Heading to Spriggs today(Sunday) about noon

[DonV]

Heading to Spriggs today about 12

Doing a quick trip today. Plan on arriving somewhere between 12-1. Winds and tide look good. Any company is more than welcome.

[EMSer]

Sorry I missed you. I launched about 930 from there and had mediocre results - just 3 18"/19". Fought a lot of wind early, but it calmed down nicely. I was out by Dobbins. Which direction did you head?

Did you find a white ACK Hog Trough on the bank? I neglected to load it when I took my boat off the cart....

[DonV]

No sorry didn't see any hog trough.

Got on the water about 1. Only stayed out a couple of hours and I only caught two fish. One 17" and one nice thick healthy keeper at 22". Both landed not to far from the launch on the way out in an area that has produced fish consisntently but sporadically for me over my few trips. The wife went with me and didn't get a bite. Very frustrating for her and I really wanted her to get a keeper but it did't stop me from gloating over my nice fish.

In other Spriggs news.

When we pulled in there was a police car down in the parking area. The officer and a few people were talking down near the launch. Signs are posted as to the new fence being the loading/unloading area.

Come to find out one of the people talking with the policeman was our very own Rhino and I had a chance to meet and get a face to face apology in. He said that in his conversation with the residents and the officer, most of the residents seem now more concerned with some talk of the county putting in a boat ramp. I didn't think to ask Rhino if he knew why the officer was there, if he had been called for something or was just showing up to keep things calm, I don't know. Everyone there, quite a few at the park today, was very cordial and friendly and had no issues whatsoever and I can't imagine that any of them called him. Maybe Rhino will stop by and let us know.

When we were just about ready to get on the water a park ranger showed up, Pleasant and down to earth guy to talk to and seemed to be an avid outdoorsman. He seemed to feel strongly that all residents of the county should have access to the water. He stated he has been very impressed with the behavior and the respect shown for the county's natural resources coming from the kayak fisherman he has met in performing his duties.

Glad to see things going so well. I did hear one resident talk to the ranger and cordially recommend that maybe they could have the entrance at the top gate versus the lower to keep the traffic in the neighborhood to minimum. Sounds reasonable to me, if him and fellow residents are this reasonable and civil, I'll be right there with them supporting any improvements that can be made.

All and all a very nice day and the people there were super friendly. I do believe one of the most vocal residents may have been away for the day but had a real good feeling about the whole thing in general.

[Rhino]

Bruce - I have your trough. PM me and we'll figure out how to get it to you. Looked like someone had gathered your trough and some bottles and glass (presumably from the neighborhood kids) and put it up by the parking lot, so I thought I should remove all of it. I thought it was from a previous day.

Fishing was equally slow for me, with just one keeper and a few other hits in about 3 hrs. There was huge tide swing - low tide seemed super low - and I think that coupled with the Saturday rain contributed to what seemed like fairly murky conditions. So I guessed it may have been slow from the turbidity, unless the fish have mostly moved out by now.

Building on Don's report. . . When I arrived a police officer was down by the edge with a group of 5-6 locals, so I thought I should take some time to build relationships. Everyone was very nice and seemed to think the park and small boat launch was great for the community. They were very supportive. The police officer was just doing his rounds. I too also later met someone from DPR, who is also a fisherman and was super supportive, as well as a neighbor who helped establish the Spriggs Farm Foundation/Trust that helped protect the land from developers. He said the Foundation had always thought the park would be ideal for a public kayak/canoe launch, and is pleased the land is getting public use, as envisioned. I talked to him for a while and offered to communicate back to the kayak fishing community any concerns or needs the Foundation has for our support. I have his business card and will email him my contact info. Overall, I spent about an hour talking to everyone as a way to build relationships and good will, and I found nothing but support.

As Don mentioned, there is local concern about a possible boat ramp. A feasibility study is underway, but some expect the findings will suggest it should not go forward because there is soft shallow silt for quite a ways out, as we noticed during the low tide. Personally, I'm not sure this is the appropriate place for a trailer launch. Regarding the talk of shifting the car access point, as they described it, it sounds like it would make some sense if that's what the Foundation and DPR recommend.

[DonV]

Thanks for filling in the details. When I pulled in and saw the police car I was really expecting some ruckus to be going on and was very happy to find otherwise.

Exact opposite, everyone there just super pleasant, enjoying a lovely day at the park and discussing their local issues in a very reasonable, respectful and appropriate manner with the county reps. Very neighborly down home feel to the whole place and a stark contrast to my earlier experience with just one of the residents. Another lesson in having to to watch my first impressions, was doing some grumbling talk to myself, for awhile, about the whole damn neighborhood. Remind you of anything Rhino