And the trophy fish which helped to make Dead Lake famous were in noticeable decline. By the 1980s the locals decided they wanted their fish back. And eventually they voted, over fierce objections from lakefront property owners, to undo the dam. It began to come down in 1987 - one long strip of interlocking sheet metal at a time. The demise of the dam left winners and losers, just like building it did.
Many local fishermen count themselves among the former.
Bill Camp says he can even taste the difference. I'd skin it rather than just scale it. It's true, area anglers say, that bass and bream don't offer themselves to fishermen at the bridge like they did before. But out among the cypress, they say, they're getting more bites from bigger fish. The Dead Lakes is a natural for sports fishing, Hasty says.