Some folks say “real Florida living” doesn’t exist anymore but I am here to tell you they are wrong, they probably have never been to W. Volusia County FL. I took my first trip to W. Volusia in May of 2024 when they reached out to me about coming to film an episode for my show “Let’s Take it Outside”. I am Florida born and raised but there are still so many places in Florida I have not been, I was excited to explore W. Volusia. They set me and the crew up to stay at Highland Park Fish Camp for a real “old Florida” fish camp stay. Highland Park Fish Camp seems like it is frozen in time, I wish I could have stayed longer. Long before there were theme parks, cruise ports and huge developments in Florida they opened their doors over 63 years ago. They are a family-owned fish camp on 30 acres located on the Norris Dead River, a portion of the St. Johns River. Highland Park Fish Camp has great cabins that can accommodate your whole crew from just a couple to an entire family reunion. They have the coolest Tackle Shop, boat rentals and some of the best fishing guides in the State of Florida.
Highland Park has partnered with some of Florida’s best fishing guides, and I was excited to go fishing and filming with Captain David, I heard he was among the best. We met early in the morning well before the sun came up and headed out to the secret spot to go catch some Bass. The reason it is secret is because I honestly have no idea where we were and where we launched the boat. As the sun came up the day of fishing started out great and the bite was pretty “hot” right from the start. We were catching some good size Bass ranging from 3 lbs. to 5 lbs., so I was really happy, that makes for a good fishing show when you actually catch fish. As the morning went on the bite was pretty steady but as the day turned to afternoon the bite did start to slow down a bit. Captain David announced we were going to move to another side of the lake and go trolling! I am not going to lie; I thought he was pulling my leg because he knew that I don’t Bass fish that much. Captain David pulled up the Power Pole and took off across towards the other side, as I hung on and I wondered if he was a bit crazy. We got to the perfect spot, he handed me a rod put on a live bait and said hold your rod off the side of the boat, he said “I will have the trolling motor on slow and we will see what happens”. “Bam” right off the bat I caught a nice Bass, I was starting to think he might not be crazy after all. My first catch was a nice 6 lbs. Bass the biggest of the day so far, so at this point I am happy, and we caught it all on camera.
We only had about 10 minutes left before the charter was over and all the sudden my rod when down, this next fish was huge. We were fishing light tackle, so I had to really keep calm and not hoss this fish like I wanted to. I was so scared I would lose this Bass, I knew it was going to be my biggest ever if I landed it. I gasped for breath when I saw how big this fish was and was praying that Captain David was able to get him in the net the first time. I could not believe it; this Bass was for sure my personal best that I had ever caught and Jose got it all on camera. I could not wait to weigh this fish, I was sure it was close to 10 lbs. if not more. My Bass weighed 8.4 lbs. and I was thrilled. A Huge shout out to Highland Park Fish Camp and Captain David for giving me one of my best days on the water and putting me on my “PBB” personal best Bass.
After all that excitement it was time to see what else W. Volusia County had to offer, so we headed over to De Leon Springs State Park to take a dip and do a little kayaking. The State Park there is very unique, and they have a lot of Florida history. First, we headed to the Kayak rentals so I could get out on the water and check out the local wildlife, and by wildlife, I mean the local Gators. There were a lot of local birds spending time on the shorelines looking for small fish and a few fairly big Gators getting a tan as well. It is a great place to kayak, but if that is not your style, they have a great sight seeing tour boat as well. Look by this time I was hungry, and they have a very special place to dine in the park called Old Sugar Mill Pancake House. Back in the 1830’s this was the sight of an original sugar mill and now you can step back-in-time and learn the art of the perfect pancake. They have griddle top tables where you can make your own pancakes and eat as much as your heart desires. Now if pancakes are not your style, no worries because you don’t have to fly to New York or Chicago for a 5-star dinner just make a reservation at Cress. Cress is truly one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at, and I travel a lot. It is worth the trip to W. Volusia just to go and dine there to be honest. For Dessert we headed right around the corner to Pat and Toni’s Sweet Things, the #1 candy story in Florida by my standards.
Next up on the list was working off some of those pancakes and our 5-star dinner at Cress by hitting the trail, the horse trail that is. We headed over to Deep Creek Stables for a really nice trail ride on their beautiful property. I have not ridden in a while so I did need a little bit of refresher, I love that they start you in the round-pen so you can get warmed up. We went on a great ride their horses are great to ride, the horses have spunk but not too much and you can tell the horses love their job. I highly recommend looking them up when you visit W. Volusia County it really takes you back in time when the “Florida Crackers” used to heard cattle back in the day.
Every Floridian knows that no trip in Florida is complete unless you go on an airboat ride and search for that “honey gator hole”. I hooked up with Airboat & Gator Chaters and their slogan is “the swamp is our playground” and they mean it. I have to honest I lost count of how many Alligators we saw there were just so many, and our Captain knew a lot of them by name. I wish we could have stayed longer in W. Volusia because we were just getting started, but only so much content can fit into an episode. Before we left, we did take a great bike ride with some new friends on one of their bike trails and went on a hike in a local park. I am excited to head back to W. Volusia this summer and re visit some of my past experiences and find some new ones as well. I want to invite you to watch the full episode of “Let’s Take it Outside” we filmed in W. Volusia it is available 24/7 on demand on Waypoint TV, Carbon TV, Discovery GO & Discovery Plus and of course right on my YouTube channel. I know once you see how big the Bass are and how wonderful W. Volusia and it’s locals are, you will be planning your trip this year as well. W. Volusia is proof that “Real Florida” does still exist, and they are ready for you to come visit them.
Misty Wells Producer & Host of Award Winning “Let’s Take It Outside” TV show airing to 220 million on Discovery & Discovery GO & Plus & 15 other networks. Bass Pro-Outdoor Pro & Outdoor & Outdoor, Travel Writer. Founder of “A Reel Future” non-profit devoted to teaching the passion of fishing & conservation to foster children, over 4,000 children & counting. www.mistywells.com
