Even though Ida got on out of here, it will take several days for the water to flow through the river systems and make its way on to the Gulf of Mexico.

I told you about being in Columbus and Fort Benning and seeing all the water there. When I saw that I knew that the Chattahoochee River was in for a rough time all the way down. The Flint was high also, but not as high as the Hooch,

The week before Thanksgiving I made my way down to the Panhandle to see how they were getting along with what I knew would be high water conditions. Usually I go down and hit Highway 90 and make my way from there. This time I went by Lake Talquin and on down to Highway 20 and moved west toward Bristol and then into Blountstown.

It is a nice drive and you know gas don’t cost very much, so I was enjoying the scenery. I got to thinking about the bridge across the river. There are two bridges. The one I would be taking was the north bridge, the old one for travelers going west. The east bound bridge is a new one and built much higher than the older one. Now what if the bridge was closed due to flooding conditions? I would have to go back to Interstate 10 just below Quincy to make my way into the Panhandle, which would cost several hours.

I did find a high and full river, but not one that would close the highway and detour folks. I finally made it into Blountstown and was received well though the folks were not cooking, so it was Lance crackers and Lay’s potato chips for me and a big dinner when I got home that night. Most of the streams were full, but the Apalachicola River was several feet over flood stage and even then I saw a boat on the water making an effort to fish.

I actually don’t think many folks mind the high water because the archery season is in and just a few days the black powder season will be in and around Thanksgiving the regular deer season will come in. Hunting season takes over when it comes in and very little fishing goes on. By the time the deer season goes out around the end of January, the folks will be ready to go back fishing and they will in droves. Most of the younger folks I know down there have two things, a truck and a boat, and are happy.

The good thing about those folks is they are good folks. My wife has kinfolks down there and one of the guys builds boat for a living.

Otis Dean has one of the boats he built. It looks like a good one to me and to take that big river it probably has to be build right well.

After making my way down to Dead Lakes, I drove back up to Highway 90 and saw what Lake Seminole was sending down toward the Gulf. All the gates at the dam were open except for the gates on each end. The lake was dumping more water in the river than it wanted and was making its way up hill. Under these conditions there was no fishing below the dam and won’t be for several more days. But you can expect there to be some good fishing when the water goes down.

Back here in southwest Georgia, we are also looking more to the hunting seasons than the fishing. With the lake being high, it is an excellent time to go hunting and save our fishing time for later.

Sometimes the wife will try and limit the fishing and hunting hours you spend away from the house. If you let her think she is keeping you from fishing when the water is too high to go, you will have won out over her without her knowing.

So go on hunting as she will probably let you go if you kill a deer or maybe enough doves for a big fry. Most of the women folks that were born and raised here in southwest Georgia kinda like the taste of wild game and fowl, and every now and again they can cook it also, or will ask you to cook it. It that case you have a winner.