Photo By Dustin Senger | Bobby Carter, Blount Island Command engineer equipment manager, compares redfish...... read more read more
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Eight anglers spent a humid, partly cloudy afternoon reeling in hefty saltwater fish Oct. 3 from an unlikely spot—a stormwater drainage pond on Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island in Florida.
Nearly 37 inches of rainfall over the past three months, the wettest summer on record for Jacksonville, according to National Weather Service, had seemingly pumped life into the kidney-shaped, roadside pond on Blount Island.
Otherwise stocked with freshwater mosquito fish, it was teeming with saltwater species. The increased redfish, snook and mullet activity points to healthy environmental conditions where an outflow drains into Florida’s longest river, according to Taylor Comstock, Blount Island Command environmental protection specialist.
Located along the St. Johns River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean east of Jacksonville, the 1,100-acre Marine Corps facility is the hub of maritime prepositioning programs. Service members, government civilians and federal contractors stock U.S. Navy cargo ships, operated globally by Military Sealift Command.
“Stormwater ponds like this catch contaminants and pollutants from industrial activities,” said Comstock, explaining how the pond is a first line of defense for purifying the water that flows into the river. A low catch rate would prompt additional surveys and testing.
“We monitor this pond for heavy metals,” said Comstock, organizing eight packets of fishing licenses and waivers, then grabbing a measuring tape. When she announced the quarterly tournament’s official start, fish had already landed.
“This gives me a much better understanding of what’s in our pond,” said Comstock, looking for deformities while taking measurements. With a high catch rate of saltwater species, she considered how they arrived, why they thrived.
U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Brad Witherell of Slidell, Louisiana, had joined several quarterly tournaments since 2023. He grew up fishing south of New Orleans. It became a passion. Last year he caught a 36-inch snook, a popular sportfish in Florida.
Witherell circled the pond, noting changing wind directions. A turkey vulture circled above. An alligator peered from a bank below, as mullet jumped nearby. A bald eagle’s white head feathers were bouncing below a roosting perch. The raptor ate its catch.
“I prefer catch and release—catching is the fun part,” said Witherell, who puts as much care into releasing as he does the catch. He says it’s important to quickly land the fish, then get them back into the water, knowing when they may need resuscitation.
Bobby Carter, engineer equipment manager, landed a 29-inch redfish while winning this quarter’s event. The retired Marine Corps chief warrant officer 5 also won a tournament last year, his wife the year before that.
“Our competition is between me and him—we’re competitive with each other,” said Frances Carter, financial management analyst, after concurrently landing a redfish with her husband.
Comstock says the quarterly tournaments bring people together in a natural community, while showing the importance of maintaining clean stormwater practices.
| Date Taken: | 10.03.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.04.2024 16:36 |
| Story ID: | 482582 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | SLIDELL, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 115 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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