Got me thinking about post "Hate Board"

[Orion922]

Having been blessed to fish all over the country and overseas from a lake in Central Washington, to Japan, etc., folks in Florida need to realize how good they have it. Please let me get on my high horse for a moment. Small example: In Washington State you do not buy a year fishing license--they do it in half years, then certain lakes have sections you can only fish during certain times. Cali has so many restrictions it is unreal and other states have ramps with multiple 200 boat tournaments certain times of year.

To be clear, no one is calling me for a sponsorship nor a pro card. With this, this past March fishing my yearly military tournament out of Camp Mack (March, and Camp Mack) with 54 boats and the other 50 boats fishing for fun, I was one of a few boats on Hatch. Man I was on some fish just could only get two big bites. In 3 days of practice and 3 days of tournament, I came across a few folks. Even my time on Kiss was not overwhelming.

Yes times have changed since I started fishing in in 94 but we have it great. There are a lot of places one can fish and never see another soul. The population is expanding but we have it great. What we need is the FWC to take care of our lakes and waterways. If fishing pressure was the number one cause for crappy fishing the Harris Chain would have sunk into the earth. Off my high horse.

[Manatee Mauler]

[QUOTE=Orion922;11262930]

"Having been blessed to fish all over the country and overseas from a lake in Central Washington, to Japan, etc., folks in Florida need to realize how good they have it."

I'll rephrase it " How good we used to have it". Fishing is half what it was, really it sucks now, that I'm not thankful for. Not long ago there would be just a few boats on a Tues afternoon in Feb on Lake George. If you knew what it was like then you would puke at what you think is good now. Its declined that much. Just saying.

[Orion922]

[QUOTE=Manatee Mauler;11263097]

"Having been blessed to fish all over the country and overseas from a lake in Central Washington, to Japan, etc., folks in Florida need to realize how good they have it."

I'll rephrase it " How good we used to have it". Fishing is half what it was, really it sucks now, that I'm not thankful for. Not long ago there would be just a few boats on a Tues afternoon in Feb on Lake George. If you knew what it was like then you would puke at what you think is good now. Its declined that much. Just saying.

Totally on point and my words were chosen poorly. Price to pay I guess for growing the sport.

[Poppin' Frog]

[QUOTE=Manatee Mauler;11263097]

"Having been blessed to fish all over the country and overseas from a lake in Central Washington, to Japan, etc., folks in Florida need to realize how good they have it."

I'll rephrase it " How good we used to have it". Fishing is half what it was, really it sucks now, that I'm not thankful for. Not long ago there would be just a few boats on a Tues afternoon in Feb on Lake George. If you knew what it was like then you would puke at what you think is good now. Its declined that much. Just saying.

Amen! roughly 20 years ago I fished a tournament on the Harris Chain. My partner and I caught 24 pounds..........we tied for 13th. I get it, the more people moving here the more pressured places get. The problem is we're simply not managing (looking at you FWC) the waterways to handle that growth. In fact, our state government is doing the opposite, out of control weed spraying is reducing the bass habitat to smaller and smaller areas being shared by more and more boats. It's the worst combination.

[rocknemo]

[QUOTE=Orion922;11263711]

Totally on point and my words were chosen poorly. Price to pay I guess for growing the sport.

It has nothing to do with growing the sport and everything to do with our corrupt state mismanagment from the FWC. Lake Kissimmee was one the premier bass fisheries in the country along with the Stick Marsh, and Okeechobee, but now they are just a shell of what they once were, and they still are out there all year long nuking the hell out of them.

[Garage Dog]

DISCLAIMER: NO HATE INTENDED... (except for the license plate thing) JUST FACTS!

Our issues in Fla go waaaaaaay beyond fishing. FWC is only a small factor on what has ruined most of the state. I spent 45 years in Charlotte county (SWF) before moving. We are here now visiting family and friends and it didn't take long to remind me why we left. The Englewood Pt. Charlotte, Ft Myers, Venice and Sarasota area have already bypassed the infrastructure they have and MANY more LARGE developments being built right now. They are clearing property across from the Rays baseball stadium. Traffic is already horrific and out of control. I 75 is a death ride. I take an extra 1 1/2 hours and drive the back roads when we come to visit. Just wait till there are 2000 more homes in that area. On 41 between North Port (which is a getto) and Venice there are large developments going in with the shopping centers and grocery store already open.

Right now I see more NY and other northern state license plates here than any summer before...wonder why?

Oh, I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale in the 60's & 70's and it was ruined going into the 80's.

[Manatee Mauler]

Hey Orion no sweat. Coming from the perspective who has seen the changes from where we were to where we are now I can put the pieces together. While the spraying is our biggest threat to our fishing, I can honestly say the spraying is the result of our government wanting open waterways to allow weed\vegetation free waterways to invite more citizens to move down here. The people from up north primarily come from gen clear deep water basins and when the get here they want the same environment...just with warmer temps. Perfect example, I was catching good fish offshore in Big Harris on a C rig 1\2 mile in offshore hydrilla about 15 years ago on a Monday practicing for a tx. Every cast was a 2-5 pnd fish. Only made 3 or 4 cast and left. I was coming back down the lake a few hrs later and saw FWC in a small boat spraying pellets exactly where I was. Of course I had it out with him and HE SAID LOOK THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE ON HARRIS COMPLAIN ABOUT THE WEEDS ( AS HE CALLED THEM) AND THEY GET SPRAYED BECAUSE THEY VOTE. Its the local commissioners requesting so the get voted back into office. This is a direct result of our lifestyle being altered by yankee transplants. Oh by the way didnt get bit that day at that spot.

Im so disgusted by the decline that I havnt put my boat in the water in 2 months and I was AOY prob 5 out of the last 7 years. Im scared to death to pull up to some offshore spots in the river because someone will go by and "ping" me only to come back when Im not there and ruin it. They then will take their buddy there and look like a hero, then the cat is out of the bag. It really isnt fun when your having to look over your shoulder constantly to see if your being watched. Id rather go to the grave then give this info up. This fishing is expensive and Ive spent alot of money finding these places and when someone is so lazy and sorry not to do it on their own ...well it just sucks. Its why you will NEVER NEVER see me following the elites or Scroggins when they are here. If I cant figure it out on my own then I need to take up anouther hobby. This all has to do with added pressure and more boats on the water driven by guys that dont have any ethics. Called the bent rod fishing pattern!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

A very good friend, Pete Jannotti, who is more like a father to me and best man in my wedding with whom Iv fished with since I was 13 or 14 years of age installed in me a saying that goes " What you get for nothing is worth nothing".

[hermanp]

You need a party that listens to people not wallets

[JayLaw]

The problem with Florida and your now seeing it happen in Texas is the the droves of people that move there from somewhere else because somewhere else became too restrictive, too many rules, too many taxes... etc;. The problem is they voted for that somewhere else to become that way. They are now doing the same thing Texas. People are fleeing California to move to Texas...the political landscape in TX is changing rapidly. Why? Because these folks from California forgot why thy moved to Texas in the first place and they vote what they are use to voting. This has been going on in Florida for decades, and it's getting worse. The number of housing developments with HOA's in Florida is 500x higher then it was in the 80s. Landowners in Florida need to quit selling their lands to developers or it will soon be concrete from the Atlantic to the gulf. Thank god that south Florida has lake okeechobee and the Florida everglades or this would already be done from Miami/west palm over to Naples/ft. Myers. But they are sure trying. I think they would build houses on the dikes and levee systems if the gov would allow it. As for the fishing, I do agree with Manatee, overall it has gotten worse. The worst case offenders I have personally witnessed have been at camp mack during the winter months, the amount of out the out of towners that come down and rape the resource is concerning. I watched two guys at camp mack filet between 15-20 bass between 4-8 lbs one evening, they said they have been there a week and it was like that all week. Disgusting. I grew up in Boynton Beach from the late 70s until I joined the military in the late 90s, been stationed back there twice now, and I am astonished by what has become of my hometown. Too many people and way too much concrete, shopping centers and golf courses, and more people voting to make it where they came from then trying to make it better.

[Deadeye1]

I fished a small Public Lake that has Floating Pads growing out from the bank ringing the Lake Bank. Yet there was plenty of Open Water down the Center and really all around into cuts through the pads.

One day as I was taking my boat out one of the Home Owners was sitting at the ramp in his Golf Cart and asked me where all these pads came from. He asked if someone put them in here. Then he said he was calling the FWC because "you can't even water ski any more".

I didn't fish there again for several months. When I went back it looked completely different. They had came a sprayed until there were no pads left. With the pads gone the fishing died. Been several years now and once in awhile I go back and give it a try, but it really is a joke. No pads and no fish. Anywhere there is any vegetation all the boats are sitting on it.

Hope that guy is happy now.

[Garage Dog]

Then he said he was calling the FWC because "you can't even water ski any more".

Guess he never heard of alligators when he lived "north".

[HawkDriver]

I will never understand why when your in FL with all the delicious saltwater things to eat, you’d eat a nasty ass freshwater fish. Stupid yanks.

[DAC244]

The problem with Florida and your now seeing it happen in Texas is the the droves of people that move there from somewhere else because somewhere else became too restrictive, too many rules, too many taxes... etc;. The problem is they voted for that somewhere else to become that way. They are now doing the same thing Texas. People are fleeing California to move to Texas...the political landscape in TX is changing rapidly. Why? Because these folks from California forgot why thy moved to Texas in the first place and they vote what they are use to voting. This has been going on in Florida for decades, and it's getting worse. The number of housing developments with HOA's in Florida is 500x higher then it was in the 80s. Landowners in Florida need to quit selling their lands to developers or it will soon be concrete from the Atlantic to the gulf. Thank god that south Florida has lake okeechobee and the Florida everglades or this would already be done from Miami/west palm over to Naples/ft. Myers. But they are sure trying. I think they would build houses on the dikes and levee systems if the gov would allow it. As for the fishing, I do agree with Manatee, overall it has gotten worse. The worst case offenders I have personally witnessed have been at camp mack during the winter months, the amount of out the out of towners that come down and rape the resource is concerning. I watched two guys at camp mack filet between 15-20 bass between 4-8 lbs one evening, they said they have been there a week and it was like that all week. Disgusting. I grew up in Boynton Beach from the late 70s until I joined the military in the late 90s, been stationed back there twice now, and I am astonished by what has become of my hometown. Too many people and way too much concrete, shopping centers and golf courses, and more people voting to make it where they came from then trying to make it better.

So did you report them since you can only keep one bass over 16” ?

[Manatee Mauler]

I wish they would close all harvesting of larg mouth bass from jan 1st to march 1st. They could issue permits for tx's. This would stop people coming down from out of state and putting our spawning fish in grease 1000 miles away. The fwc goes out of their way to protect saltwater species like trout, snapper, grouper and tile fish. All these fish have closures when they are vunerable. Why couldnt we get the same protection for a much more pressured bass during the spawn?

[Manatee Mauler]

Heck you can only keep 1 maybe 2 redfish between 18 and 27 inches. They dont allow harvesting of the breeding fish. And fishing is phenomenal for them now.

[Manatee Mauler]

I will never understand why when your in FL with all the delicious saltwater things to eat, you’d eat a nasty ass freshwater fish. Stupid yanks.

Im with ya, its almost as nuts being a texas longhorn fan! Go GATORS! Fyi for yall, mr longhorns fan used to be my tx partner. Won a good bit of $ together untill his x forced him to relocate due to kids. SEC... SEC... SEC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
..

[HawkDriver]

What are the turds gonna do now that they can’t play 5 DII schools?

[Deadeye1]

I wish they would close all harvesting of larg mouth bass from jan 1st to march 1st. They could issue permits for tx's. This would stop people coming down from out of state and putting our spawning fish in grease 1000 miles away. The fwc goes out of their way to protect saltwater species like trout, snapper, grouper and tile fish. All these fish have closures when they are vunerable. Why couldnt we get the same protection for a much more pressured bass during the spawn?

I agree with this "closure" only make it from December to April.

I used to work in a Sporting Goods Dept close to the SJR. It really opened my eyes to just how many people come here to fish and take home fillets each and every year. One guy complained about the Electric Fillet Knife he had bought saying it was junk and wouldn't hold up. When I told him we had sold lots of them and had never had anyone complain about them before, he answered with "well I'm doing 300 fish a day and it just won't hold up".

Now that was a Party of guys and wives that were fishing for whatever bites and taking them all back home, but 300 fish a Day for a month or more has to take a toll.

[ScottOz]

Now that was a Party of guys and wives that were fishing for whatever bites and taking them all back home, but 300 fish a Day for a month or more has to take a toll.

No person shall have in his possession morethan two days’ bag limit of freshwater gamefish. So if there were 6 guys and all panfish they could have 600 total or they better start eating 300 a day. 12 guys would be a speck limit at 300 same thing though after 2 days your done.

[B-47]

Back in the 1950's and 60's I worked at a fish camp with boat rentals and people from Ala., Ga., Tenn. and S. Car. would come down for 3 days to a week and catch tub loads of panfish on Merritt's Mill Pond in the panhandle. All those fish were cleaned and returned home with those folks. It is no difference then as it is in today's world.