LEESBURG, Fla. – Austin Sawchuk was prepared to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of his Haines Creek fishing charter at the beginning of May.
But the water level in the creek he uses for his Monster Bass Fishing Charter is down about 4 feet in some stretches, and other areas barely have a foot of water to sustain the 18-inch draft of his 24-foot Tritoon Pontoon boat. It now fights to navigate water thick with mud and plants.
The quiet waterway still shows evidence of its past glory. Water oaks slowly lean into the river without water to keep its soil firm against the bank. Dark waterlines mark a bridge’s supporting beams where the levels used to hold steady. Locals still take their boats out, trying their luck at catching largemouth bass.
Hydrilla, an invasive aquatic plant species, has taken over the water, and as temperatures rise each day, it gets harder for the 37-year-old captain to find fish in the creek where he has navigated for over a decade. The announcement of the indefinite closure of the Burrell Lock, a lock that separates Haines Creek from Lake Eustis, was the last straw for Sawchuk…