Our fish were in clean water, but that clean water was in short supply. All of Moonshine Bay, while clean, was not the gin clear water I was used to seeing years ago. The entire rest of the lake that we explored looked like chocolate milk. Silt and mud that was finally stirred by three successive hurricanes this past summer has yet to settle, and that means a lot of nasty water. Couple that with the thousands of dead trees standing in the southwest quadrant of the lake, and the lake takes on the appearance of a war zone. The dead trees are part of the maleluka control project – something that is many years too late in my opinion.
Lake Okeechobee has undergone more problems than any body of water should ever be forced to experience. From fertilizer runoff coming from surrounding cow pastures, to massive hydrilla beds, this lake has seen it all. The runoffs caused huge algae blooms in the past that blocked out the sunlight, killed bottom vegetation, and generally made a mess of the whole lake. Herbicide spraying as a control for hydrilla leaves large portions of the lake with little or no vegetation or cover.
Some 750 square miles in size, people think that anything they dump into the lake can simply be absorbed. Dead and decaying hydrilla forms a silt on the bottom of what was years ago hard sand and rock. While the lake level remains fairly constant, the water depth has decreased over the years by this build-up of silt.
Managers from the South Florida Water Management Department – those who “control” the lake’s water – are saying that the worst is yet to come. The silt and mud is setting up what they say will be the biggest algae bloom ever – a bloom that could spell the death of this grand old lady lake.
If it sounds like I know a little about this lake – I do. I have fished it since the ‘50s and I have watched the up and down cycles over the years. This is the worst I have ever seen it.
For those of you planning a trip to the lake – take heart. The fishing is still absolutely awesome – you just need to find clean water – and that water is in and around Moonshine Bay. If you want to plan a trip, give Jan Swanson a call at the Rice Hotel in Moore Haven at 863-946-0424. Clean rooms, air conditioning, good beds, and cable TV - Jan will take care of you. She has catered to our crowd for almost twenty years!
