Look to the southern part of the state, in the vicinity of the Okefenokee Swamp, and you will see place names like Statenville, Tarver, Needmore, Council, Fargo, Edith, Moniac, St. George, and Homerville, one or two of these are fair sized towns. The rest are mostly cross roads with a general store, a home or two, and little more. The countryside consists of sparsely settled pine woods and scrub covered sand flats. I always get the impression that there are more armadillos and rattlesnakes around than people. The waters that flow through the area as creeks or rivers carry water out of the swamp.
Roadsides are dotted with borrow ponds choked with water lilies and other aquatic plants.
All the water is stained brown with tannic acid and filled with fish collector's dreams. Not long ago, I spent two days collecting some of those dreams. What follows is a report of my findings. Left home at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. Two hours south on the Interstate is Valdosta, the jumping off spot.