What makes me mad

[jlawson435]

I remembered when I walked out on the piers before they became what they are today. You had to park and walk all the way oout. Then they made it a pier to enjoy. I have been comming to St pete since the 50's I remember Webb City, the Aquarium at St pete beach,Reddington Long pier where everyone could fish anywhere and people were friendly, Indian Rocks Fishing pier, and fishing right off the sidewalk in to Boca Cica Bay and catching large fish from the benches along the road. But what really pisses me off is that the State of Florida, the city of St Pertersburg, the city of St Pete Beach and The city of Tampa have done nothing to keep these places going. Seems in these Economic Times you would be doing everything you could to promote tourism to your state. Now that gas is 3.50 a gallon and will go higher seems the state would want as many people to come visit as they could. The Tampa and St Pete areas are one of the best places in the whole state and you have one of the best places to fish in all the state and it seems the state and the cities just said the hell with it let it fall down. There is a lot of money to be made out there and the state and the city have just thrown their hands up and given up. Why not come up with some new ideas to save the pier. How about a telethon, sell the bait house to a private company and then the would be respondable for the up keep and cleaning of the restrooms, they pay rent to the state for the building. There are thousands of ideas to come up with but the problem is you have non sportsmen in the offices that just don't care. It is a real shame to let another hall mark of the city to just close and fall down.

[LintTrap]

You totally hit the nail on the head with this one. It is a true shame. On the other hand, I love to fish so much that unless they shut it down I will be fishing there (unfortunately it seems its on its way to that spot).

[David from NC]

Well said. Only sportsmen can look through the proper lenses and see the potential and possibilities for the pier and facilities.

[gerard1031]

While I have to admit to being on the soapbox as well at times, I sometimes just take a step back and weigh the cost and condition of the pier against the alternative.

To get to that water, over those rocks I have either rent or buy a boat or buy a kayak....or inner tube out there. All of which wouldn't be as convenient as driving my truck out there to within 20 ft. of where I'm able to get bait, fish, clean the fish and relieve myself without touching anything! Even with the stupid lights not working, having a lantern or good flashlight would be equal to also trying to fish that area on a boat, and I don't have to worry about getting safely back to a boat ramp, trailering, cleaning and servicing the boat.

So it's all about the glass half full....and after all...where else can you pay $12 for 24 hours of access right?

I'll go until that bridge crumbles into the bay!

Fish on!

[montylfl]

Gerard i hear ya about being passive and going with the flow. But if I have learn anything in the past two years is ..... we the people need to speak up if we want change. We do not have to be the majority. We just need to believe in what we do and stand for what we believe and being willing to fight for it.

The TEA party..... They got out and fought. They will be making change. I can see it already.

People in Egypt..... Making change by standing up

Tunsia.... Making change

Libya....... making change

Boy even in 2009 people in IRAN. try to make a change.

Wisc.... Govermnet and now the people are making a change.

So stealing a quote from a movie..... I AM MADE AS HELL AND I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE.

You know what is really sad.... I am 46, my daughter is 16 ( has fished with me on the pier for 12 years) and I am afraid when she has kids in 10-15 yrs and I take them to fish there will be no where to fish.. So i think it is time we stop being pissed off and start pissing others off ( elected officals) and let them know how we feel

Now you may have your soapbox back

[gerard1031]

Monty, I wouldn't exactly say I am passive, I started out doing my share of emailing back and forth with the pier "management" almost got to a face to face with the manager, which she cancelled last minute. So I'm all for working toward change...but after a while....well let's just say I have firmly classified them into the types of managers I have encountered in different states "managing" post offices, "managing" motor vehicle departments, etc. They always view their job as an entitlement....and never as a service provider. (You know that crap wouldn't fly even if they were managing a Mickey D's.....really how long would a manager last if the bathrooms at at MD were in the state the pier crappers are in?)

Sad fact, and it made me kind of laugh, is I got that same exact excuse from them about the lights about a year ago that was posted in the "letter from the governor" which means...they just turned the letter over to them for their standard response of the winter and the traffic and the cherry picker...so more bureaucratic shenanigans that point out how low on the list of gov't priorities a fishing pier actually lies.

I know if I stop going to the piers...there's 25 others that are waiting to take my spot, and pay the entry fee (and to catch and keep all those illegal groupers!)

Now granted, I have been looking for alternatives and I am finding a few gems in the area...like that E.G. Simmons Park, $2 entry...plenty of places to park, fish....CLEAN BATHROOMS! In the few hours I was there Saturday morning, caught 1 flounder, 1 gator trout, 1 sheepshead, a ton of what I guess where silver trout, all little bitty things but fun, saw 5 manatees. Of course I may never get a keeper grouper bite out there, but had a fun time and didn't feel ripped off.

An even better deal is the Apollo Beach area, that park is free, no entry, CLEAN BATHROOMS, plenty of parking, a short walk to the beach area, lots of varieties to catch there as I reported in a separate thread, again don't know if the grouper would ever wander in there.

Another one is the Bradenton bridge, set up for fishing, a short walk from the parking area, CLEAN BATHROOMS, I caught a nice black seabass out there on cut bait, some whiting, a few rays, but still fun.

I any case...life is too short, there's tons of fishing opportunities, no worries about where to take the kids!