Help Save Rodman Reservoir
Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 11:26AM Join the fun for the 15th annual Save Rodman Reservoir (SRR) Bass Fishing Tournament April 16 and help save Rodman Reservoir from being destroyed by Florida Defenders of the Environment (FDE) and their political allies.
No conflict better demonstrates the divide between conservation and preservation than this decades-long battle regarding the fate of this world-class bass fishery and popular destination for camping, wildlife viewing, and other outdoor recreation.
Constructed on the Ocklawaha River during the 1960s, Rodman was part of the Cross Florida Barge Canal project, designed to facilitate navigation from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico without going all the way around Florida. It was a stupid idea and could have been devastating to the natural beauty and bounty of the Sunshine State.
Reader Comments (3)
OK
The St. Johns-Ocklawaha River Basin's Native STRIPED BASS and RODMAN DAM:
The endemic "STRIPERS" of the St. Johns-Ocklawaha River basin, without any doubt, have suffered the most because of the September 30, 1968 completion of RODMAN DAM. STRIPED BASS must have access to approximately 50 free-flowing, uninterrupted miles of large, swift-moving stream (current) during the late winter or early spring of the year in order to naturally reproduce successfully. Replacement stocks of St. Johns River basin STRIPERS have been hatchery produced for over 40 years now and are not stocked into the Ocklawaha upstream of the dam that created Rodman Reservoir. The free-flowing (before Rodman Dam was built) 56-mile Silver-Ocklawaha River system was the only suitable spawning (and hatching) habitat of STRIPED BASS in the entire St. Johns River drainage. All the way back in 1961 it was determined by fisheries biologists that only two river systems in the whole state of Florida contained native breeding populations of STRIPERS: those two drainages were the Apalachicola-Chipola and the St. Johns-Ocklawaha. It troubles me greatly that an excellent conservation and fishing organization--BASS--which has done many noble things for both bass FISH and anglers--continues to support the retaining of Rodman a.k.a. Kirkpatrick Dam for the production of largemouth bass ("largemouths" reproduce naturally in lacustrine or riverine freshwaters of all 67 Florida counties). Rodman Dam is the structure that prevents the natural reproduction of STRIPED BASS in the St. Johns-Ocklawaha Rivers. I ended my BASS membership decades ago to support the restoration of stream-bred Florida native STRIPERS.
"Ocklawahaman" Paul Nosca
I respect your passion and point of view. Can't argue with either. Too bad the issue isn't only about whether or not to restore stripers without collateral damage to anything else. Had I been asked whether to build Rodman (and the cross-Florida barge canal), I would have said a resounding "No!" Likewise, I don't now want a healthy and flourishing ecosystem destroyed for an attempt at restoration.