NEWS RELEASE

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

June 1, 1999

CONTACT: Jon Fury (561) 791-4730

EVERGLADES FISHING FRENZY SHOULD LAST THROUGH JUNE

As water levels decline in the northern Everglades of western Broward and Dade counties, the largemouth bass are evacuating the huge marsh and concentrating in the deep-water canals where anglers are having a field day.

Fishing has been good to excellent for several weeks, according to Jon Fury, the Everglades Investigations Team Leader with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). He should know as one of his main missions is to monitor game fish populations in the northern Everglades, also designated Water Conservation Areas 2 and 3.

"I've talked with anglers who caught-and-released more than 50 bass during an eight-hour fishing trip," Fury said. "That's a phenomenal catch rate. One recent electro-shock survey counted 150 bass in a one hour run in the L-67A canal out of Holiday Park. The fish were stunned, weighed and live-released. The largest bass weighed more than ten pounds."

Water levels dropped anywhere from two to three feet in the last three months. The largemouth catch rate of .2 fish per hour recorded in December, 1998 climbed to more than three bass per hour recorded during the April, 1999 survey. The state-wide average is .33 with anything over .5 per hour considered good.

"This is a perfect time to introduce a child or novice to the sport of bass fishing," Fury said. "Most anglers use top-water lures early morning and during the cool of evening. As the sun climbs into the sky, try switching to plastic worms or deep-diving crank baits."

Fury said fishing has been good everywhere with perhaps the best action occurring near spillways where the water flow brings with it a bountiful feast of forage fish for the hungry largemouth bass waiting near the discharge.

The Holiday Park Fish Camp, located on the western edge of U.S. 27 just south of I-75 (Alligator Alley), and the Sawgrass Fish Camp located on the eastern edge of U.S. 27 just north of the Alley, provide anglers with boat ramps, boat rentals and other services. For details call Holiday Park at: (954) 434-8111, or Sawgrass fish Camp at: (954) 389-0202.