Paddle Fisheating Creek

We belong to the Florida Sport Paddling Club. Occasionally we are able to hook up with the club for a paddling trip. Fisheating Creek has been on the FSPC calendar for about six months running, but there has not been any specific date posted. The creek is hard to catch with adequate flow and the trip description says that the trip will run whenever the creek comes up.

Fisheating Creek is pretty close to our camp in LaBelle, so we thought we would check it out. The creek and the surrounding lands are owned and managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. A concessionaire operates a campground and livery service at US 27 in Palmdale. The water level was so low that they were not shuttling canoes up the creek. A check of the gauge showed the level was 1.57 feet and dropping. Other paddlers have suggested the minimum acceptable level is 3 feet or higher. We decided to put in at the campground and paddle upstream and/or downstream as far as we could.

The ramp is at Picnic Lake and there appeared to be plenty of water there. We started out upstream and soon came to the head of the lake and ran out of water. After a short drag over a gravel bar we continued paddling up the shallow meandering stream. While the water was very shallow we did not have to the exit the boat again. It was a rare beautiful day, warm and sunny. After about a mile we stopped for lunch. While sitting on the creek bank Matilda wandered away and started barking. We investigated and found her barking at a river otter. The funny thing is that the river otter was not retreating; he was barking back at Matilda and approaching. This is not normal behavior for a river otter. Usually they pop up for a look see and then disappear. We had recently watched a TV news report about a man who was walking in a suburban area and was attacked and seriously injured by an otter. It was later determined that the otter was rabid. So, we were suspicious and not a little afraid of this otter. We reined in Matilda, while the otter watched us eat the rest of our lunch and posed for a few nice photos. We continued upstream for about another mile and then turned around. Our otter had disappeared. Shortly before reaching our put-in we saw the first alligator. We continued past the put-in and explored the area downstream from the campground. We passed under the railroad bridge and the US 27 bridge and into Principal Lake. At the end of the lake the creek narrowed down again, and we entered the best 'gator hole I have ever seen. We saw about about 30 alligators in a 100 yard section of creek. A few were of pretty fair size. Many were moving around and swimming back and forth in front of and behind the boat. It was exciting and a little scary. We made sure Matilda was well down inside the boat and continued through the hole. After about a mile the creek became very shallow again, and we returned past the Gator Hole and back to the put-in.

It was a wonderful day to paddle, and we had a great time. We ended up paddling about 6 miles. We are looking forward to coming back to Fisheating Creek when the water is up and paddling some longer sections. Maybe a camping trip?