St Jude's Kayak Trip Report 2015

gregg dudley · May 04, 2015, 10:20:00 PM

For the past several years I have offered a kayak trip for two on the Silver and Ocklawaha Rivers in Central Florida. I have been privileged to host some great guys on these trips. Bob Corbitt has bought this trip for the last two years in a row. This year he sent his buddies, Sam Lindamood and Paul Bowling to float with me. We had a big time as usual. We floated the rivers on the 24th and 25th and then did a little bow fishing on the 26th. We saw tons of Gators and wild feral monkeys as all as a host of birds, deer and other wildlife. We even managed to catch quite a few fish.

gregg dudley · May 04, 2015, 10:21:00 PM

gregg dudley · May 04, 2015, 10:23:00 PM

gregg dudley · May 04, 2015, 10:23:00 PM

gregg dudley · May 04, 2015, 10:24:00 PM

gregg dudley · May 04, 2015, 10:25:00 PM

mangonboat · May 04, 2015, 10:31:00 PM

Great trip! Feral monkeys in the swamp...who knew?
Are you doing another trip this year? My wife and I love birdwatchng, SOT Kayaking and I would love to try bowfishing for something other than carp, suckers and gar.

gregg dudley · May 04, 2015, 10:43:00 PM

There are five bands of feral monkeys along these two rivers. They have been wild since the 1930s when there was a failed attempt to place them on an island as a tourist draw. Apparently the promoters didn't know they could swim. It is sometimes said that they are from the old Tarzan movies filmed here, but that is not true. They are a different type of monkey than the ones used in the movies.

I will most likely host another trip this year. The bow fishing thing just kind of happened this year. It was the first time we have been able to put that together.

Guru · May 05, 2015, 06:00:00 AM

Awesome buddy!

Robertfishes · May 05, 2015, 07:12:00 AM

Nice job Gregg! I live less than 5 miles from Silver Springs..I haven't been on the Silver or Ocklawaha Rivers in 2 years..I always enjoy your photos so please post more!!

Hopewell Tom · May 05, 2015, 07:30:00 AM

Good one Gregg.
Looks like a fine time and a fine donation. Thanks for your (and the winning bidders') efforts.
Beautiful pics!

awbowman · May 05, 2015, 08:14:00 AM

Way Cool

ron w · May 05, 2015, 08:20:00 AM

Nice photos.......

Shinken · May 05, 2015, 09:13:00 AM

Wow! What a most-excellent trip - all to benefit the children!

Very nice!

Shoot straight, Shinken

gregg dudley · May 05, 2015, 06:08:00 PM

Thanks, guys. I'm hoping this thread will inspire some out of the box thinking about St Jude's auction items. When I cam up with this a couple years back I didn't know how it would be received. Turns out, it has been a successful concept.

Matty · May 05, 2015, 10:43:00 PM

Gregg. That's awesome! And as always nice pics!
Guys this is one to bid BIG on for sure!!

gregg dudley · May 06, 2015, 05:40:00 PM

I just listed this trip as an auction item for this year. There are links to the previous three trips on there with a lot of pictures. Please check it out.

http://auction1.tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=203&t=000202

Cyclic-Rivers · May 06, 2015, 06:03:00 PM

Very Cool Pictures Gregg. Looks to be a wild wonderful place.