LBL canoe trip to Lick Creek leads to many untaken photos but no turnovers. It was day for adventure today and I took the the LBL canoe out in the trusty, rusty Ford Ranger. I was not feeling like heading out too far from home, so I went to the Dover, Tennessee city park and launched the canoe into familiar Lick Creek waters.
LBL Canoeing
Canoeing in the Land Between the Lakes area is one of the most fun and relaxing of all of the activities available in the LBL area. A canoe is relatively inexpensive to purchase and is really cheap to run, especially with the gas prices these days. I lugged the canoe into the truck and drove the truck to the boat ramp and my day of adventure began as soon as I got the LBL canoe into the water.
Behind the House
Lick Creek and the Lick Creek impoundment that leads to Barkley Lake (Cumberland River) in historic Dover, Tennessee is actually right behind my house. Decades ago my father, my brother and I (and sometimes my grandfather and others) would walk down to the limestone bluff behind the house and bank fish at Lick Creek. But today was a day for taking a canoe trip.
Windy Day
It seems like there as no wind stirring at all on this muggy, hot day. However, out on the water the wind was somewhat brisk. I took a while to get from the Lick Creek boat ramp around by the factory grounds toward the Lick Creek bridge and then behind the house to the old fishing hole. I canoed all the way up into the western edge of Lick Creek impoundment and began paddling all the way up into the actual Lick Creek that feeds the impoundment. Lick Creek is one of the major tributaries in our area to Barkley Lake (Cumberland River.)
Untaken Photos
My LBL canoe trip was a fun one today, but it was really a warm up (or heat up) for more to come. I was getting my sea legs or river legs back under me. I saw so many cool photos, but just did not get very many of them. The thing is if you move about too quickly in a canoe, you wind up in the water. The only camera I had with me today was the trusty Nikon secret weapon and it wound up in the water, I would not be able to replace it anytime soon if at all.
Of the untaken photos, I saw a swamp deer actually swimming from one bog to another across Lick Creek. I did get a shot of it on the bank. I also saw some beautiful little yellow bird at water’s edge, but I missed that one too. Some very large fish were flopping around the waters of Lick Creek and I did get a good look at a few of them. Some were bass and some were alligator gar. I may have seen a catfish or two, but cannot say I saw any Asian Carp.
I look forward to more LBL Canoe Trip adventures before the summer is done!
Story and Photo by David R. Ross — LBLUS.com
https://paddling.com/learn/basic-canoe-safety
Looking forward to future canoeing stories.