‘Look Around At Shell Mound!’ Article in November 2010 Florida Sportsman magazine.

Whenever anyone asks me to recommend some Gulf fishing waters that are protected from early winter winds, the Shell Mound backwaters north of Cedar Key always seem to top my list.  Located about 10 miles north of the town of Cedar Key and halfway to the town of Suwannee, Shell Mound offers visitors not only a nice campground, but two boat ramps, a small fishing pier and even an interesting archaeological site.

The rugged Gulf shoreline between Cedar Key and the Suwannee River gives unlimited opportunities to anglers, especially those in shallow-draft skiffs, canoes or kayaks.  The scenery’s not bad either, and a trip here will give you a look back in time to when Timucuan Indians ate enough shellfish, mostly oysters, to leave a 28-foot high midden mound near what’s now the site of a boat ramp.  3500 years isn’t a long time in the overall scheme of things, and I suspect the creeks and islands seen here today are much the same as when the Timucuan plied these waters.  Oysters still abound in these waters and their presence support an excellent year-round fishery.  And cooler November days usually signal the peak of the action.

Read ‘the rest of the story’ in the November 2010 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine, available now at your local newsstand!