Red Sky at Night with JB Cornwell | In Search for the World’s Finest Fishing Hole
Posted on February 29, 2012 by iboats
Winter of 1970 we lived in northern Illinois, about 35 miles west of Chicago. I had been reading in Field and Stream about a new fishery in the canals along the new cross-Florida highway called Alligator Alley that crossed the Big Cypress and Everglades swamps. That place really sounded good.
Ted Trueblood wrote about catching small tarpon near the western end and monster bass in the Everglades portion. I was determined to share that adventure.
Timing was good. There was a National School Boards Convention in Miami in February that I should attend and my employer was threatening to cancel part of my several weeks of accumulated vacation time. I scheduled 10 days vacation ending in the three-day convention.
My plan was to drive to the western end of Alligator Alley at Naples and work my way east, ending at the Ft. Lauderdale exit in time to attend the convention. I would camp and fish at various stopping places. I would take my SportYak II and my little Johnson 3HP for gaining access to places I could not reach from the banks of the canals. The SportYak fit nicely on a luggage rack on top of my 1965 Mercedes 190 Diesel and the cavernous trunk had plenty of room for luggage, tackle and a small ice chest.
The day I left home it was minus 20 f and there was about 18″ of snow on the ground. I estimated that the 1300 mile drive would take about Read More Here
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