"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
NOYB wrote:
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 17:06:08 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

Tomorrow, I'm hooking up the smaller boat to
tow an hour and 50 minutes across Alligator Alley and fish 2.5 miles
offshore for Sailfish, kingfish, and wahoo.
Where do you launch on the east coast? Any trailer parking issues?

Haulover. I've only been there once, and there was plenty of
parking...but it wasn't during season.

We're leaving the house at 4:30am, so we clear the pass by sunrise. We
might put the trip on hold 'til Saturday due to predicted 15-20knot winds
out of the East on Friday and early Saturday.



We stay on the other side of the bridge from Haulover.

Then as you know, Haulover can be a messy inlet on a new moon outgoing tide
with a strong onshore wind...which is exactly what is predicted for
tomorrow. Winds are out of the east at 15-20 knots, and seas are 7 to 9 feet
on top of a 3 foot swell. Perfect sailfish conditions...but not when you're
going out in an 18' Boston Whaler...so our plans have changed.

Instead, we're running in the Grady to the one of the DoD towers southwest
of Marco on this coast. Seas are predicted to be 2-4 late
Saturday...decreasing to 2' or less by Sunday.

On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 02:21:31 +0000, NOYB wrote:


Then as you know, Haulover can be a messy inlet on a new moon outgoing
tide with a strong onshore wind...which is exactly what is predicted for
tomorrow. Winds are out of the east at 15-20 knots, and seas are 7 to 9
feet on top of a 3 foot swell. Perfect sailfish conditions...but not when
you're going out in an 18' Boston Whaler...so our plans have changed.

Instead, we're running in the Grady to the one of the DoD towers southwest
of Marco on this coast. Seas are predicted to be 2-4 late
Saturday...decreasing to 2' or less by Sunday.

Just curious, NOYB, how's the net ban working out? I did a fair deal of
fishing in Florida before it passed, but none since. I thought the
fishing was pretty damn good before, how's it now? Is the ban still
controversial, or are most happy with it?

"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 02:21:31 +0000, NOYB wrote:


Then as you know, Haulover can be a messy inlet on a new moon outgoing
tide with a strong onshore wind...which is exactly what is predicted for
tomorrow. Winds are out of the east at 15-20 knots, and seas are 7 to 9
feet on top of a 3 foot swell. Perfect sailfish conditions...but not
when
you're going out in an 18' Boston Whaler...so our plans have changed.

Instead, we're running in the Grady to the one of the DoD towers
southwest
of Marco on this coast. Seas are predicted to be 2-4 late
Saturday...decreasing to 2' or less by Sunday.

Just curious, NOYB, how's the net ban working out? I did a fair deal of
fishing in Florida before it passed, but none since. I thought the
fishing was pretty damn good before, how's it now? Is the ban still
controversial, or are most happy with it?

The ban has helped certain populations like seatrout over the past several
years... but overall the fishing has been poor this year. The Army Corp of
Engineers is dumping too much freshwater down the Caloosahatchee to drain
Okeechobee, and it's killing the estuary system.

The offshore scene (30 miles) is still doing pretty well, but the bait fish
run (and the king and spanish mackeral/tarpon that follow them) which
usually takes place in the Fall simply didn't happen this year. Most
believe that the runoff from the Caloosahatchee is to blame. The Corp was
pumping something like 2 million gallons of polluted lake water per minute
into the estuaries and onto the beaches of Ft. Myers and Sanibel.

On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 13:52:47 +0000, NOYB wrote:


The ban has helped certain populations like seatrout over the past several
years... but overall the fishing has been poor this year. The Army Corp
of Engineers is dumping too much freshwater down the Caloosahatchee to
drain Okeechobee, and it's killing the estuary system.

The offshore scene (30 miles) is still doing pretty well, but the bait
fish run (and the king and spanish mackeral/tarpon that follow them) which
usually takes place in the Fall simply didn't happen this year. Most
believe that the runoff from the Caloosahatchee is to blame. The Corp was
pumping something like 2 million gallons of polluted lake water per minute
into the estuaries and onto the beaches of Ft. Myers and Sanibel.

It may get worse, before it gets better. The St. Lucie River is now so
bad that there is a "no contact" advisory. The group defending the St.
Lucie want more water released into the Calooshatchee. I've never been
too impressed with Florida's "good old boy" governing style. They seem to
be willing to trash all of South Florida, all so a few West Palm families
can make their money in sugar. It doesn't seem right to me.

http://www.sccf.org/White%20Paper.pdf

"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 13:52:47 +0000, NOYB wrote:


The ban has helped certain populations like seatrout over the past
several
years... but overall the fishing has been poor this year. The Army Corp
of Engineers is dumping too much freshwater down the Caloosahatchee to
drain Okeechobee, and it's killing the estuary system.

The offshore scene (30 miles) is still doing pretty well, but the bait
fish run (and the king and spanish mackeral/tarpon that follow them)
which
usually takes place in the Fall simply didn't happen this year. Most
believe that the runoff from the Caloosahatchee is to blame. The Corp
was
pumping something like 2 million gallons of polluted lake water per
minute
into the estuaries and onto the beaches of Ft. Myers and Sanibel.

It may get worse, before it gets better. The St. Lucie River is now so
bad that there is a "no contact" advisory. The group defending the St.
Lucie want more water released into the Calooshatchee. I've never been
too impressed with Florida's "good old boy" governing style. They seem to
be willing to trash all of South Florida, all so a few West Palm families
can make their money in sugar. It doesn't seem right to me.

It doesn't seem right to me either. In the mid-90's, voters adopted an
Amendment known as "polluter pays". With "polluter pays", the law was
written such that whoever did the polluting of the Everglades, would have to
pay for the cleanup. There was a class-action suit filed in 1998 regarding
the government's inaction on the matter...and as far as I know, there's
still been no ruling on the matter:

http://www.saveoureverglades.org/pol...lass_main.html

About 2 weeks ago, they stopped the releases down the Caloosahatchee. I
went out today, and that awful brown water we have had since last Fall, is
now a pretty green/blue.

Unfortunately, some nincompoop at South Florida Water Mgmt has decided that
the salinity in the estuary system has gotten too high again (at least
that's the excuse)...so they're going to release more water down the river.

Recently, Sen. Bill Nelson came to Ft. Myers to inspect the water quality
issue. He's seeking Federal funding for alternative water basins/reservoirs
to dump the Okeechobee water into. But why?!? Big Sugar ought to pay...not
the American taxpayer. Nevertheless, the water quality has been pretty good
since his trip. ;-)

On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:31:05 +0000, NOYB wrote:


It doesn't seem right to me either. In the mid-90's, voters adopted an
Amendment known as "polluter pays". With "polluter pays", the law was
written such that whoever did the polluting of the Everglades, would have
to pay for the cleanup. There was a class-action suit filed in 1998
regarding the government's inaction on the matter...and as far as I know,
there's still been no ruling on the matter:

http://www.saveoureverglades.org/pol...lass_main.html

About 2 weeks ago, they stopped the releases down the Caloosahatchee. I
went out today, and that awful brown water we have had since last Fall, is
now a pretty green/blue.

Unfortunately, some nincompoop at South Florida Water Mgmt has decided
that the salinity in the estuary system has gotten too high again (at
least that's the excuse)...so they're going to release more water down the
river.

Recently, Sen. Bill Nelson came to Ft. Myers to inspect the water quality
issue. He's seeking Federal funding for alternative water
basins/reservoirs to dump the Okeechobee water into. But why?!? Big
Sugar ought to pay...not the American taxpayer. Nevertheless, the water
quality has been pretty good since his trip. ;-)

They probably cleaned up because they knew he was coming. Sugar sure has
a sweet deal. They are heavily subsidized, the sugar is sold at above
world market pricing, and, all on land that wasn't suitable until they
messed with Okeechobee's plumbing, sweet. Never mind, Florida Bay is
dying, the Everglades need help, as do all the waters south of Okeechobee.

On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 13:52:47 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:


"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 02:21:31 +0000, NOYB wrote:


Then as you know, Haulover can be a messy inlet on a new moon outgoing
tide with a strong onshore wind...which is exactly what is predicted for
tomorrow. Winds are out of the east at 15-20 knots, and seas are 7 to 9
feet on top of a 3 foot swell. Perfect sailfish conditions...but not
when
you're going out in an 18' Boston Whaler...so our plans have changed.

Instead, we're running in the Grady to the one of the DoD towers
southwest
of Marco on this coast. Seas are predicted to be 2-4 late
Saturday...decreasing to 2' or less by Sunday.

Just curious, NOYB, how's the net ban working out? I did a fair deal of
fishing in Florida before it passed, but none since. I thought the
fishing was pretty damn good before, how's it now? Is the ban still
controversial, or are most happy with it?

The ban has helped certain populations like seatrout over the past several
years... but overall the fishing has been poor this year. The Army Corp of
Engineers is dumping too much freshwater down the Caloosahatchee to drain
Okeechobee, and it's killing the estuary system.

The offshore scene (30 miles) is still doing pretty well, but the bait fish
run (and the king and spanish mackeral/tarpon that follow them) which
usually takes place in the Fall simply didn't happen this year. Most
believe that the runoff from the Caloosahatchee is to blame. The Corp was
pumping something like 2 million gallons of polluted lake water per minute
into the estuaries and onto the beaches of Ft. Myers and Sanibel.



Our seatrout in the Bay are basically gone, unless some decide to wander in
this year. The fall striper run didn't happen last year. In fact, after the
spring striper run, nothing much was caught the rest of the summer.

Of course, we now have a 'cap' on the commercial menhaden harvest in the
Bay, so that should help immensely (especially since the 'cap' exceeds the
normal harvest anyway).
--
'Til next time,

John H

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