Del Milligan
THE LEDGER – Original Ledger title was After 3 Years, Snook Season to Reopen on September 1
LAKELAND, Florida
June 12, 2013
Full house yesterday – standing room only at FWC meeting in Lakeland, Florida. NOTE: Caption’s by FLM.com
The Ledger/Michael Wilson
The final vote on snook was one of three major marine-fisheries issues addressed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday at its meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn.
The seven commissioners also voted unanimously, as they did on snook, to make bonefish and tarpon catch-and-release only. The rule, which takes effect Sept. 1, narrows the ways tarpon can be handled after the catch on a statewide basis.
Capt. Dave Markett, one of many impassioned speakers on the extremely controversial “jig rig” used in the Boca Grande PTTS tournament, gets face-time with FWC Commissioners to plead his NO vote. NOTE: Caption’s by FLM.com
The Ledger/Michael Wilson
But the proposal to modify tarpon-fishing gear regulations at Boca Grande Pass was the lightning-rod issue for the FWC’s first-ever meeting in Lakeland, which drew a packed crowd of about 500 people to a conference room at the hotel near the airport.
The three-day public meeting, which coincides with the heart of tarpon season at the pass, concludes today starting at 8:30 a.m. A proposal to ban the importation of live deer into Florida to protect against Chronic Wasting Disease is first on the agenda.
Snook have been protected on the Gulf Coast, catch-and-release only, since January 2010 when an extended freeze and frigid water temperatures killed an estimated 15 percent of the population statewide.
FWC scientists said Gulf snook have recovered to the point that statistics show the fish’s biological thresholds are increasing and sustainable.
Eric Bachnik, owner of MirrOlure lures, disagreed with the decision.
“I’m just disappointed. I feel that the study that was done is a little too optimistic,” Bachnik said. “I would like to see it closed for another two years or so, and then go ahead and do another study.
“I really feel, and I think you will see, and mark my words, I hope I am wrong, based on the consensus of all the top snook guides that I’ve spoken to, from Central Florida to Southern Florida, I think this additional strain, not to mention any more cold weather, you’re going to see the snook numbers go down,” Bachnik said.
Commissioners simply voted to let the executive order on snook in effect since January 2010 expire Aug. 31. Season dates and limits on the size and quantity of fish that anglers are allowed to keep will remain the same as before the massive kill.
FWC chairman Ken Wright, along with six other commissioners hear passionate anglers debate on the highly controversial Boca Grande / PTTS tarpon rig issue, but fail to decide. They voted unanimously to relegate tarpon and bonefish as catch and release only (including federal waters) and voted to reopen snook fishing on the west coast of Florida this September. NOTE: Captions by FLM.com.
The Ledger/Michael Wilson
Rick Roberts, executive director of the Snook & Gamefish Foundation, spoke in favor of reopening the season.
“We’re not in trouble with snook,” Roberts said.
The rule proposal to prohibit tarpon-fishing gear that has a weight attached to the bottom of the hook in the pass — like the 4- or 6-ounce jig-heads with tiger-stripe soft plastic shad imitations that anglers are currently attaching below size 8/0 hooks with zip ties — drew 10 times as many public comments as the snook issue.
“I’m all in favor of removing the sinker from the bend in the hook,” said Capt. Van Hubbard of Placida. “I don’t have a problem with a traditional jig. This weighted hook that they call a jig has been a mess.”
More than 100 people spoke before the commissioners, each limited to three minutes, in a vigorous, impassioned and sometimes heated debate arguing for or against the tarpon-gear proposal.
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