Ruskin LMR area

[dabear]

we fished Mon Jun 28th around the Little Manatee River area . Spent a third of the time cutting fishing line, leader  and weights out of the mangroves . Between the red tide and fisherman destroying the area this has become a very challenging area to fish . It over 25 years fishing this area I have never seen it this destroyed . If we all take a few minutes each trip to try and clean up the mess that these ignorant fisherman are leaving behind we may be able to save this place . When you see something this abused by fisherman you can almost understand why many tree huggers don’t want people fishing in areas . It’s very sad seeing this area so abused . Everyone please help save our fishing grounds so our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy them . This area like most places has a lot of new fisherman and new to boating people in it with everyone’s help we may be able to save this area between red tide , ignorant fisherman and all the new boaters we all need to try and help out a little . Joe R 

[Capt. Troy]

Sadly it ain't just that area.

Our waters and fishery are under fire like never before. It is so bad I have lost some of my interest and passion to be out there. Never thought I would live to see the day. Can barley get away form the nonsense 50 miles offshore.

[dabear]

Capt Troy I had no idea that it was also that bad off shore . After seeing so many large deep draft type boats riding around in very shallow waters . I thought that the majority of new boater purchased these larger deep v type boats and where mainly fishing in near shore flats because they didn’t want to go off shore . I had no idea that it was the same story off shore . The saddest part that I see in this Tampa bay south shore area is all the fishing lines tangled in the mangroves and left behind . You don’t have to be a experienced fisherman to know that you should clean up what ever mess that you made . Hopefully this is just a passing fad that will pass very soon . We use a ramp in area that has a single ramp in a shallow area to try and avoid things like this . The larger deep draft boats would have a challenging time putting in there and running so we are ok at the ramp but as soon as you get into 2-3 foot of water you start seeing more boaters than we have ever seen during the week I can’t imagine how crowded the week ends are being I have not put my boat in the water on a holiday or weekend in over 20 years . I am going to make it part of our fishing routine to pick up and cut down left behind fishing line every trip if possible . We release everything we catch as carefully as possible and try not to damage anything . That’s better for me my boat and the environment. I hope that my grandkids will all be able to enjoy this area boating and fishing our youngest fisherman is 2 years old .   Take care Joe R 

[pondfisher]

Lol, it’s over for Florida. Done. TOO MANY PEOPLE. Developers killed this state (Tampa Bay Area in particular: Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee/Sarasota counties) a long time ago and our elected officials let it happen. You don’t need to read a Carl Hiaasen editorial or novel to understand what happened to this place - although they’re very telling - you just need to live here long enough. One of my best buds lives on about three acres in Dade City with his wife and kids. They moved out of once rural Land O’ Lakes in the mid 90s to get away from the speedy development and transportation infrastructure that couldn’t keep up.  Now the 20 acres of cow field behind their house just sold and is being turned into a huge housing development. So now they’re packing up and moving to Alabama. These are 4th generation Floridans who once said they’d never leave Florida. To quote my friend:

“When you can no longer set a trot line in the lake because it will get tangled in a ski boat’s prop, it’s time to leave”. That was 1990.

What a *** shame.