Peace River Visit

[PODIGGER]

With the Christmas holiday fast approaching I decided on a trip to the Peace River yesterday to squeeze in one last visit before the holiday prep takes over all free time.  The morning temperature was in the 50's and fog was present when I got in the car and headed out.

The above photo was taken on CR 64 heading east between Bradenton and Wachula at 8:30am.  Seeing this heavy fog al the way to Wachula had me a bit worried about what I would find on the river!  I brought along my wetsuit due to the morning air temperature, but the forecast called for a high temp of 86 for the day.  Getting to the river I was relieved to find the sun shining and no signs of any fog!  The water flow was moderate and the depth had dropped to a very manageable level.  As I got the kayak in the water seemed cold but not bad enough to don the wetsuit, especially with the expected rise in temperature for the day.  Got up the river, beached the kayak and got out take my usual shoreline hunt prior to digging and sifting.  Within a few minutes I found a 2" partial meg tooth sitting in about two inches of water on top of the limestone riverbank.  Nice way to start the day!  Spent the morning sifting and not having a lot of luck, one nice 1" hemi, a few small shark teeth, turtle shell and mammoth fragments found.  The water was cold and about mid-day I got out to warm up.  While standing in the sun on the riverbank near the kayak I looked down in the water and saw what looked like the top of a tooth root.  Pulled it  out and had a nice 1" Tiger shark tooth!  I'm lucky I hadn't stepped on it getting out of the kayak earlier!  Continued sifting through the afternoon as the temp rose and the day became very comfortable.  Found another spot that was giving up small teeth where I will return on my next visit.

Not a lot of variety found but still a good day on the river!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Not bad at all, glad you found some nice pieces.

[facehugger]

Awesome stuff. Going to FL in a couple weeks, so great info, thanks for sharing!

[digit]

They say a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. I'd say an off day on the Peace is better than a good day putting up Christmas decorations.

 

Even if you don't score any trip-makers or tick off any long desired fossils from your Peace River bucket list, you still had a great time hunting for fossils while many TFF members in more northern climes read on enviously.

 

According to the (newly redesigned) Canoe Outpost website, the water at their dock is 10" below their "normal". They suggest that fossil hunting season is underway when the water is 1 foot or more below their normal level (where their floating dock aligns with their fixed dock). From experience I know that 1 foot under is usually sufficient to get to the shallower spots I know on the river between Brownville Park and Arcadia. The deeper sites really require a good low river (roughly 2 feet below). During the drought years a decade or so ago, the river was about as low as I've ever seen it. I believe it was just over 3 feet below "norm" and we had to get out of the canoe and drag it over several shallow spots along the way. It's really just a matter of a foot or two once the river recedes from its flood-stage high during the summer to "low water" levels.

 

I've got friends who are expecting their daughter in from the Seattle area for the holidays. She's eager to go fossil hunting in the Peace (we've taken her parents some years back). Hoping the rains hold off for the next couple of weeks and the river stays "in the zone". Of course, as long as I'm hoping, I'd also like a nice warm spell instead of a passing cold front during the time period we're looking at going out and standing waist-deep in the river.

 

In past years when I was more motivated (and stupider) I woke up the urge to get out and hunt the Peace on a colder day at the end of January (I claim insanity as my defense). Since we usually are up well before the sun on days we make the 3-hour trek to Arcadia, we arrived later than we usually do and missed the 8 a.m. departure for the early morning put-in. I decided instead to just rent the canoe from the Arcadia dock and paddle upstream to the nearest site I knew. The paddling helped shake off the morning chill--especially since it was into a rather stiff breeze from the north. Before too long I was at the site I wanted to work and decided to get in and try my luck. The water was waist deep but when shoveling and working the sifting screen my shirt quickly got quite soaked. That's when the cold breeze from the north and a little scientific principle called "evaporative cooling" kicked in to drop my core temp to the point of shivering within a few minutes and fewer sifting screens. My wife Tammy (being the more well reasoned one) sat in the canoe parked nearby along the shore sipping hot tea from her thermos. It took a while before my numb fingers could actually feel the canoe paddle as the wind pushed us along back down to the Canoe Outpost dock--defeated and hypothermic. At least the 3 hour trip home with the heat turned up in the car were comfortable.

 

I've since bought waders for the colder days when I just can't sit at home with that fossiliferous river just a 3 hour drive away. I've worn both waders and wetsuits in the river to make those less comfortable days early in the season doable but I now prefer to shoot for warm sunny days and leave the early season fossils to those with the passion to get into the river when it is still to cold, high, and fast for me.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[PODIGGER]

Thanks for the comments guys.

 Digit, I will say the wind chill is the biggest problem.  Once the shirt gets wet the slightest breeze causes that shivering! I did wear my "Farmer John" wetsuit on Dec 4.  I got some water in the top when digging deep that resulted in a wet shirt.  When the breeze started I felt the cold!  Fortunately, I always bring a dry t-shirt sealed in a plastic bag to change into if I get wet (learned that the hard way when I got rained on once).  Next trip I will definitely be wearing the wetsuit.

 

Good Luck to all on your future trips - may the river give up some spectacular finds!

[jcbshark]

Nice finds, love the color on that tiger

[caldigger]

2 hours ago, facehugger said:

Awesome stuff. Going to FL in a couple weeks, so great info, thanks for sharing!

If it's not too out of your way, can you swing by California and pick me up on the way?  Thanks.

[Tidgy's Dad]

2 minutes ago, caldigger said:

If it's not too out of your way, can you swing by California and pick me up on the way?  Thanks.

Me too if there's room in the car.

[facehugger]

12 minutes ago, caldigger said:

If it's not too out of your way, can you swing by California and pick me up on the way?  Thanks.

 

8 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Me too if there's room in the car.

Absolutely! But y'all gonna have to meet me in Houston to get onboard this road trip...

[PODIGGER]

Thanks jcbshark, the color on the Tiger and the Hemi were both really nice with a brownish tint.  The photo only captures a hint of it.

 

facehugger, Tiggy's Dad, caldigger- sounds like we may be facing an invasion down here! Best part is - the Peace River has plenty for everybody!

[Tidgy's Dad]

8 minutes ago, facehugger said:

 

Absolutely! But y'all gonna have to meet me in Houston to get onboard this road trip...

Hmmm.

Is that near Casablanca? 

[digit]

The thought occurred to me that I use the USGS gauges to check river level and flow rates remotely before I hop in the car with my gear and make the 3 hour trip to the Peace. I never thought about checking to see if there are temperature gauges on the river--and there are! (Well, I've found one.) That's another piece of useful information to add to the local weather report when thinking about making a trip and what to pack. The only gauge I've found that still records temperature (surface and bottom) is at the recording station at Platt, FL. It's a little ways down the Peace from Arcadia and close enough to the terminus of the Peace at Charlotte Harbor. As a result the water level tends to be affected by tidal influences but I think the temperature recorded likely represents a good estimation of the water temperature upstream. The river seems to be a balmy 69F (20.8C) at the moment which, with the 83F (28C) air temp, sounds reasonably pleasant though the 75-80F (24-27C) later in the spring will really bring out the fossil hunters in droves.

 

Here's a useful link to bookmark:

 

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=02297345

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[facehugger]

1 hour ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Hmmm.

Is that near Casablanca? 

Nope. Oh yeah, can you bring the tortoise too? 

[Bone Daddy]

Nice finds PODIGGER and I echo what Ken said above, a failed day of fossil hunting is better than a successful day of doing most other things. At least you got out there and got some river time. Your finds look a lot like mine from my last trip out - nothing big to write home about, but some things to bring home. I get a lot less picky on days where the finds are underwhelming. On those days, I keep almost everything that comes up in my sifter, even the little teeth and broken bits.

 

Ken mentioned the cold weather, wind chill, and hypothermia. I thought I would chime in on this. I'll hit the river as long as it's not frozen over. However, I keep my core dry. I don't wade in over my knees and I try to stay as dry as possible - work the waterline, shallows, etc. I wear multiple layers of thin clothing. Typically two long sleeve cotton t-shirts and a short-sleeve shirt over that. A pair of boxer-briefs and two pairs of long thermal underwear (rolled up just past my knees for wading) and cargo shorts over that. Socks and watershoes. Nitrile gloves on my hands. I keep a thick hoodie and a towel rolled up in my pack in case I get too cold. A couple of hand-warmer packs can also come in handy, although I rarely need them. I can hunt for hours like that with temps in the 40's or 50's and be fine - as long as I don't trip and fall head-first into the water, then it's game over. LOL.
 

[PODIGGER]

WoW! lots of layers Bone Daddy!  I did some research on this site and some others and found the general recommendation of the Farmer John wetsuit at 5mm as the best option for winter river visits in FL.  Got myself one at what I think was a reasonable $65.00.  Used it once and I am VERY happy with the results.  Kept my core warm and allowed me to hunt without getting cold.

 

Digit - I checked out the temp info you provided and agree this will be a valuable resource for planning future trips.  Thanks!

 

Tiggy's Dad - If you get here I'll be happy to take you to the river (along with any one else who happens to be in the car).

[digit]

Wetsuits can be bought at a reasonable discount price. Most wetsuits at dive shops are overinflated (the price, not the wetsuit) but that is the nature of specialty shops like dive shops. The real difference between more expensive suits and the cheaper ones tends to be in the fit and how stretchy the neoprene is. In the old days, you got warm just struggling to get into (or out of) your wetsuit. Before neoprene they were just made of rubber and it was like slipping inside of an innertube. Back in the day divers would use copious amounts of baby powder to "lube up" before squeezing into their wetsuits. Big he-man macho type divers were known to don women's pantyhose in order to more easily don/doff their exposure suits. These days advances in fabric science are allowing manufacturers to come up with much more stretchy wetsuits that are a pleasure to get in and out of. If the fit is relatively good and you are only using the wetsuit once per day then an inexpensive suit is probably optimal. If you are doing 5 dives a day, a stretchy and warm wetsuit is worth the extra costs. I'm tall with long limbs so finding any wetsuit where the arms and legs don't stop 3 inches before mine do tends to be a real pain. When I do find one cut correctly for me, I don't care the cost.

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Shellseeker]

15 hours ago, PODIGGER said:

 I did some research on this site and some others and found the general recommendation of the Farmer John wetsuit at 5mm as the best option for winter river visits in FL.  Got myself one at what I think was a reasonable $65.00.

I have a number of wetsuits.  My favorite is a Henderson 5 mm shorty wetsuit.  Cut off just below knees,long sleeves, zipper up front (EASY in and out). Your calves do not really get cold because they are under water and warm blood is pumping thru them.

 

It is the wind on wet skin above the water line that feels the coldest.

[PODIGGER]

I like the zip front idea for the easy in/out.  May look for one in the future.  I went with the full leg coverage to help protect my shins from getting scratched up by submerged branches, etc.