Any south Florida guys got anything on Stick Marsh? Heard they were expanding it? Open yet?
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Any south Florida guys got anything on Stick Marsh? Heard they were expanding it? Open yet?
They are building "Fellsmere Farms." Haven't checked it this year, were still working on it last year. It shares the east levy of Stick, but much larger. Another catch/release trophy bass lake, will be good speck fishing at some point.
Thanks Swat, buddy lives in Stuart and was asking.
You can look up Stick Marsh Bait bucket online. They can give you a fishing report.
Yea, he has their number. Always slaying em according to baitshop. But thats how they make their money.
It was suppose to have been opened this fall, everything was completed and they were waiting for it to be flooded. But now the St Johns Water management has pushed it back because they are concerned about the east levy needing more reinforcement due to a future housing development being built there. These guys couldn't manage a worm farm let alone an immense river system. Just to vent, over the years they have nuked Poinsett and Winder into nothing but a vast mud hole, killed virtually all beneficial vegetation that's needed to sustain quality life in any ecosystem, was out there a Friday and guess who else is there, 6 airboats spraying a firehouse of weed killer on everything they can find that is green. These guys have no idea on how to manage our lakes, its a real shame as I'm sure it all boils down to money, the use it or lose it mentality. Anyway the new Fellsmere Reservoir will be an awesome fishery whenever they do open it, here is link to anyone who hasn't heard about it. Fishin.com - Best Bass Fishing Lake Fellsmere Reservoir
Very true Rock! And ya ever notice they start spraying every year just before duck season starts and finish just about time its over?
Don't be scared to educate yourselves more on the vegetation management in lakes and waterways I work for one of the biggest outfits in the state and there is way more science that goes into it than u could ever imagine! There has recently been a infestation of a new plant into rivers and lakes in central Florida called"ludwigia grandiflora" without control it could and will possibly be worse than hydrilla!
New plant? What I can find on it shows native to Florida as well as Central and South America. And can only be controlled by pulling not spraying. This was on cabi.org
New as in it a type of "ludwigia grandiflora" that grows differently than the one that was currently here and it is highly invasive! And as far as "nuking the hole place" to the eyes of the average person could simply be a floating plant treatment where everything Browns out but only floaters actually die and the rest of the plants will green back up in due time! Take some good to get some rid of the bad kinda deal!! U should be able to find some info on the UF Invassive plants website
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigslab11
Really I think you have it backwards, youguys are the ones who need to educate yourselves on how to manage a fishery andits ecosystem, not just on how to kill vegetation. Look at your above statement:"without control it could and will possibly be worse than hydrilla”, well actually if kept at a healthy levelshydrilla is very beneficial to a lake and ecosystem, its where the beginning ofall life starts, acts as natures perfect nursery. That’s where the term managementcomes in, unfortunately here is Florida our so called management sees hydrillaas the mortal enemy and feel it must be eliminated at all cost, no one would argue thatif left unchecked it poses many issues, but when kept at acceptable levels thelakes and fisheries flourish. Also if that was all that was sprayed it wouldn’tbe as devastating to our fisheries, but what I have witnessed over the lastdecade or so, especially here at Lakes Poinsett and Winder, is now that all thehydrilla has been eradicated the spraying hasn’t stopped, they continue tospray all throughout the year spraying bullrush, pads, hyacinths, and basicallyeverything in sight. I have witnessed it many times and seen the tragicaftermath. These two lakes not all that long ago whenthere was still some vegetation had some great fishing, now that they becomevirtually void of all offshore and now shoreline vegetation have become nothingbut a muddy cesspool, there is no longer any quality fish. And these aren’t the only lakes that have been decimated by overspraying in our state, talk with anyone who lives by Lake Istokpoga, once one of the bestfisheries in the country is now unfishable, all caused by over spraying. Here area couple excerpts from the following links:
http://www.ms-sportsman.com/details.php?id=2483
Hydrilla as habitat:
There’s no doubt about it: withsome hydrilla there are benefits to fish and fishing. The leafy plant providesextensive surface area for algae to grow, which in turn provides food forabundant invertebrates like insect larvae, crayfish and grass shrimp. Theseinvertebrates are food for fish like sunfish and a variety of minnows that inturn are forage for other sportfish. It is easy to understand why many fishconcentrate around hydrilla.
Besides concentrating fish,particularly bass and sunfish, hydrilla also makes for easy fishing. Hydrillausually holds fish in shallow water where anglers are more effective. Fishingis also better in clear water, and hydrilla can clean the water. By slowingwater movement, suspended sediments settle to the bottom. By taking up plantnutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that cause algae blooms, hydrilla canalso suppress algae.
http://sfrc.ufl.edu/allenlab/Popular%20Articles/Hydrilla.pdf
Hydrilla can have beneficial effects for
fish and wildlife. Substantial research has
shown that moderate hydrilla coverage (say,
10 to 60 percent) of lake surface area provides
quality habitat for bass and high catch
rates for anglers. This is especially true for
large Florida lakes, including some of the
state’s most high profile fisheries like
Tohopekaliga and Istokpoga.
Waterfowl populations in Florida also
benefit from hydrilla, with duck hunters targeting water bodieswhere hydrilla occurs.
For these and other reasons, any negative
ecological and economic impacts of hydrilla
should be weighed against potential benefits to
fish and wildlife.
Rock- glad to see some fire. My 2 cents:
Proper management of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) is essential to create and maintain habitat for the inhabitants of the lake ecosystem. In a"natural" less eutrophied system, hydrilla for example may come to a healthy equilibrium with the lake, providing optimal habitat. However anthropogenic nutrient inputs (such as excess Total Nitrogen TN and Total Phosphorus TP from septic systems, fertilizers, agricultural runoff, etc) necessitate active SAV management strategies.
Spraying is cheaper than mechanical harvesting, that's why they utilize this technology. With that said I disagree whole heartedly with spraying, as it kills the plants creating (BOD) oxygen demand and organic sedimentation/deposition, this chokes out existing SAV. Long term organic deposition facilitates in-lake sediment nutrient cycling which promotes algal growth and contributes to diminished water quality. Degraded water quality decreases habitat and hurts fishing. Solution: Cut down on nutrient (TN and TP) inputs that fuel uncontrolled AV growth. Easy to say very difficult to do.