Orlando Summit Results, 5 November 2005

FRESHWATER FISHERIES SUMMIT RESULTS
Orlando, FLORIDA
November 5, 2005

• Drawdowns and Restoration

• Vegetation Spraying

• Agencies competing

• Fishermen are never listened to

• Lake Griffin

• Need to go to BASS chapters and get them together as a group

• Need to form or join an organization and work together with FWC

• Lake Kissimmee

• Clear Lake

• Urban sprawl is the problem on Kissimmee Chain

• Get different feedback on drawdowns

• Teen Anglers

• Lake Apopka

• Lake Talquin

• Vegetation spraying on St. Johns River

• Water hyacinth

• Educating newcomers

• Drawdowns and Restoration

– Intended to counteract problems caused by development and water schedules.

– Anglers claim drawdowns and restoration are not working on Kissimmee Chain.

– Fishing is ‘pitiful’ on Istokpoga after drawdown.

• Vegetation Spraying

– Eliminating all aquatic plants, not selective (e.g., eelgrass and peppergrass began to regrow and were sprayed).

– FWC will work with anglers to coordinate with DEP and Water Management District.

• Agencies competing

– How do we get agencies to work together? (e.g., Lake Yale: One agency is planting plants while another is killing vegetation. No grass there now).

• Fishermen are never listened to

– They give input and then FWC does what they please anyway

– This is why fishermen don’t show up to meetings

– Coming to meetings to get point across to “higher ups”.

• Lake Griffin

– Will not get better until a drawdown.

– Herbicides will not work. Makes things worse as vegetation dies and decomposes.

– In Pennsylvania, they “mow” lakes and remove vegetation. Longer growing season in FL—very cost prohibitive ($1,000/acre to harvest; $100/acre to spray). Herbicide the only way to keep up.

• Need to go to BASS chapters and get them together as a group

– Statewide fishing club or organization

– FWC needs to work with these chapters to organize them

• Need to form or join an organization and work together with FWC

– Much more can be accomplished when individuals form an organization with one voice. You are speaking for 300 people instead of 1 person.

– St. Johns designated as an American Heritage River because of wide-based support from the public and organized groups working to gather the support.

– Funding of FWC is a problem; other agencies and local governments have more funds to get things accomplished.

– Problems will not be solved in a year. It takes time and angler groups need to be persistent.

– Can complain all you want as an individual, but you will not be heard unless you are representing a group, such as Friends of St Johns.

• Lake Kissimmee

– Fishing is down 40-50%, since drawdown

– Fishing is down on every lake a drawdown has been done. Why keep doing it if it does not work?

– How can FWC be convinced that drawdowns have not improved fishing on Kissimmee Chain Lakes? Anglers complain of poor fishing subsequent to recent drawdowns.

• Clear Lake

– Why is water clear at times and murky at others? FWC is working with City or Orlando to improve the filter for the water coming into the water.

• Urban sprawl is the problem on Kissimmee Chain

– FWC can’t directly control growth.

– Fishing is drastically worse on Toho, since the drawdown—FWC was responsible for drawdown.

• Get different feedback on drawdowns

– Send survey to fishing guides and fish camp owners and ask their opinion of effectiveness of drawdowns.

• Teen Anglers

– Does a large amount of educational work and gets little recognition.

– FWC does not currently use Teen Anglers. No mention of Teen Anglers on FWC web page.

– Need to work with the young people and those who work with them.

• Lake Apopka

– In 1940’s they were talking about the same problems we are today.

– Many anglers can see problem but not the solution. Anglers and agencies need to work together.

• Lake Talquin

– Stocking small fingerling bass into established fisheries does not increase the largemouth bass (LMB) population. This has been found to be true by conservation agencies across the country.

– Stocking advanced fingerling (4 in.) LMB in Talquin led to some success stocking into a resident population and is an important new tool.

– Talquin is a reservoir not a typical Florida lake, so more research is needed.

• Vegetation spraying on St. Johns River

– Spraying too much has eliminated plants (e.g., 9 boats on the lake spraying on one day).

– Spraying when windy and spray is getting into trees.

– Issue will be taken up with DEP and its contractors. Feel contractors are being paid to get rid of a certain number of gallons of herbicide.

– Anglers need to document incidents and report.

– DEP more likely to be responsive when FWC and Anglers approach them together.

• Water hyacinth

– If not sprayed, they multiply rapidly.

– If sprayed once they get too heavy, large amounts of organic material are deposited on bottom.

• Educating newcomers

– Are any changes planned in how FWC educates newcomers to FL?

– It is very difficult to reach large number of people.

– Many residents have never seen water bodies as they were years ago and don’t perceive their fishing and ecological value.