01.24
Finally made it down to Flamingo again this morning. My plan was to hit the newly cleared Bear Lake trail for a few hours and be home in time for the NFL play-offs. Got to Flamingo while it was still dark and of course the damn gate to the trail was locked again. Was hoping that they would unlock it at dawn but I waited almost 2 hours and no one came. Winds were way too high to try going out front so I just called it a day and worked my way back home. I stopped at a couple of the hiking trails on the way out of the park and found some nice short ones that I think the kids will enjoy.
I also had a chance to check out the fish kill from this months cold snap and it was ridiculous. So many nice fish belly up at the marina. Even found dead fish at some of the small lakes along the park road. Really sad to see. Most worried about the snook populations as I have not heard of a single person catching or even seeing a snook since the cold snap. I saw dead tarpon, snook, grouper and all kinds of baitfish. May have been a few redfish too but they were so bloated and discolored that I’m not really sure what some species were.
Damn, what a bummer about the fish kill. Does it smell terrible? Too bad about that damn gate too. Must be a way to find out the schedule or make an appointment so you don’t waste the drive out there…
Smell was not nearly as bad as you’d think. What amazes me is that the sharks don’t go crazy on the dead fish. I’ve seen smaller fish kills before on the flats and never see sharks on those fish either. Must be something about how the fish dies that they don’t like. Or maybe they just get full quick and we don’t see them during the initial feeding (doubt it though).