Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

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GoodCall
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Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by GoodCall »

A co-worker was telling me about a trip where they paddled this thing. Being from the Miccosukee/Lloyd area, I was completely shocked that I'd never even heard of this thing. Looks like it'd take quite a while, but I imagine the scenery would be pretty sweet and it might be cool to do once.

Anyone paddled it? Fished it? How narrow is it? Are you constantly dodging gators/mosquitos/other misc. wildlife? I'm intrigued.

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/guide/de ... _guide.pdf
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by Baja Bob »

I'm in let's go
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WannaDoDat
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by WannaDoDat »

Hey Brad. Yes, I paddled it years ago in our family's old two-ton canoe 8O on a trip with a canoe club from Tallahassee. We put in at Goose Pasture and took out at Nutall Rise. It was a very pretty trip. Quite narrow and shallow in places with some ducking required under fallen trees. I would assume the water level of the 'Cissa would determine how much portaging is required. You might want to check in with Wilderness Way on the current conditions and for specific recommendations on shuttling, etc. They guide that area.

I fished the Goose Pasture area once over the summer and the water was quite low. Most bass up at the headwater's are small but feisty ones, but that day I had a good sized (a fat 21 incher) come out of the grass and hit a horny toad. I think you would also do well on panfish with poppers and beetle spins. I have fun catching the warmouths on small speed worms dropped into the multitude of springs. These small worms and baby brush hogs will catch the bass by dropping them into the holes in hydrilla. They just come and pick them up. A whole lot of fun. And a beautiful river full of wildlife. Bring your camera. :D

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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by backwater »

This site gives a good description of the Wacissa River and slave canal:

http://www.americantrails.org/nationalr ... il-FL.html
back·wa·ter /ˈbakˌwôdər/
an isolated or peaceful place
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by capncrunch »

One of my favorite day trips. Superb scenery. I especially like to take the more challenging wild rice clogged paths.
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by WannaDoDat »

Oh, and the mudfish! Fun to see them in the clear water, laying still on the bottom with glowing eyes and undulating long dorsal fin (hence "bowfin"). They'll go after a worm or toad or paddletail. Or not. :lol:

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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by badweatherbiker »

I have a friend in Wakulla who paddles it frequently all the way out, I am in if your guys plan a run.
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by BloodyChamp »

Wow I can't believe more people here didn't chime in on this. I've never went all the way through the canal but I could run a motorized boat from the headwaters all the way to Goose Pasture with my eyes closed at night. That's how well I know that river. There is alot more to the river than the boat ride though..sloughs, creeks etc. I could go all the way to the canal as far as memorizing the path but the thing is there is always a tree or 20 down past Goose Pasture so there's usually some improvising to be done. It's not a trip for the weak of heart. I've been into the canal once and my old man wisely got us out of there before we got to far when I was little. Every trip I've ever heard about involved having another vehicle already at the Aucilla because of what would be an impossible trip back up (although I bet I could do it). You can also get to the Aucilla from the Wacissa 2 other ways...Half Mile Rise and Hell's Half Acre, although I don't know if you can get far enough down the Aucilla to get to the boat landing if you got through Half Mile Rise. The stream gets so thin on Google Maps that I'd be willing to bet that some of what's in between is dry land.
Last edited by BloodyChamp on Tue Jun 28, 2016 11:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by H_luciae »

As has already been posted, this is a fun day trip. The last time we paddled it, I had the luxury of having a point by point GPS map of the path from Goose pasture. It definitely made it easier to pick which of the braids to take. We also had downed trees to contend with. But it sure was fun. If you are headed out soon, have fun with the yellow flies. They are fierce right now!
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by BloodyChamp »

I went all the way down the Half Mile Rise today and IT. WAS. AWESOME. Huge fish of all kinds, gators, just everything.

I barely grazed something on the way up with my Mercury 3.3. I swear it was a turtle because I was going right down the middle of the run and there were no rocks or logs anywhere. On top of that, I didn't hit anything last week on the way back when I went halfway down and back. Either way now my motor is all jacked up...ugh.
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by WannaDoDat »

Sorry about your motor. :(

Were you fishing or just riding?
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by BloodyChamp »

Fishing both times...the first time was just a little afternoon getaway and I caught a few bream then turned around way before the mini rapids. The second time was a serious all day trip and I caught some huge bream and 2 legal bass, and could have caught a ton more.

I think all my motor needs is a new shear pin. I was freaking out a little before lol! Next time I'm not even going to wet a hook until I get to the rapids. I'm also going to take a day to go back up the Wacissa just to see if I can get to where I always quit fishing down the river from Goose Pasture. Neither will be my next trip though because I've now been twice in a row.
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by BloodyChamp »

I tried going up the Wacissa rapids yesterday and turned around when I got to 1 section that would have involved dragging the boat a good 20 feet. I was also fishing and I didn't see a single spot to actually fish because even the nonrapid water was whooshing through pretty fast. Caught some nice bream and 1 bass that I let go. I *think* I seen some mullet feeding down on the first set of rocks but I can't swear it.
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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by WannaDoDat »

Very cool adventure! Sounds like the river needs a little more height to be able to get up those rapids.
Are the archaeologists working right now at the Page-Ladson site?

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Re: Anyone ever paddled the Slave Canal on the Wacissa?

Post by BloodyChamp »

I thought that was the following sinkhole between Half Mile Rise and Nut All Rise which I don't know how to get to. If not then no, nobody was working at Half Mile Rise.
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