Aces over 8s
Well-known member
Bringing frogging to a whole nother meaning. Go get'em cowboy!
A lot of debris has washed up on the banks of Lake Okeecho-bee over the years. Residents are used to seeing demolished boats, garbage, dead crappie and even a few alligators. But what was found on the bank of the lake Monday afternoon following a severe thunderstorm has the fishing community buzzing.
Local resident Mario Rodri-guez drove over the dyke to Lock 7 to see what damage had oc-curred due to the afternoon thunderstorm.
"I went to the lake following the storm to see if any damage had occurred and saw what I thought was a shark at the edge of the water. I walked over for a better look and sure enough, it was a shark," he explained. "I called the newspaper right away but no one really believed me. I wouldn't have believed someone calling about a shark in the lake either."
Local Florida Fish & Wildlife Conversation Commission (FWC) officer Jason Godwin was contacted about the find. Officer Godwin explained that there had been reports in the past of sharks being spotted in Lake Okeecho-bee but that FWC has never got-ten pictures of any.
"Bull sharks can live for a while in fresh water. They swim in from the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lucie Canal or from the Caloosahatchee River," he said. "A lot of rain and run-ning water draws them into the canals. Then they follow the freshwater runoff into the lake. We see snook and tarpon out there all the time. I came across a large school of tarpon just last week."
According to local tackle shops, there have been sharks sighted at Port Mayaca. The St. Lucie Waterway runs from the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of Florida into Lake Okeechobee at Port Mayaca. The Caloosa-hatchee River runs from the Gulf of Mexico at Fort Myers on the west coast of Florida into Lake Okeechobee at Moore Haven.
Professional guide Captain. Dave Mahon of Port Charlotte has been fishing Lake Okeecho-bee since 1988.
"I've seen a number of mana-tees, snook, tarpons and schools of mullet while fishing the lake. The last time I saw a manatee was around the first of the year. It was eating hydrilla at the Monkey Box," he said. "I've caught a lot of snook, but I've never seen any type of shark."
Local professional bass guide Larry Wright has been fishing Lake Okeechobee for many years, but has never seen a shark in the lake.
"I see snook and tarpon all the time - they are common. But I've never seen a shark," said Mr. Wright.
The bull shark is found close to shore and is the only shark that can live for a short time in fresh water, frequenting estuar-ies, rivers and lakes. They have been found up to 1,750 miles up the Mississippi River in the United States and 2,500 miles up the Amazon River in Peru. It is the only shark that has been found in both fresh and salt wa-ter.
The bull is one of the most aggressive sharks in the world, third only to the tiger and the great white.
But, there are several ques-tions surrounding the Lake Okeechobee shark. No one can be sure how this shark actually got to where it was found on the shore of the lake. There is also a question as to exactly what type of shark it is.
Steve Gornak, fisheries biolo-gist for FWC, believes that it is not a bull shark, but a nurse shark.
"We've had this type of thing happen before. It was probably brought over from the coast and dumped by the lake," he stated.
Until the questions are an-swered and the mystery is solved, it will remain the Lake Okeecho-bee shark.
A lot of debris has washed up on the banks of Lake Okeecho-bee over the years. Residents are used to seeing demolished boats, garbage, dead crappie and even a few alligators. But what was found on the bank of the lake Monday afternoon following a severe thunderstorm has the fishing community buzzing.
Local resident Mario Rodri-guez drove over the dyke to Lock 7 to see what damage had oc-curred due to the afternoon thunderstorm.
"I went to the lake following the storm to see if any damage had occurred and saw what I thought was a shark at the edge of the water. I walked over for a better look and sure enough, it was a shark," he explained. "I called the newspaper right away but no one really believed me. I wouldn't have believed someone calling about a shark in the lake either."
Local Florida Fish & Wildlife Conversation Commission (FWC) officer Jason Godwin was contacted about the find. Officer Godwin explained that there had been reports in the past of sharks being spotted in Lake Okeecho-bee but that FWC has never got-ten pictures of any.
"Bull sharks can live for a while in fresh water. They swim in from the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lucie Canal or from the Caloosahatchee River," he said. "A lot of rain and run-ning water draws them into the canals. Then they follow the freshwater runoff into the lake. We see snook and tarpon out there all the time. I came across a large school of tarpon just last week."
According to local tackle shops, there have been sharks sighted at Port Mayaca. The St. Lucie Waterway runs from the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of Florida into Lake Okeechobee at Port Mayaca. The Caloosa-hatchee River runs from the Gulf of Mexico at Fort Myers on the west coast of Florida into Lake Okeechobee at Moore Haven.
Professional guide Captain. Dave Mahon of Port Charlotte has been fishing Lake Okeecho-bee since 1988.
"I've seen a number of mana-tees, snook, tarpons and schools of mullet while fishing the lake. The last time I saw a manatee was around the first of the year. It was eating hydrilla at the Monkey Box," he said. "I've caught a lot of snook, but I've never seen any type of shark."
Local professional bass guide Larry Wright has been fishing Lake Okeechobee for many years, but has never seen a shark in the lake.
"I see snook and tarpon all the time - they are common. But I've never seen a shark," said Mr. Wright.
The bull shark is found close to shore and is the only shark that can live for a short time in fresh water, frequenting estuar-ies, rivers and lakes. They have been found up to 1,750 miles up the Mississippi River in the United States and 2,500 miles up the Amazon River in Peru. It is the only shark that has been found in both fresh and salt wa-ter.
The bull is one of the most aggressive sharks in the world, third only to the tiger and the great white.
But, there are several ques-tions surrounding the Lake Okeechobee shark. No one can be sure how this shark actually got to where it was found on the shore of the lake. There is also a question as to exactly what type of shark it is.
Steve Gornak, fisheries biolo-gist for FWC, believes that it is not a bull shark, but a nurse shark.
"We've had this type of thing happen before. It was probably brought over from the coast and dumped by the lake," he stated.
Until the questions are an-swered and the mystery is solved, it will remain the Lake Okeecho-bee shark.
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