BellalagoSM Resident Anglers are Hooked on Fishing
March 09, 2010
KISSIMMEE, FL---Almost any day of the week it wouldn’t be surprising to find Gone Fishing signs hanging on the front doors of Dale Shinavar and Walter Dimick’s homes in the lakefront community of BellalagoSM.Even though the gated residential community being developed by Avatar® Properties Inc. has 1.2 miles of shoreline on Lake Tohopekaliga (Toho), world-famous for its trophy bass, Shinavar and Dimick spend a lot of their time fishing for “the big ones” right at home.
Members of the BellalagoSM Fishing Club, Shinavar, Dimick and their fellow anglers have been landing trophy bass upwards of 10 pounds in the community’s 300-acre Lake Bellalago and 11 smaller ponds and interconnecting waterways, none of which are linked to Lake Toho.
“There are a great many outstanding bass fishing lakes in Central Florida, but this is truly a fisherman’s paradise. Fishing and boating are an integral part of the lifestyle here,” said Shinavar, an Illinois native and president of the BellalagoSM Fishing Club which has been stocking Bellalago’sSM lake and ponds with bass caught in Lake Toho for the past five-plus years.
Bellalago℠ anglers really have the best of both worlds; a world-famous trophy bass lake (Toho) right next door that can be reached easily via the community’s boat ramp and state-of-the-art boat lift, and Bellalgo’s℠ well-stocked lake and ponds. In fact, the fishing is so good at BellalagoSM that Shinavar and his fellow club anglers have started having fishing tournaments right at home.
Because fishing at home and on Lake Toho is an angler’s dream come true, Dimick considers BellalagoSM his paradise. “We’re in heaven here,” said the native New Jerseyan and avid angler whose home sports a front doormat that reads Welcome to My Paradise. “When we (wife Jayne and I) discovered BellalagoSM was on a bass fishing lake (Toho) it was a no-brainer. Now the trophy bass are right in our back yard.”
Fishing in BellalagoSM is strictly catch and release. “Catching big fish and releasing fish to be caught another day is all a part of the fishing experience,” said Shinavar, noting club members use typical bass baits such as soft plastics (frogs, worms, etc.), crankbaits and spinnerbaits on 10-20-pound test line.
“We don’t use live bait because the fish tend to swallow it, making safe release much more difficult.”
The BellalagoSM Fishing Club is as concerned about catching “the big one” as it is about working with Avatar® to conserve Bellalago’sSM environment and improve the community’s fishing habitats.
“Avatar® has been very helpful and amenable to what we’re doing to make everyone environmentally conscious about our lakes and ponds and the things we can do to prolong the life of the fish, as well as improving water conditions and our quality of life,” said Shinavar.
Toward that end, the club has created brush piles and added other submerged cover to provide additional habitats in which the baby fish can hide. Natural vegetation also serves as habitat for small fish and helps keep the water clean and filtered.
To keep vegetation such as the fast-growing, invasive aquatic weed hydrilla from choking out Bellalago’sSM lakes and ponds, the club worked with Avatar® to introduce 700 sterile carp to eat the weed that is on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s most wanted list. If left unmanaged, hydrilla can interfere with boating, harm fish populations, cause flooding during heavy rains, and affect the overall health of an ecosystem.
“We’re looking to increase our permit for additional carp both here and in the lakes and ponds at the Isles of BellalagoSM,” said John Corners, Avatar’s® vice president administration and lifestyles. To keep the carp under control, he said they are only introduced in lakes and ponds with hydrilla problems that have been screened off with netting from adjoining bodies of water.
Located on Pleasant Hill Road, five miles south of Highway 17-92, BellalagoSM features Club Vialago, a multi-million dollar amenity complex; Bellalago Academy, a unique K-8 charter school; and the Village Shops at Bellalago which is anchored by a Publix supermarket and includes retail shops, banks and several restaurants. To learn more, call (866) 372-3055 or (800) 249-9045, or log onto MyBellalago.com or AvatarHomes.com.
