Florida - access to smaller creeks during rainy season

[Mulletnsteps]

I'll start by saying I'm not looking for anyone's honey hole, but if you want to share please private message me.

 

I'll be in Florida (Tampa/Venice mostly) with my family (coming from Utah) in late July/early August. Had hoped to hit up the Peace but I've heard it's no good because the water is high. I have 3 kids who love to fossil hunt and dig around for treasures so I'm disappointed that the Peace won't work out.

 

What I want to know is if there are any safe spots in smaller creeks that I can access (legally) during that time of year and bring my kids for a few hours? Rather not do any guided trips, but would be ok to pay to access someone's land.

 

We did the beach stuff (caspersen, manasota) last year and now looking to try our hand on a creek.

 

Would be happy to give some tips on Utah spots in exchange for any info. Thanks.

[Cam28]

Venice/ caspersen/ manasota are hot spots for shark teeth for sure, even if most of them are small & beat up, with enough persistence nicer ones can be found. There's a gravel pit outside the mulberry phosphate museum, about 45 minutes to an hour east of tampa, also mostly small stuff but never know. Just remember to bring insect repellent, especially in the summer, I was torn up there one fall evening there and those mosquitos bite through clothes, (I'm sure they swarm even more in the summer, for some reason Mulberry is a hotspot for mosquitos)

 

Wish I knew central FL creek fossiling information, everyone is hush-hush about it, & I'd save a bunch on gas.. (though the majority of creeks in central FL seem to be on private property/ harder to access than Peace river per say) but definitely Venice area is worth hunting, and I'd be super cautious of gators and snakes anyways if being around rivers & creeks in the summer- reptiles are much more common and active in the summer when it's very hot out