I May Not Be A Scientist, But I Know things About Water

By Capt. Bob Tayton
Southwest Florida Outdoors University Staff

I have to admit that science was not one of my favorite subjects in school, in fact I have never been formally trained as a scientist or even taken a single college course that had anything to do with science, but I know things about water. Water is life. Let me rephrase that - water quality is life. Man, nature or beast cannot survive by drinking sewage. How important is "clean water?" Let’s step back in time not so long ago.

The Fairy Tale of The Water of Life
(Please note this is a fairy tale and holds no resemblance to any actual people or places)
Once upon a time in the Land of Harmony and Water of Life when all things were good until, the balance of the Life went amuck with the spilling of the Great King Pumping‘s special bowl. As the legend goes, the Great King Pumping lived in a land far away from the Land of Harmony and Water of Life and existed only to satisfy his two needs, his thirst for cool clear water and his appetite for sweets. In fact, he became so obsessed with these two needs that he built a very special bowl to keep his cool clear water and convinced the people from the Land of Harmony and Water of Life that his appetite for sweets far out measured their needs for anything. But as the years passed, the Great King Pumping kept his distance and diligently maintained the level of cool clear water in his special bowl to satisfy his appetite for sweets. But he soon realized that his special bowl of cool clear water was becoming impure through his misuse. The Great King Pumping decided to contact The Noble Office of Scientists to see if indeed that his special bowl was filled with impure water. The Noble Office of Scientists concurred, the Great King Pumping’s special bowl was indeed filled with impure water that contained no life. Distressed the Great King Pumping realized he would have to drain and refill his special bowl, but how was he to do this? With little thought, he devised a plan to pour off small amounts of his impure water so that the Land of Harmony and Water of Life would not notice and then refill his special bowl with new cool clear water from the Lands Far Far Away so that he could continue to satisfying his appetite for sweets. But he soon realized he could not keep his special bowl clean. His appetite for sweets was becoming greater and greater. He now directed his energies from keeping his special bowl filled with cool clean water to maintaining the proper level of impure water in his special bowl. He realized that his impure water that contained no life would just as easily satisfy his appetite for sweets, so he continued to pour off small amounts of his impure water. All was now good in the land of the Great King Pumping. However, in the Land of Harmony and Water of Life something was amiss. They started to see their cool clear water was becoming impure. They cried aloud, "Help us, our waters are becoming impure, please help us!" Once again the mighty voice of the Great King Pumping reached out and again demanded that his appetite for sweets far out measured their needs for anything and the Noble Office of Scientists agreed. And so a silence came unto the lands, until.

Suddenly there was a series of unfortunate events. The Lands Far Far Away came upon excessive amounts of cool clear water that they could no longer retain, so they began to pour their unwanted cool clear water into the Great King Pumping’s special bowl. The Great King Pumping at first rejoiced for he could now refill his special bowl with the unwanted cool clear water from the Lands Far Far Away. The cool clear water from the Lands Far Far Away flowed and flowed into the Great King Pumping’s special bowl. The Great King Pumping soon realized he would have to pour larger amounts or impure water from his special bowl. Unable to stop the Lands Far Far Away from filling his special bowl more and more with their cool clear water, the Great King Pumping without warning tipped his special bowl mightily and released massive amounts of his impure water so that he might refill his special bowl only with cool clear water from the Lands Far Far Away. The Great King Pumping’s impure water poured through the Land of Harmony and Water of Life in great waves. And then just as suddenly, the Lands Far Far Away stopped pouring their cool clear water into the Great King Pumping’s special bowl. Forsaken, The Great King Pumping realized he had poured too much impure water from his special bowl, his special bowl was now nearly empty with no way to refill it. He howled once again, he wanted his water back, impure or cool and clear it didn’t matter, he wanted his water back, but as fate would have it, it was to late. The Great King Pumping cried aloud, "I‘m thirsty, help me, please help me!"

But what became of the Land of Harmony and Water of Life? The good citizens rallied together and agreed that the Great King Pumping’s special bowl spill had taken the Life from their Water, but the Noble Office of Scientists would not concur. The Noble Office of Scientists said they would wait for the next time the Great King Pumping spilled his special bowl to begin a special study to see if it were so. Hence the good people of the Land of Harmony and Water of Life decided to change their name to just "The Land," for before their eyes the water had become just something to look at. The Water of Life truly became a fairy tale that they would tell their children and their children's children. THE END

You know, I don’t know if that fairy tale is true or not, but like I said, I know things about water. Some of you may remember that Lee County had similar issues with water being released from Lake Okeechobee a while back. Reports of a glowing green slime laid across the water, sea grass beds and fish disappearing. I for one can testify about only two small areas of Lee County, my own backyard canal and an area outside of Tarpon Bay. After the before mentioned water release from Lake Okeechobee, all life ceased to exist in my canal. Snook stopped spending their winters in my backyard and large schools of jacks stopped chasing large schools of minnows in my backyard. I soon realized the jacks stopped coming because there were no longer any schools of minnows. Sometime after the water release from Lake Okeechobee I fished the area of Tarpon Bay. An area once filled with snook, redfish and sea grass. It now looked like a desert. No grass, no snook, no redfish not even a minnow. Was it gone for good?

I’m glad to report that all is well. Recently, I caught several nice snook and redfish right in my own backyard. The large schools of minnows and jacks have returned and the water is clean and clear. Also, the other day I fished the area of Tarpon Bay. In fifteen minutes of fishing with a Berkley Gulp shrimp I boated a 26" and 25" redfish. The area was filled with sea grass, minnows and other small baits. It had surely become the Water of Life once again. What changed? Now remember I’m not a scientist, but with Lake Okeechobee being at an all time low and no water releases into our area, well maybe, just maybe, nay, that couldn’t be the answer, that would be just to simple. Like I said, I’m not a scientist, but as far as fairy tales go, I sure hope that the Great King Pumping never spills his special bowl again.

As a note, the following was provided by the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association's (EFTTA)

USA Anglers Worth $125 billion
DESPITE competition from video games and other similar activities and increased urbanization, recreational angling remains one of the largest outdoor recreational activities in the USA as well as one of the most solid industries in the United States. Annually, nearly 40 million anglers generate over $45 billion in retail sales with a $125 billion impact on the nation's economy creating employment for over one million people.

Think about it - What would the economic impact be if we were able to maintain our water quality and everyone who fished could catch forty to fifty redfish, snook, etc., in a couple of hours. My guess, I’m pretty sure Lee County wouldn’t have any trouble filling hotel rooms and restaurants. But in reality it’s probably more important to ensure that our beaches are clean, so that our visitors can sit in the sun and look out at our lifeless waters. (The above commentary has been my personal opinion)

The Bottom line - Go fishing - catch a memory.

Southwest Florida Outdoors catch us every week on Fox Sports Net Florida. Be sure to visit our web site for show times and days @ www.swfloutdoors.com . Also, check out our fantastic Pro Guide Staff and charter one of these great guides for an experience that will last you a lifetime. Our guides don’t tell fish stories, their success is captured on film every week on Southwest Florida Outdoors.

Southwest Florida Outdoors catch us every Saturday morning @ 8:30 AM and Thursday afternoon @ 12:30 PM on Fox Sports Net Florida. Be sure and visit our web site for show times and days at www.swfloutdoors.com. Also, check out our fantastic Pro Guide Staff and charter one of these great guides for an experience that will last you a lifetime. Our guides don’t tell fish stories, their success is captured on film every week on Southwest Florida Outdoors.