The Florida Fishing Experts
Specializing in Florida Bass Fishing on all of the Florida Freshwater Lakes.

Bob Wattendorf, a fisheries biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), recently received the “Conservation Educator of the Year” award from the Florida Wildlife Federation.

In 2008, Wattendorf initiated an effort to bring together a statewide coalition of agencies, universities and businesses to encourage families and children to participate in nature-based recreation.  The collaborative effort resulted in formation of Get Outdoors Florida! (www.GetOutdoorsFlorida.org), a coalition of more than 100 active partners, including major state and federal agencies and diverse groups interested in offsetting the problems associated with “nature-deficit disorder,” a term coined by Richard Louv in his book “Last Child in the Woods.”

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and his Cabinet recognized the Get Outdoors Florida! Coalition in 2009, when they signed a resolution recognizing the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights for Florida.  The coalition, integrated into the Children and Nature Network, is working to extend the reach of such programs as President Barack Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative (www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors), and first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Outside (www.LetsMove.gov) program to combat obesity.

“Conservation education today is all about integrating efforts to introduce newcomers to the beauty and value of an active, nature-based lifestyle,” Wattendorf said.

Researchers have documented the health, education and societal problems associated with too much time spent indoors and dealing with electronic media. Research now shows that embracing a lifestyle change — spending more time outdoors in nature, whether, fishing, birding, paddling, gardening or just hiking in the woods — leads to a happier, healthier and smarter population (www.childrenandnature.org).

During his 31-year career with the FWC, Wattendorf has served to promote Florida as the Fishing Capital of the World, worked with the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation to bring about best practices for “Boating, Fishing and Aquatic Resources Stewardship Education” and helped craft the “Federal Aid Supplement for Aquatic Education Programs.”

The Florida Wildlife Federation is a nonprofit conservation education organization composed of thousands of concerned Floridians and people from all walks of life who have a common interest in preserving, managing and improving Florida’s fish, wildlife, soil, water and plant life. As the state affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation, it has been helping Florida’s wildlife since 1937.

In presenting the award on behalf of the Federation, Preston Robertson, vice president for conservation, praised Wattendorf “for his tremendous efforts on behalf of conservation and the need to get Floridians outside and into the natural world.”

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer BASSonline – fishing@bassonline.com
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

Dear Florida Angler,

Whether you are an occasional angler or an avid, whether you fish with a cane pole in your back yard or traveling to Florida “The Fishing Capital of the World” from afar, or if you have a business that depends on quality sportfishing–we want your opinion. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is developing a “Long-Term Black Bass Management Plan” and is interested in your input.

The following links provide some introductory material that you may want to review prior to taking this survey, but it is not critical that you do so. We mostly need your opinions to help ensure that we create a plan that addresses everyone’s concerns.

Background article published by Fish Busters’
First-Draft Black Bass Management Plan.
PowerPoint presentation (PDF 3 mb), first given October 2009 to the Florida Freshwater Fishing Coalition.
To take the survey click HERE.

Thank you for participating,

Darrell Scovell, Director

Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer BASSonline – fishing@bassonline.com
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

Florida, the bass usually begin spawning in January or February but this year they started at least a month late, said Mike Allen, a fisheries professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Largemouths are the state’s most popular freshwater game fish. To spawn, male bass make shallow nests in the sand, court females, and then protect the eggs and hatchlings for several weeks.

Males guarding nests are notoriously aggressive, striking anything that moves. The fish are easy to catch, but it’s commonly believed that spawning-season fishing reduces bass populations. Allen’s latest study suggests that notion is rarely true.

The findings were published in the current issue of the journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.
“We found that in most cases, spawning area closures won’t improve bass populations, for a couple of reasons,” he said. “One is, there’s a lot of catch and release nowadays. The other is, if you lose some nests, the ones that are left have higher survival rates.”

Catch and release is the practice of setting fish free, rather than keeping or “harvesting” them. In 2008, Allen and colleagues published a study showing that the percentage of largemouth bass harvested by anglers had fallen by half since the 1980s.

When nesting male bass are harvested — or if they’re released after a long delay — their nests are likely to be invaded by predators such as bluegill, which gobble up eggs and hatchlings.

However, the young bass that survive face less competition for food and shelter, giving them a better chance at reaching adulthood, Allen said.

The study used mathematical models to predict changes in two types of bass populations. One was typical of southern states, with fast growth rates, early maturation and high natural mortality. The other had the opposite qualities, typical of northern states.

Allen and biological scientist Daniel Gwinn, the study’s other author, gathered data on anglers catching bass during spawning seasons in three states. The researchers plugged the data into mathematical models representing several types of restricted and unrestricted fishing.

The results showed that prohibiting bass fishing during spawning season would only boost populations in waters where very high percentages of spawning bass are caught.

“Those conditions are pretty rare,” Allen said.

To test his findings in the field, Allen is collaborating with researchers from the Illinois Natural History Survey. They’ll catch nesting bass in two Florida lakes and four Canadian lakes to see if it influences the number of young that reach adulthood.
If there is no decrease, some officials might want to reconsider their policies, Allen said.

Wildlife managers in some northern states prohibit bass fishing during spawning, arguing that it protects bass populations. Local anglers don’t always agree, he said.

In Florida, no spawning-season restrictions on largemouth bass are likely, Allen said. But the study may have implications for proposed fishing restrictions on other species.

“This research shows that protecting fish just to let them spawn won’t improve sustainability,” Allen said. “If overfishing happens, we will need a larger closing to reduce annual fishing-related mortality — closing over a longer time or a larger area.”

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer BASSonline – fishing@bassonline.com
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

FWC Press Release:

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) waded through numerous high-profile issues during its meeting in Apalachicola Wednesday and Thursday.

The meeting opened with a presentation of the 2009 Louise Ireland Humphrey Achievement Award to former FWC Law Enforcement Director Julie Jones. In September, Jones was appointed executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Commissioners recognized national-award-winning artist Elam Stoltzfus of Blountstown. The FSU graduate has already won 35 prestigious awards in his brief career as a film producer. He heads up the media company Live Oak Production Group.

In a vote of interest to sportsmen, commissioners gave a thumbs-up to revamping deer hunting zones and dates to align them with the rut – the period of peak deer activity associated with the breeding season.

Commissioners also gave final approval to new rules to clarify regulation of nuisance wildlife and nonnative wildlife. In addition, they approved new hunting and fishing regulations for public lands and created a special two-day, youth spring turkey season for supervised kids, under age 16. The rule package included substantial increases in a variety of hunting opportunities on public land.

In other action during Wednesday’s session, commissioners directed staff to proceed with developing new rules to tighten regulation of reptiles of concern. Proposals include extending amnesty to pet owners who turn over reptiles of concern to licensed individuals and incorporate changes to the required permanent identification of the animals. Chairman Rodney Barreto urged staff to develop the strictest rules possible.

In addition, commissioners directed FWC staff to continue work on a series of rule proposals on captive wildlife regarding Critical Incident/Disaster plans, hobbyists and labeling on wildlife shipments. A draft rule also was approved, updating the process by which counties notify the FWC regarding local zoning and building codes for proposed facilities housing Class I or Class II wildlife.

Commissioners received an update on the fox or coyote enclosure permit process on Wednesday. The report included the results of recent FWC investigations into the operation of enclosures where hunters pursue foxes or coyotes with dogs. Commissioners decided to temporarily prohibit the chasing of foxes and coyotes in enclosures while staff drafts rules guiding such enclosures in Florida.

On Thursday, the meeting began with the Commissioners recognizing retired general counsel Jim Antista. Antista began working as general counsel with the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (GFC) in 1990. He represented the GFC and FWC in a variety of complex legal cases, including such things as litigation involving high-water lines and boundaries between state-owned submerged lands and private lands; drafted legislation to modernize penalties for violating fish and wildlife rules; principally drafted the implementing bill creating the FWC; and more.

Thursday’s agenda included a staff report regarding several technical problems in the FWC’s licensing system. Commissioners directed staff to change the current first-come, first-served selection of participants for quota hunts in favor of a less technology-dependent random selection method for the first phase of the permit-issuance process.

Another staff report focused on an initiative to establish youth conservation centers around the state to offer children opportunities to connect with wildlife and nature through many types of outdoor recreational activities.

Also on Thursday, the Commission approved rules to prohibit all harvest of lemon sharks from Florida waters and extend the expiration date of the moratorium on new spiny lobster commercial dive permits from July 1, 2010 until July 1, 2015. These rules take effect on March 23.

In addition, commissioners proposed a draft rule that would include all species of bonefish found in Florida in the FWC’s bonefish management rules, extend Florida bonefish regulations into adjacent federal waters, and require that bonefish be landed in a whole condition.

Another proposed draft rule would allow all ballyhoo endorsement holders to sell their endorsement to other commercial fishers from July 1 – March 31 each year, limit any one entity from holding more than two ballyhoo endorsements at any one time, prohibit leasing of the endorsement, and allow only one endorsement per saltwater products license and one saltwater products license to be associated with a single endorsement.

The FWC also approved a draft rule to allow oyster harvesters to stow hand tongs on their unmoored vessels from sunset to sunrise so that they can transit to oyster bars before dawn and begin harvesting oysters at sunrise.

Final public hearings will be held in April on the FWC’s proposed draft rules for bonefish, ballyhoo and oysters.

The FWC also proposed a draft rule for weakfish, also known as gray seatrout or yellow-mouth trout, that would apply Florida’s weakfish management rules only in state waters of the St. Marys River in Nassau County, provide that all weakfish-like fish (including weakfish, sand seatrout and their hybrids) would be considered weakfish in this management area, and reduce the daily recreational bag limit for weakfish from four fish to one fish and establish a commercial weakfish harvest limit of 100 pounds per vessel per day or trip (whichever is longer) in the weakfish management area. A final public hearing on the proposed weakfish rule amendments will take place in June.

In other marine fisheries action, the Commission discussed Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean red snapper and other federal fishery management issues.

The next FWC regular meeting will be in the Tallahassee area April 28-29

Florida Fish Busters’ Bulletin

December 2009
Bob Wattendorf

FWC needs your input on the draft black bass management plan

Black bass are the most popular recreational fishes in the United States, but do you know what they are? In the Sunshine State, black bass include Florida largemouth, shoal, spotted and Suwannee basses. We are fortunate to live in a state known as the Garden of Eden for these feisty sport fish.

Scientists specializing in fish species will tell you they aren’t real bass at all, but rather members of the sunfish family that include crappie and bluegill. But anglers who have tussled with a Florida largemouth bass will insist they are the “reel” basses.

In Florida, black bass annually provide more than 800,000 anglers with nearly 15 million days of healthy outdoor recreation and generate substantially more than a billion dollars in economic impact for Florida. So although the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has always zealously managed these fish to ensure their survival and sustainable use, it is now time to pull together all the loosely connected pieces into one cohesive management plan.

Darrell Scovell, director of the Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management, announced the framework for such a plan at the first public meeting of the rapidly evolving Florida Freshwater Fishing Coalition (FLFFC.org), in October in Orlando. The FWC’s Black Bass Management Plan will ultimately provide the blueprint to ensure Florida’s recognition as “The Bass Capital of the World,” according to Scovell. The meeting drew representatives from 17 fishery-dependent type organizations, businesses and groups who actively participated in the discussion and commended the FWC for its outreach effort.

Tom Champeau, an FWC fisheries expert and director of the South Region, introduced the concept at the meeting. He emphasized that the prominence of our bass fisheries cannot be taken for granted. Participation in freshwater fishing has been affected by societal changes related to urbanization and changing demographics. Freshwater fishing license sales have shown an overall decline since the 1980s, although sales have stabilized over the past 10 years. Development of land and water resources to support our current and projected population growth threatens lake, river and associated wetland habitats. The uncertain impacts of climate change on freshwater habitats and bass fishing require investigation and adaptive management.

To protect our valuable bass fisheries, the FWC plans to engage more stakeholders through a year-long process to develop a long-term (2010-2030) management plan for Florida bass species. This plan will provide strategies and programs to manage for high quality fisheries and increase opportunities for anglers to pursue trophy Florida bass.

“The FLFFC is ecstatic about being involved at the grass roots level in discussing Florida’s black bass management,” said Todd Kersey, CEO of the FLFFC. “The enthusiasm of the participants shows how important this is and the desire to see all aspects of management – from aquatic vegetation control, to habitat enhancement and stocking, to regulation management and enforcement – included in the plan.”

That is just what the FWC biologists wanted to hear, not only from the FLFFC, but from all of the nearly 1 million anglers who enjoy fishing in Florida for black bass. The plan will include all those aspects and more, but the final product depends on good, solid science, knowledge of local fisheries – including the constraints and opportunities – and what you, the public, want your fisheries resources to be. From creating relaxing, low-pressure aesthetic fisheries where natural scenery is the major draw, to fast-action schooling bass in the small to average size range, to limited-entry trophy bass fisheries, FWC biologists are willing to work with local communities to design a management plan that, with adequate funding and public support, can provide the sustainable fishing opportunities you want.

To see a draft of the plan and the PowerPoint presentation given at the FLFFC meeting, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and select Black Bass Management Plan proposal. You’ll also have the opportunity to fill out a survey to provide the FWC with more information about what you think is important to having quality bass fishing in Florida. Make your voice heard, fill out the survey today.