Sprayin’ & Prayin’ – Is Florida Bass fishing in a state of decline?

Happy Monday Spacefish!

This year, I’ve kicked off a bit of a personal project. I want to focus my bass fishing efforts on starting at the very top of the Kissimmee/Alligator Chain and working my way south in a slow, methodical crawl — eventually following the system all the way down to Lake Okeechobee.

I started that journey over Christmas break with a trip to Lake Mary Jane and Lake Hart. I’ll write a full report on that trip soon. It wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t lights-out either. But that trip — paired with a long-form YouTube interview I stumbled across a few days later — sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole.

And once you start looking closely at Florida’s bass fisheries, it’s hard to unsee some things.

When “Managed” Water Feels Lifeless

If you’ve spent enough time fishing Florida lakes and rivers, chances are you’ve pulled up to a favorite stretch only to find it freshly sprayed — brown, brittle, and looking more like the aftermath of a salad bar than prime bass habitat.

Aquatic plant management is one of the most debated topics in Florida fishing, and for good reason. On paper, spraying invasive vegetation like hydrilla or water hyacinth is meant to keep waterways navigable and usable. But the ripple effects don’t stop at the surface.

When large mats of vegetation are killed all at once, that plant matter doesn’t disappear — it decays in place. As it breaks down, bacteria consume dissolved oxygen in the water column. In hot weather or low-light conditions, oxygen levels can drop fast, sometimes fast enough to stress fish or trigger localized fish kills. At the same time, the loss of healthy grass removes critical spawning cover, feeding areas, and ambush points bass rely on year-round.

Add decades of accumulated muck on the bottom, nutrients released during decay, and the potential for harmful algal blooms, and it’s easy to understand why anglers get frustrated.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission maintains that spraying is just one piece of an integrated management plan, working alongside mechanical harvesting, biological controls, and careful timing. The goal is balance — access, safety, and ecosystem health.

But on the water, many anglers can’t help but wonder if we’re managing plants right out of the fishery.

Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud

Let’s just say it plainly: Bass fishing in Florida isn’t what it used to be in a lot of places.

That doesn’t mean the state is “fished out.” It doesn’t mean you can’t still catch good fish. But across many of Florida’s most well-known lakes and rivers, the warning signs are getting harder to ignore.

The biggest issue is habitat — or more accurately, the steady loss of it.

Shoreline development, altered freshwater flows, prop scarring, and declining water quality have all chipped away at the vegetation bass need to spawn, feed, and survive. Nutrient runoff, pesticides, and urban growth keep systems under constant stress before a single lure ever hits the water.

Fishing pressure doesn’t help. Florida still carries its reputation as the Bass Fishing Capital of the World, and popular lakes see heavy pressure year-round. During the spawn especially, repeated targeting of the same fish takes a toll. Bass are resilient — but resilience has limits when pressure, pollution, and habitat loss all stack up at once.

Water management plays a role too. When natural water levels and seasonal flows are disrupted, bass lose access to shallow spawning areas at critical times of year. And then there’s spraying — the ongoing flashpoint. Many anglers believe herbicide use accelerates long-term habitat decline, while agencies argue it’s necessary to control invasive plants and maintain access.

Either way, the controversy highlights just how fragile these systems have become.

The results are showing up on the water: fewer quality bites, smaller average fish, and fewer true trophies coming from places that once produced them regularly. Legendary fisheries like the St. Johns River and parts of the Harris Chain have struggled in recent years, raising concerns among anglers and conservation groups alike.

Social Media Noise — and the Signal Beneath It

Spend a few minutes scrolling fishing social media and it won’t take long before the algorithm tells you what you should be mad about (thanks, Zuckerberg). Once you click on one post about spraying or water management, your feed turns into a nonstop loop of outraged anglers, blurry boat photos, and bold claims flying in every direction.

Most of it is noise.

But every now and then, something cuts through.

That’s how I came across Mighty River Recovery, a nonprofit made up of anglers and conservation-minded folks working to slow the decline of the St. Johns River. I watched a nearly hour-long interview on the @OpenWoods YouTube channel featuring Joe Balog, executive director of Mighty River Recovery, breaking down the decline of bass fishing in Florida. You can check out the video here:

For anglers who remember when the St. Johns was a true bass powerhouse, the current state of things is hard to swallow. Poor water quality and the disappearance of submerged grasses have taken a real toll.

That video hit especially close to home after a recent trip to fish for a Bass write-up.

When the Water Goes Quiet

The area had recently been treated with aquatic herbicides, and the change was impossible to miss. Healthy vegetation had turned brown and brittle, already sloughing off and sinking. The water carried a strange surface sheen. No bait flickering. No bass activity.

No life.

There weren’t dead fish floating, but the place felt empty — like the switch had been flipped off.

I didn’t know who carried out the spraying, but it didn’t take long to realize this wasn’t an isolated story. Scroll long enough and you’ll see anglers across Florida documenting spray boats, airboats, and even helicopters treating public waters. Many applications are ordered by agencies like FWC, water management districts, or the Army Corps of Engineers to control aggressive invasive plants.

To be fair, Florida waters are weed factories. Warm temperatures, nutrient-rich systems, and a long growing season mean vegetation grows fast and thick. Anyone who’s fished Kissimmee or Toho in the summer knows unmanaged grass can take over in a hurry.

Still, more anglers are questioning whether routine chemical spraying is the right long-term answer.

We’re told these herbicides are safe when applied properly — yet the applicators are often wearing full protective gear and respirators. That disconnect makes anglers uneasy, especially when treatments happen multiple times a year in waters they fish, boat, and sometimes live on.

Even setting chemical toxicity aside, the bigger concern may be what happens after the plants die.

Where the Grass Goes

Florida anglers have already seen what unchecked organic buildup can do. Lakes like Okeechobee and Apopka didn’t end up with feet of muck overnight.

Some organic matter is natural. Too much creates unstable systems — cloudy water, trapped nutrients, constant algae blooms.
When sprayed vegetation dies, it stays in the system. As it decomposes, oxygen drops. Nutrients rise. Algae blooms follow. Then those blooms die, pulling oxygen down even further.

Spray. Decay. Murky water. Fewer fish.

It’s a cycle many anglers recognize all too well.

Looking for Better Options

This is where groups like Mighty River Recovery stand out. Instead of just posting online, they’re funding independent testing of river sediments for commonly used herbicides — something no agency is currently doing. Their goal isn’t finger-pointing; it’s transparency and accountability.

At the same time, many anglers believe a more obvious solution deserves serious consideration: mechanical harvesting.

Harvesters physically remove vegetation, taking nutrients with it instead of leaving them behind to rot. FWC already uses them in some areas, but not at the scale many fishermen believe is necessary.

Would harvesting require more planning and effort? Absolutely. Would it need to be repeated? Probably. But it also avoids chemical inputs and reduces long-term muck buildup.

If given the choice between clearer water through harvesting or murky lakes after spraying, most bass anglers know which option they’d pick.

Some might even argue that certain invasive plants, when kept in check, provide valuable fish habitat and water filtration. That’s a deeper debate. What isn’t up for debate is the frustration anglers feel when productive water turns lifeless.

Florida bass fishing isn’t gone — but it is under pressure. And right now, too many anglers are watching the places they love slowly lose what made them special in the first place.

If Florida wants to stay the Bass Fishing Capital of the World, protecting the water has to matter just as much as catching what swims in it.