Invasive exotic fish taking hold in area lakes, rivers

With its subtropical climate, Florida has long been considered a paradise for anglers. Unfortunately, the same conditions that make this a top state for sought-after gamefish also are inviting to less desirable newcomers.

Invasive water weeds like hyacinth and hydrilla give lake managers fits, and it appears that we should, too, be aware of an escalating invasion of exotic fishes.

Anyone casting in Lochloosa's shallows for bass last spring was sure to see the deep, round cavernous beds that always belong to tilapia, or Nile perch. This was the first season I had seen such large numbers of the interloper in my favorite lake, and it bothered me.

By my reasoning, these illegal immigrants with scales and fins competing for space and food can only be harmful to the well-loved natives.

Robert Hart Sr. and Jr. walked into The Tackle Box Tuesday with a fish I had seen only twice before. Young Robert had caught it in a small neighborhood pond. After examining the smallish-but dangerous-looking example, the elder Hart was concerned that the pond might be infested with piranha.

This one, though, was a pacu - sometimes called a 'false piranha.' Although these are actually primarily seed eaters, their appearance is almost identical to the South American flesh eater.

The 'non-native fish day' continued a short while later. Wearing a bewildered expression, Olin Scott brought in a very peculiar catfish he had just caught with a wiggler in Rochelle Creek. I had seen a couple of these as well - another South American transplant commonly called the 'armored catfish.'

Mike Allen, Associate Professor at UF's Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences was well-aware of the increasing presence of this species.

"The population of armored catfish in Florida is exploding," he stated flatly.

"It's from the aquarium trade. People release their pet fish, and they eventually take hold. The worst problems with exotics are in the southern part of the state, but this fish is fairly common now in Lake Kissimmee, the St. John's River, and in the Tampa area. It's sure to take biomass away from something else, but we don't have the research yet to say what the impacts might be."

Allen is less concerned about the other known non-natives. "The pacu are scarce, and their numbers don't seem to be expanding," he explained, "and the tilapia should only compete with other plankton eaters, such as gizzard shad."

With the Sunshine State's increasing population (and growing number of aquariums,) I'm afraid we'll be seeing more puzzled anglers bringing in fish they have never encountered.

While not exactly a non-native, four Gainesville-area anglers hooked another very unusual catch Tuesday on Seahorse Reef, off Cedar Key.

Along with Fletcher Lindsey; David Acre, George Mason, and Charles Underwood were catching Spanish mackerel and trout aboard Lindsey's 21-foot Sea Pro when Mason hooked something big. A little more than twenty minutes later, the men boated and released a barracuda they estimated at between 20 and 30 pounds. "It was quite a battleÉ especially with bass tackle," Mason chuckled.

And how about that sailfish (reported in last week's Sun by Tim Tucker) caught a few days ago off Suwannee? Now, there's an out-of-place species we can live with.

All-around Gulf action remains very good for this late into summer.

Trout are still abundant on the shallow flats - the female fish even thick with roe we would expect to see in April.

Seahorse Reef and Spotty Bottom off Cedar Key and Suwannee, respectively, have been loaded with Spanish mackerel. A couple of nice kings were taken from the outer reaches of Spotty last weekend. The present mackerel abundance apparently extends throughout the Big Bend.

On the way out to his favorite grouper haunts Sunday, Capt. Rex Liberman ran through a massive wave of feeding, leaping fish.

"Thirteen miles off Steinhatchee," he said, "there were Spanish and king mackerel as far as the eye could see."

Instead of relaying their success in terms of gallons or pints of meat taken, the vast majority of Homosassa, Crystal River, and Steinhatchee scallop seekers this season have had to simply report the number of individual shellfish they've been able to pick up.

Although disappointed thus far, some marina owners believe there's plenty of reason to be hopeful that things will improve dramatically as the season goes on. Nancy Bushey of McRae's at Homosassa said, "Results seem to be getting a little better every day."

Just keep those Amazonian shellfish away.

Gary Simpson is a veteran tournament angler who works at The Tackle Box.

Day 1st high 2nd high 1st low 2nd low

Today 5:31 a.m. 4:46 p.m. 11:01 a.m. 11:42 p.m.

Sat. 6:03 a.m. 5:44 p.m. 11:55 a.m. -

Sun. 6:37 a.m. 6:49 p.m. 12:21 a.m. 12:54 p.m.

Mon. 7:16 a.m. 8:07 p.m. 1:02 p.m. 2:01 p.m.

Tues. 1:46 a.m. 3:16 p.m. 8:01 a.m. 9:39 p.m.

Weds. 8:54 a.m. 11:22 p.m. 2:39 a.m. 4:37 p.m.

Thurs. 9:55 a.m. - 3:46 a.m. 5:51 p.m.

Day 1st high 2nd high 1st low 2nd low

Today 11:56 a.m. - 5:53 a.m. 6:03 p.m.

Sat. 12:23 a.m. 12:50 p.m. 6:43 a.m. 7:02 p.m.

Sun. 1:14 a.m. 1:45 p.m. 7:35 a.m. 8:05 p.m.

Mon. 2:06 a.m. 2:42 p.m. 8:30 a.m. 9:10 p.m.

Tues. 3:00 a.m. 3:41 p.m. 9:26 a.m. 10:13 p.m.

Weds. 9:59 a.m. 4:42 p.m. 10:22 a.m. 11:14 p.m.

Thurs. 4:59 a.m. 5:43 p.m. 11:17 a.m. -

Day Minor Major Minor Major

Today 9:20 3:10 9:50 3:35

Sat. 10:15 4:05 10:45 4:30

Sun. 11:05 4:55 11:35 5:20

Mon. - 5:50 12:00 6:15

Tues. 12:30 6:35 12:50 7:00

Weds. 1:15 7:25 1:35 7:50

Thurs. 2:00 8:10 2:20 8:40

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