The Spot Felt Wrong
Not every planned campsite works out — on this St. Marys trip, BWJ scouted a spot and rejected it because there weren't good trees to hang hammocks, then paddled upstream and found a better one that produced blue catfish all evening.
Tina stood at the edge of the blue cat hole and shook her head. No good trees. The hammocks wouldn't hang right. We'd come all the way back to this spot on the St. Marys, but the river was telling us something different today.
So we pushed upstream. Found a deep hole of our own. Tina had a blue cat on before I even got my line wet — working a white beetle spin while I trimmed brush on the bank. River Dog settled into his spot in the canoe shade.
An eight-foot gator slid across the shallows around dusk. School of sturgeon rolling over the sand behind him. We hung the hammocks out over the water and gathered fat lighter. Vaseline cotton ball and shavings. The fire caught easy.
Pork chops. Stir-fried squash. A smaller gator holding position downriver like he was waiting for scraps. The St. Marys kept giving up blue cats all evening. Then it got dark, and the hole saved the biggest one for last.
Monster blue cat. Hit so hard it broke my pole clean in half on the hookset. Just snapped. I stood there in the dark holding two pieces of rod, line screaming out into the black water.
Morning came soft. Another blue cat. Eggs and bacon and grits on the bank. Tina pulled a two-for-one on the paddle out. The spot we'd planned on — the one that felt wrong — we never even looked back at it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you do if your planned campsite doesn't work?
BWJ found their original blue-cat-hole spot had no good trees for hanging hammocks, so they pushed upstream and found a new deep hole that turned out to be more productive for camping and fishing.
Are there alligators at this spot on the St. Marys?
Yes — an eight-foot gator was seen sliding across the shallows at dusk, with a smaller gator holding position downriver, and a school of sturgeon rolling nearby.
What fish were caught on this trip?
Blue catfish, caught steadily through the evening and into the next morning; one strike was hard enough to snap a fishing pole in half on the hookset.
How do you start a fire in damp conditions on the river?
BWJ used fat lighter (resin-rich pine) with a Vaseline-soaked cotton ball and shavings — described as catching easily.