This Week's Report
My outdoor
adventures this past week led me away from the waters of Central
Florida to the
Florida Outdoor Writers Association
conference in Tallassee, Florida. One might think why would you
have an outdoor writer's conference in Tallassee? Well, to my
surprise it turns out that between legislative sessions and
Florida State football games, Tallassee is the sportsman capital
of Florida.
We arrived in
Tallassee on Wednesday afternoon and checked into the newly
renovated
Hotel Duval
just three blocks
from the State Capital building. Hotel Duval is both elegant and
beautiful indeed, and it's wonderful and friendly staff made our
four day conference very enjoyable and memorable.
Although the FOWA
conferences are about networking with industry leaders and
professional outdoor communicators, we still manage to get in a
fun CPR fishing tournament out of the
Shell Island Fish Camp
in
St. Marks,
for which I took third place, I'm not bragging! And a
traditional FOWA casting contest which was conducted on the
steps of the State Capital Building, drawing a group of curious
on lookers.
On the
fishing side, Tallassee is blessed with both great freshwater
and saltwater opportunities. Both
Lake Talquin and
Lake Jackson Lake Jackson are world
renowned crappie, striper and largemouth bass fisheries
accessible to the public. On the saltwater side, St. Marks and
the Apalachee Bay are only 30 miles to the south.
Tallahassee also has
many diverse natural assets providing outdoor enthusiasts with
countless outdoor activities and hunting. This area is unique in
that it provides sportsmen opportunities to hunt a wide array of
quarry: from big game like deer and hogs, coyotes and bobcat; to
ducks, dove, quail and wild turkey; as well as small game like
squirrels and rabbit.
This area is also fortunate to have many
public land options for hunting and fishing, including the
Apalachicola National Forest, Florida's
largest national forest, protecting more than 571,088 acres and the
Joe Budd Wildlife Management Area (WMA),
which is one of the few places in the state where only primitive
weapons like bows and muzzleloaders are permitted for hunting.
All in all, it was a great week of
adventure, and I'm already looking forward to our 2011 FOWA
convention in Naples.
As always, if you need information or have
any questions, please contact me.
Good luck and good fishing,
Captain Tom Van Horn
Mosquito Coast Fishing Charters
http://www.irl-fishing.com
407-416-1187 on the water
407-366-8085 land line
Visit Mosquito Creek Outdoors at
www.mosquitocreek.com,
it's where your adventure begins
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