No doubt, I went to Poga last year. It was horrible, nothing alive in sight. As I do not know the lake that well, I had fished it a handful of times.
No doubt, I went to Poga last year. It was horrible, nothing alive in sight. As I do not know the lake that well, I had fished it a handful of times.
We had our club tournament in April there. A 2 day event...winning weight was like 12 lbsOriginally Posted by Steve Albertson
Wishin' I was fishin'...
1990 Ranger 374v
1996 175 HP Mariner - Magnum EFI
25p Tempest - A45 model
80 lb 24v MinnKota Maxxum
Humminbird Helix 10
Humminbird Helix 7
Garmin EchoMap 106sv w/ LS
Dual 8' Power Poles
Yes first year my club has not had it on the roster and I have been president for 20 years. Sad what they are doing.
1996 Stratos 201 pro xl
1996 Johnson Faststrike J150GLEDB
Really? Jan. Toho looked awesome. I was there for BPT.
1996 Stratos 201 pro xl
1996 Johnson Faststrike J150GLEDB
Buddy, I wish your quote was correct BUT unfortunately while fishing provides jobs its not why people are moving here. People are moving here because (1) they want to retire without shoveling snow and (2) no income tax. Retires and transplants WILL RUIN all our lakes. And that's from Jacksonville to Miami. That's why all yall have seen me over the last 10 years put up a stink about the bastages moving here. All the green slime is the result of NY, KY, IN, VT, Mass, OH, PA, IA, RH, Mich. transplants. Orlando needs more water so what do they do... pull millions of gallons of fresh water to feed Orlando. Ask how many of those guys were born in Fl. 25 -30 percent maybe???? When I was a kid ( mid 80's through the 90's) the St Johns would occasional turn green during July and Aug but that was it. Fast forward to 2019 …. Now Lake George was green in late April. That's not good. Now if they would stop spraying it would certainly help as the plants would absorb some of the nitrogen and phosphorus but evidently the FWC doesn't see it this way. Expansive algae bloom's are better than good green lush vegetation. Penny wart is a native plant but it gets sprayed CONSTANTLY because there are a "few floating plants" in it. So it gets wacked due to collective damage… but that's OK to the FWC.
Our biggest concern is I-75 and I-95. Until they put a giant gate saying no more room ( kinda like a hotel that flashes its sign saying no vacancy) we are so screwed. As long as there are 75 degree temps in Jan and Feb we will be the victim of snowbirds and retires and as far as I know that big orange ball in the sky aint going any where. Those yanks can sell there house up north and buy two down here with what they got for the one. The more malls, subdivisions, apts, Home Depos and Walmarts they build just means more concrete to funnel all that contaminated nasty water directly into our streams, river and lakes. It picks up oil off the roads, fertilizer from golf courses, radiator fluid from wrecks, sewage from plants that are running over capacity....You can go on and on about how these "new residents" will ultimately be the demise of our fisheries. As they move here the ground that rain water percolate's through is covered up with yankee, / mid-western concrete. And the contractors love it. They get rich while our land gets scarred and ripped apart. Forrest cut down and lakes turned into beaches with white sand devoid of shallow shoreline grass.
If this sounds bad... well its way worse than I can put into words. Ive been bass fishing since I as 6 which is about 40 years of history. To put it in comparison, If I said fishing was a 10 then well now its a 5. The exception is during the spring when you time up the spawn just right and that's only because the big girls are venerable up shallow. Given time this too will take a nose dive due to overloaded pressure, poor water quality and lack of shallow vegetation to raise fry AND bait. The St Johns bedding areas has been shrunk by 50 percent. Everybody piles on a few spots and HAMMERS the fish. Then the FWC coms in and sprays. Go figure. This is just the tip of the iceberg so to say. Wait to see what we got in 10 -15 years. Will it even be worth it to own a 60,000 dollar fishing boat??????
Last edited by Manatee Mauler; 06-17-2019 at 11:57 PM.
That to..
Yep. FWC doesn't seem to want to recognize the effects, especially on fry and bait.. They're still crowing about trophy catches because of the resident females that are still around. Over the last 10 years a decent chance at a 10+ lbr had gone down to 8 and now a 6-7 is considered a rarity.. 10 more years (if nothing changes) a 5lbr in FL will probably be considered a "trophy"..
It must blow your mind that beautiful areas up north are getting overcrowded too. It's almost like the population is growing. You arent originally from Florida unless your a Seminole native either so I'd hold your judgement on people moving to new areas unless you are. Maybe if residents like you wouldn't have let the state elect people who absolutely gut environmental regulations then it wouldn't be in such bad shape.
But instead you just run your mouth about snowbirds over and over. If you would have bitched this much about spraying 10 years ago maybe there would be some grass left
I watched a show and they had a bunch of people who work for Monroe, Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties on talking about sea level rise, the amount of taxes and assessments it will take to retrofit everything and what a big concern it is. Meanwhile I see them approve billion dollar condo developments on Sunny Isles which is the same place they say will be underwater in40 years. The problem with our water quality is overdevelopment. The elected officials, municipalities and everyone else knows this but given the tax revenue and the dependence of Florida on development they will never be able to do what is necessary to protect the waterways. Orlando has been booming, and as they develop more and more of Central Florida the water running south will continue to get worse.
Leave the filter system in place and see what happens in just a few years. Poga used to look like drinking water. Think about how clean the water was in all the lakes with Vegetation growing in it.
1996 Stratos 201 pro xl
1996 Johnson Faststrike J150GLEDB
probelm is they keep taking the filter out every time they drain an are in Central Florida and put in streets and storm water drains where it dumps right into a lake or river. When the channelized the Kissimmee River they took out most of the filter also. Right now it is like they are straight piping right into Lake O.
There is truth in this statement. I moved here 20 years ago because I could get work that paid more (about double) what I could make where I was raised and the Cost of Living was about the same or less.
Back then if you were making $10.00 most folks said "you were living high on the hog" and most were not making that much. Most of the Business's had been in existence for so many years those living couldn't remember a time without them.
However I went back a few years to visit and what I saw shocked me. the economy wasn't any better but the population was still growing and where there were nothing but fields as a boy there were houses. Woods where I hunted Deer and Turkey now were cut up into small patches of farms and No Trespassing signs were everywhere. All the great locations I had got permission to hunt and fish on were gone, either houses were built there or a farm had taken it over and the new owners were not from our area. Mostly they were Amish who were moving west across the state.
Every state is dealing with a population explosion. Even if each family only has 2 kids, when they grow up and have 2 kids then they grow up and have 2 kids- they all need somewhere to live and work.
Florida is no different. But it does have another factor of Retirees moving here and Snowbirds that are only here in winter. In just the 20 years I've been here the area around Orlando to Daytona has simply Blown Up with development. 2-lane Interstates became 3-lane and now they are not enough. New roads are being built to deal with all the additional traffic, which takes away from the remaining untouched land.
Add in Millions and Millions of Septic Tanks and no one wanting to pay for Sewer it will only get worse. And don't forget the Greed that has allowed Bottled Water Companies from outside the state to come here and steal from our water supplies.
It has made for a Grand Explosion that is just starting to blow.
Oh and to just blame those that have moved here, somebody that already lived here decided to sell the Family Land to allow the development to happen. So fault lies there as well.
Greed. It is what is killing Florida right now.
You forgot Maine and CT in your list. Don't know what state RH is maybe Rhode Hiland?
Road Hampshire?You forgot Maine and CT in your list. Don't know what state RH is maybe Rhode Hiland?
I was born in Tampa in 75, and I think I was born with a fishing pole...poor mom!
In the 90s Poga was a Great Lake, now I won’t drive by it. Every lake that is used to fish as a young tourney angler is decimated right now. I don’t know what it will take for the FWC to realize what they’re doing by taking out ALL the weeds.
Yes...I know they’re only supposed to be spraying “invasive species” but if you watch them spraying you know they spray 100% of everything! They have X tons of poisons and want to spray them as fast as possible.
I remember when this happened to Kissimmee in the 90s before the drought brought the lake down real low. They took so many truck loads of muck off the shorelines it amazed me! Those areas are now hard bottoms and areas that bass bed. But with the continued spraying the fry can’t live to a sustainable size. Neither can the invertebrates, small baitfish, large baitfish, etc.
I’m often sad going back to my old spots.
2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV
I believe that is the same article that this thread originated from
Wishin' I was fishin'...
1990 Ranger 374v
1996 175 HP Mariner - Magnum EFI
25p Tempest - A45 model
80 lb 24v MinnKota Maxxum
Humminbird Helix 10
Humminbird Helix 7
Garmin EchoMap 106sv w/ LS
Dual 8' Power Poles
I heard they have harvest machines in Toho now. At least that will not totally destroy the grass..
The mechanical harvesters were also in Lake Yale a few weeks back...
Much better than introducing foreign chemicals!!!
Wishin' I was fishin'...
1990 Ranger 374v
1996 175 HP Mariner - Magnum EFI
25p Tempest - A45 model
80 lb 24v MinnKota Maxxum
Humminbird Helix 10
Humminbird Helix 7
Garmin EchoMap 106sv w/ LS
Dual 8' Power Poles
Build the wall!
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