Has One Florida Dam's Day Finally Come?
In Rodman’s frothy discharge I watched anglers catching some of the mullet that had stacked up along the dam’s base. I hadn’t known it was possible to entice these herbivores to a hook. Except during drawdowns this is about the only place around the reservoir accessible to shore anglers. And during those brief drawdowns the floodplain explodes with green as native seeds swept down from the Ocklawaha germinate, only to drown a few weeks later. Unflooded sections clearcut for the canal are now indistinguishable from the untouched forest I’d paddled through. Given a chance, bottomland forests heal fast here.
What You Can Do
Leading the charge to restore the Ocklawaha is Florida Defenders of the Environment. To support their effort and learn about the latest developments, go to fladefenders.org/joinfde.php. If you live in Florida, urge Governor Scott to be true to his Tea Party roots and save you and your fellow taxpayers $1 million a year by removing Rodman Dam.
Striped Bass of the Ocklawaha River, Florida
Largemouth bass exist and naturally reproduce in all of Florida's 67 counties. Trophy largemouth bass (10-lbs and over) are caught from time to time statewide.
Striped bass, however, have a completely different life history. Back in 1961 fishery biologists determined that only two river systems in Florida--the Apalachicola-Chipola and the St. Johns-Ocklawaha--contained naturally reproducing stocks of native striped bass. Stripers in Florida are riverine fish which require about 50 miles of cool, free and swift-flowing large streams for successful spawning. Adult striped bass, which can weigh beyond 30 lbs, also require closeby access to water temperatures no greater than 80 F (such as artesian springs). Rodman Dam reduced the spring-fed, swift-flowing Ocklawaha River upstream from the tidal St. Johns River estuary to a length unsuitable for striper spawning. Since 1970 the St. Johns River basin has been stocked with hatchery produced striped bass. No other tributary streams of the St. Johns River meet the stripers' strict spawning requirements.
https://sites.google.com/site/ocklawahaman/striped-bass-of-the-ocklawaha...