Capt. Dave Stephens
My fellow anglers, have we got us a mess here on the Southwest Gulf Coast? We have been begging for media coverage. I was always told the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Well, the outcry from us here on the coast has been heard. Over the past few months I have seen people come together to support our estuary. I was born and raised fishing Southwest Florida. The one thing that brings a tear to my eye, is the out-crying support of the people that were not born and raised here. I never thought that anybody would care more than a local! Over the last couple months, I have had to eat my words. To my fellow northern anglers that love this coast, please keep fighting with us. This year is an election year, it’s not about republican or democrat. This year it’s about the future of our estuary. It is about preserving what you grew up doing as a proud Florida native. Wanting to pass down the great times you had as an adolescent fishing the flats of our great estuary. It’s about the hours you spent working hard shoveling snow so you could work for that day you could retire. Retire to the greatest coast on Florida, to experience some of the greatest fishing in the world. It is time we made our voices heard loud and clear. We are tired of seeing our estuary get put on the back burner, we are no longer going to be silent.
The impact of this year’s red tide will be felt for years to come. One of our major game fish has taken a hit that will be felt for years. People come from all over this great country for the opportunity to catch a trophy Snook. This year we witnessed hundreds of female Snook killed from this disaster, females that were in their summer spawning habitat. The ripple effect from this could be felt for a very long time. This could top the freeze from 2010. The reasoning is the state will not step up to the plate and accept the loss. They want to keep hiding this dirty little secret under the rug. The past year or so we have seen organizations, such as Captains For Clean Water and Bull Sugar start leading in our fight for the future. If we don’t start standing up to the people that take our resources for granted, it will continue. My fellow anglers, I’m asking you to please do some research and make our voices heard. It’s time we get our coast back to a state of destination, not a state of disappointment.