Trot lining in Okatibbee Lake

I had this idea last Thursday to re-visit Okatibbee Lake, so I asked dad if he was up for a weekend of a trot lining fishing trip. His answer…yep, let’s go. I’ve been dieing to try out my new boat motor (2 stroke Yamaha 25) I bought at the last of the fishing season last year. We got a late start Saturday (no hurry our plan was to be fishing by 3:00pm) we got packed up and the boat batteries charged up by 9:30am. It's amazing how much stuff you end up carrying…my truck bed was full.

Oh yea I added a second depth finder

to the rear of my boat the night before, just so I could see how deep the water is while running the big motor. I had installed one up front last year (on the trolling motor); both worked great…my boat is a work in progress.

Okatibbee Lake is about an hour and a half away from home about 9 miles north of Meridian, MS just off Hwy. 19. We stopped off at Wal-Mart to get some food and fishing supplies and came across the tent section, the tent my dad and I had brought with us is a real monster…it’s something like a 20’ x 20’ three room tent. So dad decided to spring for a new tent to avoid the hassle of setting up the monster tent. We ended up getting a Colman 5 person dome tent

(it took us only minutes to set up compared to the hour it would have taken to set up the big one). don’t get me wrong the big tent is nice (very nice)

if you have a large group going with you…I also have a small two man tent

that I use for hiking, but it was to small for what we needed, the Colman worked out great.

After all was said and done, we got to the lake around twelve…this is where things got a little strange. We stopped at the park manager building and asked to get a primitive camp site near the water so we could pull our boat up near the tent to keep an eye on it while we were not fishing. We were told that the lake had been flooded due to lots of rain and that area around the lake was closed (due to high water) AND some one had hit the main water line (minutes before we got there) to the primitive section so there was no running water in that section. Good news, he would let us stay for free…BAD NEWS…we would have to stay at the exact same camp spot (54) that I stayed at during my last motorcycle camping weekend…you know the one, if you have been following my blog…the one where I had the BIGFOOT encounter (true story)
http://bigalscompound.blogspot.com/2009/02/bigfootat-okatibbee-lake-in-mississippi.html
we were told we would have the place to ourselves as there was only one lady and her kids in the primitive section.

We pulled over to the site and started setting up our tent. As we were greeted by our new neighbor's son…it went something like this…the son “what’s that?” me “a boat” the son “what’s that?” me “a boat motor” the son “what that?” me “a fishing pole” the son “what’s that?”…Well you get the idea…OH WAIT IT GETS BETTER!!! Then her friend shows up in a truck, as the door opens not one, not two, not three, but six chihuaha dogs jump out…Hmmmm and lets guess were they go…straight to our tent…so being the good neighbor I try to reach down a pet one of the tiny dogs…guess what happens, it start to bark, or should I say all six start to bark…here’s the best part they follow me around barking at me as there owners watch on…I got to admit drop kick did come to mind…then I would get a flash back of my two angels at home…TACO and BELL,

and I decided to spare their lives…oh and the dogs too. Ha-ha.

BY THIS POINT WE WERE NOT VERY HAPPY WITH OUR CAMP SPOT, but we decided to make the best of it and head to the bait store to get some minnows. As we pulled out with boat in tow, we passed by the camp area were the campers (RV’S) stay. So, we drove through to have a look and to our surprise spot six was open… (right on the lake)

so we rushed to the office and were able to trade spots (it cost us twenty bucks, but was worth a million)…we now had running water, power, and a very nice bath house

just down the street. As for our old spot we just drove up unstated our tent and threw it into the boat then we made the slow ride to the new camp spot six…the greatest spot ever. Ok I’m exaggerating a little. But it was a great spot.

So off to the bait store we went, we were told it was a few miles away and the store was called Reeds. After many miles of back road driving we found a store named Spiritmart

come to find out it was no long called Reeds, it had been sold years ago but everyone still called it Reeds…I guess it would help if we had known that…ha-ha.

Ok, this story isrunning kind of long, so I will try to speed things up a little, we launched the boat and set sail to set up our trot line. We had bought a pre made trot line from Wal-Mart, we ended up having to tie every hook and swivel to the string…all fifty of them…

they leave that off the packet…ha-ha. The came the string NIGHTMARE as dad was unrolling the string it became tangled and we spent the next thirty minutes getting the knots out…

just more fishing fun!!!

While we were setting out the line another boat pulled into the cove we were in and started throwing out jugs (around 25 of them) to do a little jug fishing.

http://www.whiskerkitty.com/jug-fishing-building-jugs.html

For you people out there who don’t know what jug fishing is, to make it simple, just jugs like old milk cartons with a string and hook tied to it thrown out in a cove and checked every few hours are so for monster catfish.

We tried to do a little bass fishing before dark…

with no luck I might add…the water was very, very muddy from the big rain days before. We went back to camp ate our dinner (bologna sandwiches) and drifted off to sleep…got up early Sunday morning ate breakfast (bologna sandwiches) and headed out to check our trot line, we were not expecting much due to the muddy water…and we were not too surprised that we only caught a small catfish and a big turtle.

Looked like the jug fisherman did not do any better. We took the boat for a cruse of the lake to try out the new motor…it ran like a bat out of hell…

speaking of bats as we went under a bridge

on the lake we saw hundreds of birds that had made their nest on the under side of the bridge, baby bird heads were sticking out of the nest screaming for their mom-eee’s to bring them some food.

Soon after we picked up our trot line packed up our gear, and were on our way back home. Great trip…yea I know we did not catch any fish to speak of…but this is one of those kinds of trips where the memories are more important than the fish anyway.

Besides we can always lie and talk about the big one that got away…oh yea and no BIGFOOT sightings this time, maybe next time.
Big Al

Bigfoot...at Okatibbee Lake in Mississippi???

Ok here is how this adventure got started. As usual, I was talking to Matt Thursday at work (I’m sure it was during a scheduled work break) and he was telling me how great the weather was going to be this weekend. That’s all it took, my little pea brain

started working...hmmm what about a motorcycle camping trip? I asked around the office and my buddy Ann came up with the idea of me going to Orange Beach, Alabama

for an overnight trip; so it was set Orange Beach, Alabama it is. (I took off Friday) Well it was the plan until I woke up Friday morning and started looking at Google maps, then my plans changed as they almost always do. Ha-ha. I saw a lake just north of Meridian. It is called Okatibbee Lake.

There are several campgrounds located around it, so I ended up picking Twiltiey Branch Campground as my destination which is right on the lake. So around 11:00a.m., I was packed up and ready to ride.

Mom and dad came over to wish me well on my adventure and snapped a few photos of me and my beloved bike.

Just down the road I stopped and topped off my gas tank. I kept up with all of my fill ups and trip expenses on my IPHONE (the world greatest phone).

I decided to take Hwy 11 all the way to Meridian where I would get on Hwy. 19 NORTH until I turned off at the lake. Once in Meridian, I decided to go to Chunky River Harley-Davidson

and checkout some bikes. When I pulled into the parking lot, there was another Japanese bike parked also loaded with gear,

so I parked mine beside it an went inside to look around. They have a HUGE selection of bikes; new and used...I have got to get me one of them! Maybe next year...sniff...Sniff. I guess it is a little soon to be trading mine in, it is a 2008 model. Ha-ha. So I left there filled up again and headed down Hwy. 19 south... that’s right I said SOUTH, wrong way,

it only took me about 15 miles to figure it out. Then once again I used my IPHONE’S GPS to get me back on the right track. Just a few miles later I made my first turn off Hwy. 19 and just followed the signs to the campground

(around 5 are 6 miles once you turn off the hwy).
It is a gated campground so you have to pass by a guard shack;

this is where you pay to camp or use the boat launch. I pulled my bike up to the drive-in window...this is where I first met Don; here is how the conversation went. ME: Hello, is there tent camping here? DON: yep. ME: Are there any spots available? DON: yep. ME: do I need to backup and park and come inside and fill out paper work? DON: yep. So I push my bike back a few feet to park in a parking space. While this is happening, a dog starts barking next door at a house. So I get off the bike and walk in the door passing Don walking out towards my bike as I walk to the front desk that has a little lady sitting behind it motioning me over. When I get to the door the lady asked me “how did you get that dog to stay on the bike?”

ME: WHAT??? As I look back I see Don walking around my bike looking for a dog stashed away somewhere in my gear. He comes walking back in saying there is no dog on that bike. So I tell them the dog was next door, they laugh, I fill out the paper work and pay 12 dollars for the night. Don picked spot 54 for me, due to it was close to the restroom; but told me I could take my pick since I was the only one in the primitive side of the park. Once I drove down this long, long road

I came to the camp sites, this place was huge...and yep Don was right, I was alone all alone...well so I thought...dm,dm,dmmmm. I got unpacked and my tent set up,

then decided to go to Wal-Mart I had passed along the way in, but wanted to get back to camp before dark...I had to hurry, it was a little after 4:00pm now.

I got to Wal-Mart

bought a couple of bottles of water a can of Pringles chips.

Ok I got to mention this; as I walked down the longggg row of freezers (you know the kind with glass doors so you can see all the frozen foods)

well I noticed they were all dark (no lights on) as I walked down the aisle the light behind each door began to light up, they had some kind motion sensors that turned them on. I have to admit it became a game to me as I ran up and down the aisle watching the lights turn on and off, this reminded me of the famous scene from the movie Big as Tom Hanks played on the giant piano keys.

THANK GOD I WAS FROM OUT OF TOWN AND NO ONE KNEW ME THERE. I got to get out more. Ha-ha. Next stop was Quiznos sub shop

for a sub for the road, then back to camp I went, made it back just before dark. Dinner time

ate then took a long walk around the park snapping photos.

Playgrounds

Just me trying to be a photographer. HA-HA (below)

Restrooms and the bath house

I almost walked to far and barely made it back to camp before dark.

Scary-EEEE. Time for bed or should I say time for sleeping bag, I checked my Facebook account and my email on my IPHONE before drifting off to sleep. This is where BIGFOOT...

Yeti, Sasquatch, Skunk Ape 0r whatever you want to call a giant ape man hiding in the woods waiting, terrorizing campers as they sleep. Well here is my story; I was sound a sleep and was awakened around 2:30a.m. to the sound of something slamming what sounded like two big sticks together over and over again. It sounded like it was coming from the edge of the woods about a hundred yards from my tent.

Hmmmm, this went on for about thirty minutes (I heard from watching the TV show Monster Quest

this was one of the first sign's before Bigfoot’s attacks followed by a strong smell of what has been described as a skunk smell.

Then followed by large rocks being thrown at the tents or cabins by the monster). Then the noise stopped and I drifted back to sleep only to be awakened again to a different kind of call of nature. One problem the bathroom was about 50 yards away in the dark...next to the WOODS!!!

So I manned up

and made what now seemed like a two mile journey. IN THE DARK!!! As soon as I stepped out of the tent, I got hit with this smell, I’m not kidding it smelled just like skunk...it was almost over powering, this made the walk (almost a run now) even longer. So I did my business and then trotted back to the tent...safe I not getting out again till morning. Back to sleep again only to awaken AGAIN at 3:30a.m. to the sounds of the two sticks hitting together again this time a little closer... I have to admit the words “OH SHIT!!” Came to mind. Then just like that the clicking stopped...I thought this was a good thing...WRONG!!! Then the clicking did stop but it turned into a very loud Howl

a howl like I have never heard before, the only good thing about it was the howl was moving away from my tent at a rapid rate. Then the sound faded into the distance and once again I went to sleep only to awaken on my own this time around 8:00 a.m. I got up munched on a few chips and went to the edge of the woods to investigate the noises...it’s a lot easier to be brave when you know at least you can see what is going to jump out and bite your head off. After looking around in the woods

a while I gave up my investigation, no foot prints or hair that I could find. Its one of those things I just have to wonder about the rest of my life. Or maybe just maybe, I’ve watched too much Monster Quest...

the world and I will never know.

Time to pack.

As I was rolling up my sleeping bag and sleeping pad, Don drove up as he was making his morning rounds. I walked over to tell him I was leaving and we began to talk. Come to find out we had a lot in common. He rides motorcycles too and had just bought a new Harley. Don is a small man and getting on in years so I was surprised to find out he drove to Sturgis last year for the big motorcycle rally. This is around 4,000 miles roundtrip; and he was at the same rally I went to last year in Panama City Beach.

He told me he was retired military and his wife and himself traveled from park to park working as rangers...their next stop was YellowStone National Park

around the beginning of the summer. Well we said goodbye and Don jumped back into his truck...just then I thought about taking a photo so I ran back to my tent grabbed my camera and took this shot as he was driving away.

I hope I make it back to the campground in time to talk to Don again before he is gone, he is a good man.

Well I got packed up and

headed out of camp down the long road again

and back to Interstate 59 this time, filled up for the third time and was on my way home. I got behind a car on Interstate 59 and started doing a little drafting around 80 mph all the way home. What a great adventure, and a pleasure to meet a man named Don.