In short: Me and Tina headed to the St. Marys River for a hammock overnight, chasing the big blue catfish at what we call the blue cat hole. Tina reeled in a monster that snapped her pole clean. When we went to hang the hammocks the blue cat hole was a no-go, no trees in the right spot, so we moved upstream a little and found a deep hole with two good trees and a gator holding down below. Cotton balls and Vaseline got the fire going, and we ate good under the stars.
You ready to go back to the blue cat hole, I asked Tina, catch some of those big old blue catfish and sleep beside that eight foot alligator. That part I am not ready for, she said, and off we went. It did not take long. Tina hung one, then hung another, and I am hollering keep it tight, keep it tight, swinging them around and getting them to the bank. She caught more fish than me for a while, which she did not let me forget. When you are on the fish like that, you fish, and let the other man take his own darn fish off.
Come time to set camp, the blue cat hole did not feel like the right spot. There was nowhere to hang the hammocks, and I will tell you, we should have brought the tent. So we did not force it. We went upstream a little more and found a place with two trees the right distance apart and a good deep hole to fish right out front. Boom, that tree and that tree, hammocks up. While we worked, a gator swam across right in front of us, then a whole school of sturgeon came through, three and four footers rolling in the current. That is pretty neat right there on the St. Marys.
For the fire I got a bed of birch bark going with fat lighter on top and shavings, then pulled out the secret weapon, cotton balls soaked in Vaseline. Touched it off and it did the trick. Supper was stir fried squash and pork chops, and I thanked my cousin Marlin Thompson for those fresh squash, so good you ought to stop uptown and get you some. We said grace, thanked the Lord for the day and the food, and asked Him to keep us from getting too cold and get us out safe in the morning. Cracker Barrel ain't got nothing on a St. Marys riverbank.
After dark the big one came. Tina brought a real good blue cat toward the bank, huge, and right at the end it broke her pole clean in two. I knew I needed a new pole anyway, she laughed. We zipped up in the hammocks and slept to the sound of nature, and in the morning I fried two eggs over easy with bacon and grits. Never tried frying eggs on the river before, but it worked out fine. Then Tina caught a pretty rooster on the third cast, we packed up, and paddled on toward the Atlantic. Always a good time on the water.
Hammock camping, moving when a site will not work, fire from cotton balls and Vaseline, and cooking your catch. It is all in the Canoe Camping Playbook.
Read the Canoe Camping PlaybookYes. The St. Marys holds good blue catfish, and on this overnight Tina hooked one big enough to snap her pole. There are also channel cats and sturgeon, which we watched jumping right off the bank.
You move. At the blue cat hole there was nowhere to safely hang the hammocks, so we did not force it. We paddled upstream a little more and found a spot with two good trees and a deep hole to fish, and it worked out.
Build a bed of fine birch bark and shavings with fat lighter on top, then set a cotton ball soaked in Vaseline in the middle and touch it off. The petroleum jelly burns long and hot and gives your kindling time to catch.
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