Thread: FWC meeting July 19th and 20th St Pete Hilton

Last week I was talking to a Bass fisherman that travels to a lot of lakes.. He told me he was at Lake Okeechobee fishing and a spray boat sprayed him and 5 other boats fishing the same area.. I would not like being sprayed with nasty poison, pretty sure that is assault?

I heard the FWC increased the spray budget for next year. I do not understand why? with all the toxic algae and starved to death manatees...

Guess recreational boater types been complaining.

During Winter last year, maybe previous, they were grinding hydrilla in Orange Lake. People began seeing dead snakes, turtles and gators. Seems they were cold and moved too slow to avoid being ground up with the hydrilla. Took them a week to stop the process after the problem was discovered.

Hydrilla is really bad in Orange Lake but I still manage some how. If they stopped killing it I am certain the lake would be unusable. I think they should hire more grinders and stop spraying, too.

The grinders are only a little better than the spray, Plants die without Poison But The dead vegetation still falls to the bottom of the lake where it rots and makes muck and the Nutrients are still in the lake water. I would rather see the state use Mechanical Harvesters and Remove the Hydrilla from the lake water. The Nitrogen and phosphorus bound in the plant are Removed from the Lake water. It is not easy to Harvest but at least there is no Poison. I understand there was mechanical harvesting at Lake Toho in Kissimmee on the south end. A Tournament fisherman told me it was awesome, lots of Bass caught in that area the next few years..

I lived in SW Florida in the mid to late 1980's. I remember seeing some harvesters pulling vegetation out of freshwater canals and loaded onto trucks. I'm not sure but I think it went to feed cattle?