Dude cant help it. Hell, he prob is a buckeye fan and miserable. Look at them right now, they are wanting to push back the Bama - Buckeye game by a week. I will say this, I didn't see them beating Clemson the way they did. Hats off to them on that.Originally Posted by FishWhisperer.
I have no problem with grass love fishing it but when gets so bad you can’t get through it I’m guessing most of you don’t even fish toho you just like running your alligator mouth I’ve fished toho for 22 years I’m guessing longer than most of you are old
Last edited by Champ; 01-07-2021 at 07:20 PM.
Guys, lots of opinions on grass and how thick it should be to effectively fish. I have fished every lake mentioned in this thread multiple times and in the past and recently as well.
Everyone has a opinion. Here is mine. Do Not Complain about grass in Florida Lakes.... If everyone could see what excellent lakes used to be down here and what they are today I think folks would understand the almost hatred that fishermen have for spraying and weed control. Beautiful lakes with water just so perfect... hard to describe... Flat out gone, destroyed, just mud holes in a few short years. The war continues and every day the spraying goes on...
Spray boats last week sprayed the spawning bays on the North Shore, typical on the Big O. We had been crushing bass there since November... Try it now lol... Nothing... Bass are gone... don’t blame them, I would leave too if you sprayed my bedroom.
I love South Florida and respect the waters and lakes here. My dream was to retire and fish and I am doing that as my health, money and time allow, pretty much every day. I’m not smart or a genius. Just a simple man who likes to fish. I can see the changes to the water quality and it is changing for the worse quickly... A Blind Man can See and Smell it.... Muck.... dead plants on the bottom coming to every lake in Florida if not already there. Just one of the effects to the water here...
Not everything is black and white or simple. I don’t have the answers and what I would do would be selfish to benefit me and fishing.
You could bet everything I have and you have that spraying would be Greatly Cut Back... I understand that limited spraying would be required... Boat trails would be back.... grass or green would not be a dirty thing calling for all out war to kill it.
Water Quality would be at the top of the agenda for the State of Florida....
I would probably be killed but politics and money or big business would not be given a pass by me...
Im not going to delete my reply to this thread or edit it. Sometimes I get on a rant and go off. I’m sorry to all of you. Just truth as I see it and I can’t fix it but want to... Don
I'm guessing you don't fish toho much, I was out there a few weeks ago and no one in our tournament had any problems to "get through it".... Any of it. 26lbs won, the grass was a topic of discussion but no one was bitching and moaning about it.
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This ^ coming from an Illinois'en who is how many states over and up? 22 years... man your just getting started. Out of that 22 years, how much of it was driving time? Well, seeing that ya want to get into a pissin contest, I've been fishing the whole Kiss chain for 40 years. Looks like I'm pissin further than you! So strap up ur diaper, pull your boots up and have momma get ur pacifier that ya dropped off your high chair! Don't get mad , you only have another 20 years to catch up...ugh careful don't drop your pacifier! By the way, Ill be on Toho end of Feb with all my gator buddies!!!!! Boat is in the shop right now getting a new jackplate and other things.
You know Im just getting your goat!!!
All this is getting to look silly and foolish. Toho is 80% extreme hydrilla and 20% open water at this time. I love to fish hydrilla as much as any one else but too much is just that. I started fishing Toho almost 60 years ago. I first started wading the lake (no boat) out of Kings Point and the bass and bluegill fishing was fantastic. Also, did a lot of duck hunting on the lake. I have waded almost 90% of the lake back in the 1960"s before they shipped me to the Vietnam War. There was hydrilla in the lake back then but it is one of the fastest grown weeds in the lake. The Fl. Fish Commissions mistake was using chemicals, when they should have continued mechanical harvesting. Mechanical harvesting was labor intensive and chemicals were quick, easy and messy(muck) to the lake bottom. The FWC has contracts with lake weed control companies and many people see this as cronyism (so do I). These chemical companies should be spraying wide strips of the lake to open up boating lanes in the shallows and open water. Some of the best fishing on the lake was the old creeks, areas dredged for the paddle boat operations from the islands to the southern part of the lake. and the grass fields, where there were beautiful sandy bottoms (contaminated by spraying and causing muck to cover the sand). Fortunately I have caught a few bass on the lake and hope to continue to do so in the future.
Ya'll have a great day and leave the people who visit our beautiful state alone for once.
Fishing is great there. Fished with grandson today and we boated 17 bass up to 8.3 lbs. All caught in the grass, all on artificial lures and all released. Love fishing there. Not bad for a January day.
Grass=Bass. I have also been fishing here for 40 years. Istokpoga was at it's best when there was just boat trails going out of the fish camps. Hydrilla thinck as carpet. The snowbirds all bitched because they over heat there motors. SMH
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I grew up fishing small lakes and st johns down Hwy 50 or 46 Mims and they were spraying and killing lakes back then say 1965 to 75 every time they spray the lake dies for years then make a come back but they can't stop themselves it sucked,my uncle ran a bait shop on big o back then we used to wade and jig specks well I'm in SC now living on Murray and they kill every weed we get ,Santee used to be full of hydrilla ,guess what they killed it .
I heard they kill it up there because the dam at Santee Cooper has turbines and those turbines were getting clogged with massive amnts of hydrilla. Now that's just what I heard. Trust me I could see the gov using every excuse under the sun to spend money and line their buddies pockets with money. They do it all the time here in Fl. The only difference is here in Fl they don't need an excuse to spray, they do it weather it needs it or not. I witnessed an air boat spraying the reeds and crape myrtle bushes that were ON THE BANK, not in the water but on the bank. There wasn't a weed within eyesight and this moron has his "spray wand" wide open soaking all these plants on the bank. It was south of Lake George in open water that was full of all types of vegetation. I got into it with the guy and it may have went further south if it weren't for my wife being with me. I was looking around there for a tx I had coming up. Years past I had caught good stingers and won a lot of tx's in this area with some 28 - 30 pnd weights. Aint caught a fish in there since they nuked it ( used an airplane too) and that was about 4-6 years ago. I mean big ole fat short stumpy 8 pounders with giant heads. It was so thick Id pull the trolling mtr up and let the wind blow me across it. If I came to an opening or pocket Id put the the trolling motor down till it bogged up again. God that places was loaded, now its all muddy open water chop.
Very Well Said. Thank You for your input on what you have seen over the years.
And THANK YOU SIR for your service to this Country during the Vietnam Conflict. Way to few of you were ever told that.
Problem this cycle is, they went overboard with the spraying right around the same time mother nature chimed in with 2 or 3 hurricanes.. All the muck created has made it impossible for any of the lakes on the river to recover. I don't believe there's a blade of natural (eel) grass from Jax to Melbourne along the river, for 3+ years now. If you find any, keep it quiet! Cause once they ran out of invasive stuff to spray, they went after anything green they could find. If they see a square foot of hyacinth they'll spray 3 acres of lilly pads and reeds to kill it..
There is NO other reason for them to do this except for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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