Hooked Up Designs Magazine December 2016 | Page 55

An ecological disaster’s silver lining

By: Dustin Catrett

“C

ast toward that depression
and let it sweep,” instructed Ed, as we waded with
the tide rushing into the St. Lucie inlet.
“There’s several schools here, and on an
incoming like this, they should be pretty
active.”
In years past, a winter trip to Stuart,
Florida to fish with Captain Ed Zyak usually consisted of walking acres of lush
seagrass for gator-size seatrout, but after years of absorbing the polluted discharges from Lake Okeechobee, this once
healthy ecosystem has been reduced to a
barren wasteland of only sand and stingrays. Surprisingly, however, after only a
few casts, my reel begins to squeal.
“That’s a bone!” Ed says, as a forktailed rocket speeds past us almost
colliding with the Gheenoe. “They’ve
been showing up here in big numbers
for the past few months,” he explained,
while landing what would become my
first bonefish. “That’s a bucket lister for
me,” I said, as we both admired the
tenacious interloper. “So why do you
think they’re here?” I asked. “I’m no
biologist, but I have a good guess.”
WHEN
Each winter, it’s not uncommon
for bonefish of the Albula vulpes species to migrate north from the Florida
Keys and enter the inlets and passes
of southeast Florida. It’s been documented that larval stage bonefish
drift north with the Gulfstream
before being deposited into the St.
Lucie inlet. Once their life cycle begins,
the small bones then feed on small fish
and crustaceans inshore before migrating
back south to areas like Biscayne Bay and
the Keys to live out their lives as adults.
Historically one of the most diverse estuaries in the state, the Crossroads, as it’s
referred to locally where the Indian River
Lagoon, St. Lucie River, and St. Lucie
Inlet converge, was once a thriving
nursery habitat for a multitude of juvenile inshore and pelagic species.
While small numbers of bonefish
have always been observed in
this area during winter months,
this year Zyak noticed a dramatic
increase in the amount of bones

hookedupdesigns.com

D

EC E M B E R

2016

HOOKED UP

55