Stick Marsh and Lake Kenansville

[SC53]

State is proposing changing from catch & release to harvest lakes.

This would be the worst thing that could happen.  The reason people flock from all parts of the country to fish here is because of the fishery. 

If you guys have fished here or are planning to in the future, I suggest you leave your comment here:

 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S8T9KMS

 

[Mike L]

Absolutely the worst that can happen. 

 

 

 

Mike

[Fishing_FF]

Done and ditto what @Mike L said.

[Bodhasofa983]

Horrible idea!!!

[Dwight Hottle]

Big mistake. Take the survey & let the state know your feelings. 

[Mike L]

They got that and more. 

I hope every Florida resident does the same. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[soflabasser]

Let's see how this affects the trophy bass fishing in those waters in the long run. This might increase the amount of people that fish those lakes since some people enjoy eating bass or enjoy keeping bass to have mounted for their wall. 

[SC53]

It’ll affect it greatly.  There’s a reason everyone has the Stick Marsh on their bucket list.  And it’s not to catch fish to eat.  There’s only a few catch & release lakes in the entire state. If you need to catch bass to eat, go elsewhere.  You have a ton of choices.

If you want the mount, order a replica and release the fish so someone else catches it.

I was there a couple of weeks ago, on a Thursday, and there were 40 boats fishing just the south end.  How much more pressure do you think it can withstand?

[Mike L]

1 hour ago, SC53 said:

It’ll affect it greatly.  There’s a reason everyone has the Stick Marsh on their bucket list.  And it’s not to catch fish to eat.  There’s only a few catch & release lakes in the entire state. If you need to catch bass to eat, go elsewhere.  You have a ton of choices.

If you want the mount, order a replica and release the fish so someone else catches it.

I was there a couple of weeks ago, on a Thursday, and there were 40 boats fishing just the south end.  How much more pressure do you think it can withstand?

Well said

It may help if you send this to the state. 

 

Mike

[soflabasser]

On 3/14/2019 at 4:02 PM, SC53 said:

It’ll affect it greatly.  There’s a reason everyone has the Stick Marsh on their bucket list.  And it’s not to catch fish to eat.  There’s only a few catch & release lakes in the entire state. If you need to catch bass to eat, go elsewhere.  You have a ton of choices.

If you want the mount, order a replica and release the fish so someone else catches it.

I was there a couple of weeks ago, on a Thursday, and there were 40 boats fishing just the south end.  How much more pressure do you think it can withstand?

I am not surprised you saw 40 boats since it is peak season for snowbirds as well as a good time in the year to catch a big bass. Not much you can do but adapt to the overcrowding conditions which is something we have to deal with during snowbird season.  I agree with you with releasing bass, especially big bass which should be protected.

On 3/14/2019 at 5:22 PM, Mike L said:

Well said

It may help if you send this to the state. 

 

Mike

What is the current bass harvesting regulations in these places at this moment? Do they let people harvest bass over 18 inches? There should be a law that all largemouth bass over 18 inches should be released, similar to the snook regulations where all snook over 32 inches on the east coast have to be released.

[SC53]

Ive been fishing the Marsh since it opened up so I’m very familiar with what happens this time of year and dealing with the pressure it receives.

I have no problem fishing behind anyone down there. 

But the pressure is the least of the problem if they change to catch & fillet. 

[soflabasser]

The ''catch and fillet'' and ''catch and mount to the wall'' crowds can present a problem to any trophy bass fishery in our state. You can talk to the state to voice your opinion if you want. That is one of the downsides of living in the Fishing Capital of the World but I still prefer living here than living in northern states with bitter cold winters. Does the regulations allow harvesting bass over 18 inches and how many of them over 18 inches does the law allow to harvest? I understand harvesting small bass might help a trophy bass fishery but do not see any good from harvesting bass bass over 18 inches, especially bass over 24 inches which should all be released in my opinion.

[SC53]

From the FWC website:

 

• 5 Black bass (including largemouth, Suwannee, spotted, Choctaw and shoal bass, individually or in total), only one of which may be 16 inches or longer in total length. There is no minimum length limit for largemouth bass.

You have those 40+ Boats (A DAY for 2-3 months) with usually 2 or more anglers per boat taking a a fish over 16” and you can forget about this being a trophy fish lake. Even in April & May I’ve counted over 20 boats...on a weekday.

And once the “meat hunters” show up, you can forget about the 40,50 even 100 fish days as I’ve had ever happening again.

[soflabasser]

Looks like the same black bass regulation that in effect for the South Florida region. ''Meat hunters'' tend to prefer small to medium sized bass since they taste better than big bass which tend to have a muddy or grassy taste. ''Trophy hunters'' are the ones that might keep trophy bass to mount on the wall. 

On 3/16/2019 at 5:25 PM, SC53 said:

You have those 40+ Boats (A DAY for 2-3 months) with usually 2 or more anglers per boat taking a a fish over 16” and you can forget about this being a trophy fish lake. Even in April & May I’ve counted over 20 boats...on a weekday.

And once the “meat hunters” show up, you can forget about the 40,50 even 100 fish days as I’ve had ever happening again.

Sounds like those 2 bodies of water are very popular and are highly pressured. As for 100 fish days I have done that in the Everglades and lots of people keep bass from those waters so keeping a legal limit of bass does not seem to have much effect in bass populations in the Everglades. Let's see what happens in the long run.

[Dwight Hottle]

15 hours ago, soflabasser said:

Let's see what happens in the long run.

 

The OP's purpose for posting is not to wait & see what happens in the long run. The state is proposing to change the very regulations that have contributed to the success of a great fishery. Stickmarsh/Farm 13 has been catch & release regulations with no holding fish in a livewell. This has effectively maintained limited tournament exposure & healthy fishery. Those of us that have fished & appreciate what a great fishery it is want it to remain as it is. Be proactive now & voice your opinion to the state rather than be reactive when things go downhill. 

[Mike L]

22 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

 

The OP's purpose for posting is not to wait & see what happens in the long run. The state is proposing to change the very regulations that have contributed to the success of a great fishery. Stickmarsh/Farm 13 has been catch & release regulations with no holding fish in a livewell. This has effectively maintained limited tournament exposure & healthy fishery. Those of us that have fished & appreciate what a great fishery it is want it to remain as it is. Be proactive now & voice your opinion to the state rather than be reactive when things go downhill. 

Ditto!!

 

 

 

 

Mike

[SC53]

4 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

 

The OP's purpose for posting is not to wait & see what happens in the long run. The state is proposing to change the very regulations that have contributed to the success of a great fishery. Stickmarsh/Farm 13 has been catch & release regulations with no holding fish in a livewell. This has effectively maintained limited tournament exposure & healthy fishery. Those of us that have fished & appreciate what a great fishery it is want it to remain as it is. Be proactive now & voice your opinion to the state rather than be reactive when things go downhill. 

Exactly Dwight.  I’ve seen what happens when you wait and “ see what happens in the long run”.  It never turns out well!

And Sofla I was born and raised in south Florida so I can tell you first hand how things have turned out down there. It’s nothing like it was. 

[soflabasser]

It is safe to say that most of us agree that is best to release trophy bass but I do not see a problem letting people keep a legal limit of 5 bass 16 inches and under. Bass that small tend to be better tasting and more plentiful so it makes sense to allow harvest of bass that size. In fact it might improve the fishery if people keep bass 16 inches and under and release the bigger bass. The biggest problem these places will face is the trophy hunters that keep bass to mount on the wall and they will come in droves once those places are open for harvesting trophy bass. 

[SC53]

We can agree to disagree then Sofla.

 

[soflabasser]

We both agree that is best to release trophy bass so we are not disagreeing in that. I release all the black bass I catch and see no problem if somebody keeps a legal limit of bass that are 16 inches and less. Those little bass are a dime a dozen and are easily caught throughout the state. 

[SC53]

What we disagree on is the fact you think the state should change a catch & release fishery to catch & fillet and it won’t harm the fishery. And that we should wait for things to play out AFTER they make these changes and see if they work out for the better.

I don’t believe that to be true.

[Dwight Hottle]

Nobody is disagreeing with your statement of keeping a limit of bass to eat & releasing all trophy bass. The point is the current regulations make it totally a catch & release fishery period. If someone wants to fish for bass to keep a limit they can go to nearby lakes & do so. The trophy potential for stick marsh/farm 13 is legendary & we that have fished it want it to stay that way. If it's not broke which it isn't don't try to fix it or lump it in with the regs elsewhere in the state. The stewards of the land which make up the fishery instituted a catch & release regulation to maintain their vision of what stick marsh should be & have been successful with their plan.  

[soflabasser]

I did more research on this subject and it confirmed what I already knew. It seems that many out of state tourist fish the Stick Marsh and many times these tourist outnumber Floridians during the snowbird season. Some of these tourist are well known for keeping limits of black crappie and taking them up north in several coolers. I also read that some of these tourist keep trophy bass to mount for the wall when most Floridians release the trophy bass they catch. Knowing this I feel it is best to keep the current regulations of catch and release bass fishing in those places and not allow catch and keep, even for small bass. Seems like some of these tourist could care less for our resources from what I read and I am sure they would not like if Floridians where to travel up north in large numbers to fill coolers with smallmouth bass, muskie, etc  fillets and drive down to South Florida to share with friends.

[soflabasser]

On 3/16/2019 at 5:25 PM, SC53 said:

You have those 40+ Boats (A DAY for 2-3 months) with usually 2 or more anglers per boat taking a a fish over 16” and you can forget about this being a trophy fish lake. Even in April & May I’ve counted over 20 boats...on a weekday.

And once the “meat hunters” show up, you can forget about the 40,50 even 100 fish days as I’ve had ever happening again.

Must be hard growing up fishing the stick marsh/surrounding areas and having to deal with increased amount of people fishing it every year. From what I read the Stick Marsh is very popular with tourist and the more people brag about what they catch the more people will show up and fish it. Let's hope they keep it a catch and release fishery or at the very least not allow harvest of bass 18 inches or bigger.