Thread: Weiss Lake - What needs to be done to make it better ?

Surely there's a way to satisfy everyone's concerns here. I'm sure locals would prefer the masses of out of staters stay home, but what impact would that have on local economy? I'm sure many merchants rely on the fishermen from our of state. That being said, I've been to Weiss twice and have been checked once. That's pretty good if you ask me. It's no different at Kentucky lake. Lots of violations with no enforcement. Bottom line,most state agencies are stretched so thin due to budgets they don't have enough co's to be everywhere. Our F&W guys take care of hunting and boating. Guess where a lot of them are during the peak spawning time for crappie? You guessed it, targeting turkey hunters baiting. We are left with policing ourselves. I know some who catch limits, return for more limits just to boast they are some great guru fisherman. Others argue they don't fish but a few days a year vs someone who goes every day. They justify keeping over the limit or short fish this way. I say reduce the limit to 25 and 11" size limit. That way all your 10" fish get an extra year to spawn and the visitors will still travel and spend money to stimulate the local economy.

Pop,

I think a smaller limit would be great, If it is ENFORCED. The big problem with the lake is that it is and has been a destination for fisherman from all over the US. This is a two edged sword. The business people and the county need the revenue but the lake cannot continue to sustain itself without better management. A great model might be what is going on at Granada, MS. We must have state support for more enforcement for it to work, and then people will gripe about that #$@! Game Warden.

Originally Posted by travish10

I apologize to you Tarpon if I offended you but I was merely pointing out that I started coming to Weiss because of its claim of "Crappie Capitol of the World" and I think that a lot of out-of-staters probably did the same. I am not completely in disagreement with lowering limits but you should be careful what you wish for. It seems to me that eco-tourism is one of the primary revenues whether directly or indirectly. If eco-tourism slowed or God forbid stopped in this region what do you think would happen to the small businesses in the area? I am just saying that in this very fragile economic time, no one can afford to lose their job or livelihood. The ripple effect could be huge. Enforcement of the existing laws should be paramount.

No need to apologize to me travish10. If something is not done about Weiss lake the problem will take care of its self people will stop coming here to fish and a few years down the road it will get better again.

Don't forget the local fishing off their docks. I seen alot of short fish taken out of the lake. Kill the stripers and birds ( commorands ). Lake St. Clair in Mich. you aren't able to take any small mouth bass until June 15, so they can get their spawn in first. Not a bad idea! Business can not keep their buisness up without dollars coming in. Since the fishing has gotten so bad---no customers. Trickle down economics. Everybody has good ideas but whos going to take some actions.

Let's see, there's about 10 launch ramps on Weiss, have DNR checking boats as the anglers arrive starting in the afternoon, picking different ramps on diffrent days and anyone with over the limit gets licenses revoked for 5 yrs. Etc. Personally I don't think they should be checking limits at 10 am when you still have 8 hrs. of fishing left. Lower the creel to 15 or 20, makes no differences if you have 15 Bigguns or 15 littleluns, makes no differences if you catchem with 100 poles or 1 pole 15 fish is 15 fish. Good fshn to all.

Reduce the limit.

Increase the Size Limit.



What about Closing certain bays, and coves during the spawn ?


Close certain coves to fishing, during the spawn, this may help.


I wish they would do that here on Kentucky Lake.

This lake also gets a ton of attention from anglers across America.

So the fishing pressure is probably taking it's toll on the lake. IMO


I worry this will happen to many of our lakes in the near future. It's had a negative effect here on Kentucky Lake.IMO

After reading all the posts on this topic I feel the need to make some comments.
On the subject of raising out of state liscense fees: This would be a big hit to the local economy.
Lowering the creel limit: I think 15 is too low, some families will eat more than that in 1 meal. 25 is a good compromise.
Length Limit: Raising it to 11' or even 12" is a sound idea. I grew up fishing this lake since it was impounded and have watched up and down cycles over the past 40+ years. What sticks out to me most is when the lake comes out of the down cycle it doesn't reach the level where it started going down. The 10" size limit helped for several years, and now it has been abused for a long period.
Enforcement: Maybe the businesses and people that make their living on the lake could look into starting a fund to help with providing more enforcement officers on the lake if the State doesn't have the funds to suffeciently man the job.
On the subject of the spawns: I have watched the lake level fluctuate up and down over the years during the most critical part of the spawn. It is a known fact that when water levels are rising and falling the females will hold their eggs until the water stabilizes. There is not much that can be done about this considering that the water has to be held in Weiss and slowly released to keep from flooding the City of Gadsden down river.

There is no one solution to solving our problem. It will take a joint effort of everyone, including all the fishermen, to help the lake to rebound. It comes down to simple "ethics" of the people catching fish in the lake and being a responsible steward of the resources that God has given us on this planet.