reel one in. All he got was a few catfish himself. My younger son got a small redfish, and we certainly saw more than a few “tailing redfish” along the shore.
Yes, I am beginning to learn fisherman talk. When redfish are eating they circle and show their tail. The ones we watched each seemed to be alone, but they can swim in big groups with their tails above the water, and that’s what the fishermen look for. The ones we watched would swim in a circle and make a large ripple in the calm water. These fish are really beautiful and they are delicious to eat. But size is important when you catch one you want to keep.
Because the little “Yea Mon” Gheenoe has a shallow draft, we can get into the backwater channels where most other boats can’t go. We always find shallow water to swim around in and sand islands when the tide is low.
And we have the place all to ourselves! The water was flowing, and we could drift along in the very warm water. Yes, it’s brown, but it usually is in this area.
Floating in Backwater Chanel
Other than fishing and enjoying the sunny Florida weather, I also did some shell hunting. Because the tide was just coming in, there were a number of sandy beach areas exposed. I found a large shark’s eye shell with a piece missing. Also picked up a crown conch and pear whelk. Picked them up and then had to put them back down. Every shell was inhabited by a hermit crab.
I really would have liked to keep those shells as they are all favorites of mine. In fact I don’t think I have ever found a pear whelk. I really wanted that one for my seashell collection! The place to go and get great shells is the Gulf Coast. A vacation may be in order – one day.
I took photos with my iPhone, but because of the extremely sunny conditions, it was difficult. Also, I worry about dropping the darn thing. I really need a waterproof case. Shuffling along the uneven sandy bottom of the canal is tricky. I could step into a hole at any time and drop my phone! My nice camera is still packed away, waiting for me to move into a permanent home.
Once we have our newer, bigger boat, it will be so much easier to grab the phone and get video and photos while the boys fish. Not to mention that fishing will be much more fun! So it’s all a waiting game, which is par for the course in my life. But we still had a very nice day out on the water.
