Anglers Urging Everglades Officials to Educate Boaters on Fishing
MIAMI _ Everglades National Park Superintendent Dan Kimball took another fact-finding trip Friday through back-country waters in preparation for a new set of alternatives to guide park management for the next 20 years.
Kimball rode around West Lake with South Miami-Dade angler Jerry Appling aboard Appling’s small Gheenoe. Kimball said it was his first visit to the shallow-water fishing grounds where outboard motors are restricted to six horsepower.
Appling, 71, is among a host of avid South Florida anglers and guides concerned that the park may impose widespread restrictions on motorboats in its upcoming general management plan. Appling and others, such as guides Rick Murphy, David Denkert, Ted Jurascik, and angler Lloyd Wruble, have invited Kimball to tour areas that potentially could be closed to fishing. They want the park to concentrate on educating visiting boaters about sensitive seagrass and mangrove habitats _ imposing a permitting system instead of declaring the areas totally off-limits.
“There are people out here who have no business being in the water,” Appling, who has fished in the park since 1965, said. “Some people are just not educated.”
Owing to the abundance of input from concerned fishermen, Kimball pledged to recast the four preliminary management alternatives put out to public workshops earlier this summer. A group of Upper Keys guides and anglers has proposed a fifth, called Alternative E, or “Everglades for the Educated.”
“We got some great ideas, great feedback,” Kimball said.
The superintendent said he expects to have the new slate of preliminary proposals ready for a public look in late November or early December. The park also has been working on a commercial services plan covering lodging and boat rentals at Flamingo, and those proposals could be heard at the same time.
Flamingo’s commercial facilities were badly damaged by hurricanes in 2005.
Kimball seemed impressed during his tour of West Lake with Appling, questioning the angler on the interior lake’s relationship to Florida Bay.
Appling explained that West Lake’s brackish waters are fed by Florida Bay through a series of shallow creeks and bays _ Garfield Bight, Alligator Creek, The Lungs, and Long Lake.
“Down at the back end was full of seaweed. The trout used to come in here like crazy. Huge redfish used to come in here,” Appling said. “But the fishing has declined.”
He added that a recent algae bloom hasn’t helped matters.
Said Kimball: “I didn’t realize these interior lakes are so tied to the health of Florida Bay.”
Listening to Appling’s anecdotes about the history of back-country fishing in the park, Kimball said it might be a good idea for local guides and anglers to help train park rangers _ many of whom come from other parts of the nation and often don’t remain in South Florida long enough to become experts in the nuances of Everglades waters.
“That could really help the park,” Kimball said.
He asked Appling whether the crocodile sanctuary in Joe Bay and Madeira Bay, closed to fishing since the 1980s, should be reopened.
“I’d go along with no-motor, poling and paddling,” Appling answered.
He pointed out deadfalls and mangrove shorelines where he has caught large snook and redfish.
“Isn’t this beautiful?” Appling said. “I love this lake.”
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