There's a tactical advantage to the lighter tackle, as well. Suwannee bass are easily spooked in the gin-clear water of the Wacissa. A 5- or 6-weight line hits heavy on the still water, beating the light fly to the surface and making a splash that sends the bass scurrying. On the other hand, a 3- or 4-weight line is light enough that it will, as Logan puts it, "float slowly onto the water, at about the same speed as a falling leaf."

Catching Suwannee bass on a fly is, or at least should be, a catch-and- release sport. Not only because the fish generally aren't going to exceed the state's 12-inch minimum size limit for all black bass, but because it just feels like the right way to treat such a rich and diverse ecosystem as the Wacissa.

Says Tom, "The whole package of fly fishing, including the use of a quiet canoe, light tackle, and so forth, is that instead of just taking something when you fish, you become a part of the system, and can enjoy that experience in a way that leaves everything the way you found it."

Wacissa Springs

Fishing for Suwannee bass is a year-round activity in the river's headwaters because of the constant 70- to 72-degree temperature of the spring waters. The Wacissa Spring group is the seventh largest of Florida's 25 first magnitude springs. The group is made up of about a dozen large, named springs and numerous smaller outpourings that are scattered along the first mile of the river. Some springs, with names like Thomas Spring and Log Springs, occur in the upper riverbed, and help form the headwaters. Others, like Big Blue Spring and Buzzard Springs rise up in the nearby woods below the headwaters, and add their water to the river along narrow, canopied spring runs that are great fun to explore.

Big Blue Springs, the largest of the Wacissa Spring group, is located about a mile downstream from the headwaters. It sits about a hundred yards back in the woods and has a circular pool about 120 feet in diameter. The actual spring vent is about 70 feet in diameter and 45 feet deep. Two separate spring runs, about 40 feet wide, carry the spring waters to the river and paddlers back to the spring. Whether you're fishing or just exploring the river, Big Blue is well worth a visit.

The Way to the Wacissa

The headwaters of the Wacissa River are located about 25 miles southeast of Tallahassee, and about one mile south of the small town of Wacissa. From Wacissa, follow State Road 59 south, and keep going straight after the route turns west. The road will dead end into a small park and small boat ramp at the headwaters.

A second small ramp, and public campground, is located about nine miles downstream at a site called Goose Pasture. Camping is allowed except during hunting season. Goose Pasture can be reached by car from U.S. Highway 98 by turning north onto Limerock Industries Road about 8.5 miles east of where the highway crosses the Aucilla River. Follow Limerock Industries Road (the pavement will end) for 2.1 miles to an intersection of two unpaved roads. Turn left (west) and the road leads straight to Goose Pasture. Although passable by car, the unpaved roads can be very rough at times, and flooded after periods of heavy rain.

Nutall Rise, which is the take-out spot for one-way canoe and kayak trips down the river and through the Slave Canal, is located immediately east of the Highway 98 bridge over the Aucilla River.

A canoe livery operates on weekends at the headwaters of the river. You can rent canoes to explore the springs and fish around the upper portion of the river, or you can arrange for transportation back to your car from Goose Pasture or Nutall Rise if you want to take a one-way fishing-float trip. A canoe trip to Nutall Rise includes a challenging passage through the Slave Canal, an old and very narrow stream that was dug in the 1830s to create a passageway between the lower Wacissa with the Aucilla River. Today the canal is heavily overgrown, and the entrance is hard to locate without prior experience. For canoe rental information contact Alan Green at (850) 997-6030.

A River Protected

Thanks to Florida's conservation land acquisition programs, the Wacissa River is going to stay wild for generations to come. "We've had a lot of progress in buying land along the Wacissa River," said Doug Bailey, biological administrator with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Office of Environmental Services.

Bailey explained that due to some previous conservation land acquisition projects in the 1980s and '90s, much of the river's wooded corridor is already in public hands and will remain wild. Currently, and with the strong support of the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Nature Conservancy, two additional projects have made it onto the acquisition list for the Florida Forever land-buying program. The two parcels, when purchased, will protect nearly 30,000 acres of forest land on both sides of the Wacissa and the nearby Aucilla River. Included in the project is some important acreage around the headwaters and around the springs that rise away from the river.

Once purchased, the FWC will become the lead management agency for the publicly owned lands, which will be managed for a variety of traditional recreational uses including hunting. Most of the area that is included in the overall purchase proposal is currently being managed by the FWC as a Type I Wildlife Management Area, and that designation is expected to be continued once the state owns the land.