Camp Holly was the location where the Fishing and Hunting Solar Tables were established and still used by fishermen today it use to be called “MOON-UP & MOON DOWN ” Mr. Bob understood the moon up & moon down theory, and that fishing and wildlife were way more active when the moon was straight overhead or straight down underneath. In 1928 Bob was doing a lot of guiding out of Camp Holly, John Night was a loan officer from New York he hired Bob as a guide and Bob told him about the theory of moon up moon down. After six years of fishing consistently together John Knight published his first original solar tables small booklet, and started selling them by the thousands and quickly became every fisherman‘s handbook for the best times to fish around the country, it is still being utilized to this day by fishermen and hunters.

Camp Holly has been know for the past 45+ years for Mrs. Patricia Hite invention of her 3/4lb. “Holly Burger” that Mrs. Pat made famous with her old Cast Iron Skillet .

In the early 1955 & 1960 the retail stores establishments coined the saying “NO SHIRTS & NO SHOES & NO SERVICE to stop the hippie movement and restrict the groups from entering and trashing the stores or establishment. Well when Mr. Daryl Hite purchased Camp Holly in 1970 first thing he did was post a big 4×8 sign at the front door of the “Main Cabin” and posted the saying “NO SHIRTS & NO SHOES & NO PROBLEM” that was believed to be the beginning of the saying that has spread thru-out the U.S. based upon the 10’s of thousands of people that’s visited Camp Holly for the past 51 + years.

Mr. Benny Rogers A local icon that lived in West Melbourne. He provided minnows, shiners, and worms to all of us kids and the local fishermen for better than 20+ years. He himself made fishing history in the late 1930s went fishing with Bob the owner of Camp Holly they were out fishing one day and Benny caught three bass on one cast it’s believing that it’s only been equal to a few times to this day. He was casting a large wooden top water plug with three treble hooks along the edge of Canal 40 when three separate bass at three different times attacked the lure, not saying that it’s not possible that has not happened to someone since, but it’s just outlining the abundance of bass in the St. Johns River in it’s early days.

The St. Johns River‘s headwaters are establish south in Lake Blue Cypress south of Camp Holly 28 miles as the crow flies it is a natural Spring fed lake. Camp Holly is the first of many fish camps located along the St. Johns River that travels north towards Jacksonville Florida 300 miles to its north full of twisting and turning river banks along the way.

It is one of only two rivers in the world that flow north… what is the other one?

– if you guessed the Nile River…

YOUR RIGHT!!