Boatless Fishing Forum, Reports, Info

This states goverment unitelligently act or overreact... no shocker.

I am glad they did something about it

jamesk wrote:I am glad they did something about it

Did something about what ?

the FWC executive order extends the statewide snook closed seasons continuously through Aug. 31 and provides that no person may harvest or possess snook in state and federal waters off Florida during this period unless the fishery is opened sooner or the closure is extended by subsequent order.

So explain how that is good . The fish that are dead are dead and the majority of those were at or beyond the northern span of their range. Did they really need to pass one for bonefish and tarpon as well ?

Well the bonefish and Tarpon I have no info on But I have seen the numbers of snook dead where I live on the west coast and have seen pics (No i do not have pics ) of hundreds of snook dead in spots and have HERD reports of hunderd's of snook dead south of me it has taken a big toll on the snook I have not seen any Tarpon dead and its rare to see a bonefish in this area I am glad the state closed the season to help them recover for this cold snap we had

Where on the West Coast are you ? The majority of the snook kills I have seen were far north of their traditional range. The last decade of mild winters and the rebounding of their stocks had snook spreading where they shouldn't be living. Based on that I see no reason for the shut down. No more than them not shutting them down after the red tides and fish kills you guys got hit with over there a few years back. I don't see the need based on what I have seen but your information may change my outlook. This is just overreaction to me.

I live in Lee county (Cape Coral) the areas I am talking about are Sanibel,Pine Island,Cape Coral,Ft Myers. All known for the snook population

that cape coral is something else with all them canals they have.

That is the first I have heard of as far as kills in those areas. Still not for the ban esp. since no science went into it yet. Still really early to call it a population devastating kill.

fishnfool73 wrote:This states goverment unitelligently act or overreact... no shocker.

I gotta agree! I have been on the New river and the ICW a few times since this started and have yet to see a dead fish. I have also spoken to a # of guys that work the ICW every day including my son and they are not seeing huge #s either. From what I'm reading this is a natural cycle that is actually beneficial to the species. Typically these kinds of things kill the weaker individuals off leaving the strongest individuals to repopulate the species. It's a vital part of maintaining a healthy population. I don't know if I agree with that point of view in this case. Only because the guys I have talked to who have lived here all their lives have said they don't remember a cold snap lasting this long since 77. Other than that the above theory certainly makes sence. It's how nature works. If they (FWC) uses the 6 months to figure out the extent of damage then it's worth while.

The closure is for everywhere north, south, and west of Broward. Those in Broward are required to have proof of being born in Broward and only speak english.

The closure is good there are thousands of dead snook down here in the keys. I get reports from the guides everyday that flamingo has thousands and chuckaluski spelling is wrong has even more up there. We had about 300 dead bonefish on lower matacumbe and even a few large tarpon.

Rossdemarzo wrote:The closure is good there are thousands of dead snook down here in the keys. I get reports from the guides everyday that flamingo has thousands and chuckaluski spelling is wrong has even more up there. We had about 300 dead bonefish on lower matacumbe and even a few large tarpon.

Damn, that is a lot of dead fish. Glad to see the guides didn't see any dead Permits.

I've written a short blog entry about the closure. I think it's a good reaction as opposed to some of the extreme measures I've heard talked about.

http://forshorefishing.blogs.theledger. ... ok-season/

I'm also working on a full blown column on the subject to be published in the near future. This will require interviews which I probably won't be able to do until Monday.

I was in flamingo this past Saturday. Dead fish everywhere. Most were catfish and ladyfish, but I'm sure there were plenty more just under the water's surface that I didn't see. Saw large dead snook, and small tarpon. The inside ramp had tons of dead mayans. The closure is a good thing. Take some pressure off of the fish for their own good. The back-country smelled rotten. The dolphins were having a heck of a time. Hottest water was 55-57 degrees.

I hope i can find some fish that are not dead when i go out tomorrow.

With reports from guides and fishermen of many dead snook, bonefish and tarpon in all parts of the state, I think the FWC did the right thing.

However, late last week in Florida Today there was an article that Catch and Release for all three species will be allowed during the closures

True, but like already mentioned else where on the forum you can't exactly stop a snook, tarpon, or bonefish from taking your bait. Fwc would need scuba gear and start writing the fish tickets for hooking themselves.

LOL

I was in Islamorada last weekend. It was beautiful weather but no fish (live) to be seen in the back country. I went down for a an extended fishing weekend (4 days). When I first got there and fished for 2 hours, I wondered what was going on? No bait fish swimming around, no littlle nibbles on my shrimp, no fish in sight. Somethings wrong. At this time, I had no idea the cold water made havoc on the fish. I'm from Indiana and did not know Florida was hit so hard that far south. So, i headed to a nearby marina where I saw a couple fisherman coming back in on a boat. I talked to the fisherman who had a good day of fishing. Say what? Fish? Where? That's when they hit me with the news that the water temps dropped so low that many of the shallow water fish simply died. The fishermen told me if I want to catch anything, I've got to jump on a boat and head out 4 or 5 miles into the Atlantic where water temps were still in the 70s.

I decided to stop fishing at that point. Why overstress what few fish remain? Instead, spent the remaining days just enjoying the warmth and scenery.

The place I stayed at had a pier that extended into the back bay waters. I saw lots of dead fish on the bottom, washed up on the shore and some just floating. Never once did I see any live fish other than some very very small fry near mangroves. I didnt even see crabs chomping on the dead fish on the bottom. I would think that would be the case. Birds must have had their fill of eating, too because they were not eating any of the dead fish on the shore or ones floating.

In Indiana, when the fish are stressed, we stop fishing to let them regain their health. I hope people in Florida do the same because it didnt look good when I was there.

i think its a good move. At the people's dock last week I saw at least three dead snook on the bottom.

Manash, i agree with you on not stressing the fish, but other species of fish ( seatrout and redfish)are more cold hardy so they should not be affected. the cold snap primary affected only tropical species (snook).