NEWS RELEASE

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

November 7, 1997

CONTACT: Rich Cailteux (850) 627-9674

LAKE TALQUIN DRAWDOWN TO BEGIN DEC. 1

Beginning Dec. 1 a drawdown of Lake Talquin will begin and fisheries biologists are confident the end result will be vastly improved sportfishing in the 8,200-acre lake.

The drawdown was approved last year by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and is scheduled to last through July 3, 1998. During the drawdown, the lake will be closed to recreational fishing but boating and fishing for catfish with trotlines will be legal. Recreational fishing will be allowed again beginning April 1, 1998.

FWC Fisheries Biologist Rich Cailteux said the lake level will be dropped 10 feet and held at that point to expose roughly 35% of the lake bottom to the drying effects of the sun. "This seven-month cycle of de-watering is done to mimic in a few months what Mother Nature might accomplish over a period of years and that is dry out the lake bottom and oxidize the mucky, flocculent layer that builds up in man-made reservoirs," Cailteux said. "We’re hoping to keep the water out of the lake and we will unless we have a late-season hurricane or major flood."

By mid-December, Cailteux said the FWC will aerially seed 1,000 acres of the exposed lake bottom with rye grass. Following refill, he said the decaying rye grass will provide a tremendous growth environment for young fish, a benefit anglers should begin seeing within two-three years.

He said homeowners who want to build or lengthen fishing docks during the drawdown are advised to contact the Department of Environmental Protection to obtain a permit. DEP, among its other duties, regulates structures placed on state sovereign lands.