Home on the Reservoir

*Harvey McGuire pilots his fishing boat across the Rodman Reservoir on Saturday, December 28, 2024.*

Supporters of the Dam

The pre-morning sky was cloudy and bleak. On a clear day the horizon would have been a crimson line ready to explode. But on this drive there was no light from atop the bridge.

For the fourth time in a month, I found myself navigating the familiar route over the Eureka bridge to the Ocklawaha River. I had coordinated an opportunity to tour the Rodman Reservoir with a local resident, and though the weather wasn’t what I had hoped, I couldn’t pass it up.

I’ve been curious about the people who support the Rodman Dam. Through my research, I’ve found numerous articles and resources outlining the benefits of removing the dam and restoring the Ocklawaha River to its natural state. But not everybody agrees, and I wanted to learn why.

I arrived at the Ferry Boat Landing boat ramp outside the unincorporated town of Hog Valley 45 minutes before sunrise. I parked my truck and waited in the dark.

*My truck parked at the Ferry Boat Landing boat ramp during a recon mission one week before my trip with Harvey. A group of white ibises flies overhead.*

Kiss My Bass

A gray Nissan pickup truck towing a 16-foot fishing boat reversed beside me and then stopped. The driver rolled down the window. He was wearing a brown camouflage shirt and a hat that read, “Kiss My BASS.”

“Matt?” he asked. I confirmed, and then he said, “Harvey. Nice to meet you.”

I was given Harvey’s contact information a few weeks prior by local bass guide Sean Rush. Of the multiple people I emailed, Rush was the only to respond. He said I couldn’t accompany him on a fishing trip due to the nature of his private charter business, but that he was happy to answer any questions I had. I asked if he knew anybody who wouldn’t mind taking me onto the reservoir, and he gave me Harvey McGuire’s phone number.

After a brief introduction, Harvey and I boarded his boat. We spent the next two hours touring the reservoir, driving through the original Ocklawaha River channel, the Cross Florida Barge Canal, and some of Harvey’s favorite fishing holes.

Harvey took me past the few houses visible from the reservoir and told me about the residents who live in them – an airboat repairman, a woman who serves on the board of Save the Rodman Reservoir, a retired exterminator.

At one point in the tour Harvey stopped the boat and paused to look around.

“Just look at this,” he said, stretching his arms wide as if to encompass everything around him. “This is just beautiful, isn’t it? … I wanted to be here. And we came. We made it happen.”

Seven years ago Harvey and his wife sold their tree trimming business in Lakeland, Florida, and moved to the Rodman Reservoir in pursuit of a simpler life. Though mostly retired now, Harvey supplements his income through an Airbnb rental called “Camp My Way,” which is located on the reservoir. He also owns a small shiner business, McGuire’s Mobile Bait, where he supplies live shiner to local bait shops for $1.25 apiece. Harvey catches his shiner from the reservoir and says they are the preferred bait choice of serious bass anglers.

In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Harvey serves on the board of Save the Rodman Reservoir, a non-profit organization dedicated to “preventing the destruction of Rodman Reservoir by educating the public in just how great an aquatic wildlife area Rodman is,” according to the website. Each year the organization hosts a bass fishing tournament, and the proceeds are used to pay lawyers who fight to keep the Rodman Reservoir.

Harvey wasn’t shy about his opinions and political views, and I appreciated his openness and candor. He said he thinks the country should be run like a business and not a charity, and that he supports Gov. Ron DeSantis and President-elect Donald Trump. He even has a white bulldog named Trump that he found as a puppy during a campaign rally eight years ago.

When asked about his position on the Rodman Reservoir controversy, Harvey repeated the phrase, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Like others in favor of keeping the reservoir, Harvey says that despite the initial destruction caused by the Cross Florida Barge Canal project, nature has since adapted and created a new and thriving ecosystem; and that to ruin the new ecosystem in favor of restoring the Ocklawaha River would only cause further unnecessary damage.

The Rodman Reservoir, famous for its largemouth bass, is considered one of the top areas in the country for producing trophy fish. In 2000, a man from Virginia caught a 17.23 pound largemouth bass, which came just shy of the state record of 17.27 pounds set in 1986. “I’m telling you,” said Harvey, “even the five-pounders will fight you all the way to the boat. They’re healthy in this lake.”

The reservoir is also home to a diverse bird population, and throughout the morning we saw multiple bald eagles perched in drowned cypress trees. Harvey explained that because bald eagles prefer large bodies of water, they wouldn’t exist in such numbers if the reservoir were drained.

As we drove around, I couldn’t deny the beauty surrounding the reservoir. The clouds that had previously covered the morning sky began to break, and something about those enormous bald eagles made me want to return at a later date with my kayak and a long camera lens.

But I also couldn’t forget the fact that the reservoir is a human-made creation — a side effect of a decades-old failed public works project — and that just below its surface surged a wild and ancient river. I wondered how the Ocklawaha River valley would look were nature truly allowed to take it back.

*Looking south, the Cross Florida Barge Canal cuts down the center of the Rodman Reservoir. The natural Ocklawaha River channel can be seen in the upper left snaking along the edge of the reservoir.*

Stories of the Ocklawaha

I’m grateful to Harvey for taking me on his boat and sharing his perspective.

As he picked a piece of trash off the ground following our adventure, he told me it saddened him to think of the reservoir being drained. This is where he and his wife made a home. Breaching the dam and draining the reservoir would likely reduce his property value and his ability to earn income through his businesses. He told me that if the reservoir were ever drained, he would remain in his house and accept a longer walk to the water.

Harvey McGuire does not represent the experience of every person living on the Rodman Reservoir, nor does he represent the opinion of every person in favor of the dam. There are many stories to tell, many perspectives to capture. But it was important to me to physically go out and talk to somebody rather than just reading about it or making assumptions.

The truth is, I don’t know where this project is going. My original goal was to stay objective and to tell stories of the Ocklawaha River from every possible angle. But I’m finding that as my own story begins to weave and intertwine with the project, staying objective is more difficult than originally thought. I can empathize with Harvey’s situation — if I bought a home on the reservoir, I too would want to protect my investment. But I also can’t help but question whether an artificial bass sanctuary is worth the price of our continued impact on the Ocklawaha River and surrounding environment.

Like the river, this project is meandering, ever-changing, the current pushing it around a new bend with each story I write.

If you or somebody you know has a story of the Ocklawaha River, and if you or they are open to sharing that story as part of this project, please contact me here.