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[@samphillips8322]

That large fish they picked up in a net looked like a carp. Don't recall any carp in that pond when we fished there many times in the 1950s. At least I never saw one. Must have been some damaging runoff during the past few decades. The habitat was excellent in the 1950s and 60s. Seldom saw a power boat. Most people fished from a jonboat and used a paddle.

[@saltyhumansWX]

Is that the thick grass we see in the summer now??

[@marcushibdon2415]

GREAT VIDIO😊😊😊😊😊

[@kidperk3347]

Loved fishing this pond as a kid...

[@nicholas3329]

This all sounds good and eco friendly and everything. However, I have been living on this pond for 20yrs and using the pond for most of my life, what they did has been a Disaster. The pond has been taken over by the “vegetation”! The FWC biologists have been battling these Invasive Weeds ever since. Drawdowns, herbicides, mechanical harvesting. Even stocking it with 1000’s of non-native grass eating carp. Nothing has worked. It gets worse every year. No large panfish like the mounts shown here have been caught ever since. God takes care of nature not man.

[@mrtraumaboyy4098]

Had the boat out on it in the end of the summer. Worst I have ever seen. Hope this drawdown will back it off a bit. Will see.

[@masonredmon1501]

Draw down didn't work it's terrible

[@nicholas3329]

@masonredmon1501 the last drawdown wasn't for weed control. It was for renovations at blue springs park

[@nicholas3329]

It’s rather ironic that every other video clip shows fish populations thriving. Yet they’re trying to improve things?!? I was younger then but I can remember not long after the water level was brought back up, invasive hydrilla started showing up all over the pond. FWC said it must have come in on someone’s boat trailer from another body of water. Horsesh!t, FWC transplanted it knowingly or not! The entire body of water has been a disaster ever since!!!

[@keithtauber4153]

Trust me, Bass do better in hydrilla than other grass and having a lot of it is not hurting them at all. Sounds like you don't know how to fish in hydrilla. Hydrilla is not the problem.

[@nicholas3329]

@keithtauber4153 the fish are doing just fine. My son and I catch em by the dozens. However, the hydrilla has made the pond nearly non navigable at times and just destroyed its beauty. The point i was making is that a govt institution tried to "improve" the pond, and as a whole, it's only gotten worse

[@keithtauber4153]

@@nicholas3329 Thanks for your reply. I guess, having had the experience of watching the FWC destroy fisheries by over spraying them, rendering them mud holes over the years. I appreciate any who actually want to grow aquatic vegetation in a lake. I also see hydrilla as beautiful and desirable. I have never met a bass fisherman who doesn't love hydrilla and wishes it was in every lake we fish in. Give me a hydrilla filled lake any day over one with no vegetation.

[@shellcrackerlover5889]

Really well put together film!

[@8hunnit40third2]

This is like hunting in a zoo

[@MinxFox]

I just recently learned about this place and have been watching videos of Merritts Mill Pond. After seeing more current videos of the springs versus this video, I see that those biologists hard work really paid off. It is amazing how barren the spring bottom was back then and now in all the videos I see the vegetation is like an underwater jungle! What an awesome example of people helping the environment and it is truly wonderful to see a barren spring re-bound. Many springs I have visited were lacking a lot of vegetation. I can't wait to see this beautiful place in person!

[@nicholas3329]

I live on the pond and it has been an eco disaster. FWC has been doing everything imaginable to get rid of this vegetation beginning just a few years after this footage was filmed in 1990. Even as a child I remember this very drawdown. The fishing, beauty and accessibility of the pond has gone downhill ever since.

[@MinxFox]

@@nicholas3329 Oh wow so it worked a little too well then? I still want to make the trip to come see it and swim in the water. It must be a pretty place to live. My parents live on a bay but I’ve always wanted to live close to a spring because I love that crystal clear water. That is very unfortunate that the vegetation is taking over too much.

[@kennethmcdonald2987]

@@nicholas3329 It is the same up here on Lake Walter F George /Eufaula and Lake Seminole .The fishing has went downhill considerably since the vegetation has taken over .It is really not the same anymore and some of these plants are horrendous and alien looking not all of it is hydrilla and plain invasive weeds either .It looks similar to dead man mushrooms or other weird fungi and good lord does it stink to high heaven on these lakes trying to fish on them .It cannot be too healthy for fish or wildlife .The only place really left to fish is below the dam at Fort Gaines or in the river .My wife is a botanist and has no idea what this is but nothing she has ever encountered and believes the weird plants may be pollution related .The wildlife is suffering badly from it .The fish have awful sores and mutations .The birds are not showing up in the numbers they used to even up at Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge she does a lot of birdwatching up there and has noticed a big decrease in the number and species she sees up there during the different seasons she visits .She didn't notice more than the usual pollution from the paper mills heading downriver .She also thinks some of the weird plants could have been brought in from hurricanes .We did have an unusual event last year during hurricane season .We were invaded by swarms of honeybees , hummingbirds ,butterflies and moths .It was no big deal she is a beekeeper so is used to these guys ,and has several habitats for hummingbirds and the others .It was quite unusual to see so many large swarms of starving honeybees .She figures their hives might have been destroyed in the storm .They were never aggressive towards her when she put out nectar and water for them and they were everywhere most overwintered in our large storm damaged oaks leaving in early spring .We do have several bee trees in our woods already but last winter nearly every broken limb had a hive set up in it and plugged up for the winter .You could feel the trees vibrating from the bees in them .She is just glad she had friends at local nurseries ,garden clubs and fellow beekeepers who donated plants and helped plant them when eaten down by the caterpillars and helped keep feeders up for them and the hummers ,There is definitely something going on in this area concerning our environment . I was wondering if it was just us up here having major issues with our lakes but sadly it isn't just us .It has been a few years since we have went down there fishing for shellcracker and was not aware it had gotten so bad there .I hope that can get it back to normal soon .I think sometimes they do too much concerning nature and don't let it balance itself out .Good Luck with your issues down there .