Thread: Green River 8.75" Fish

I may voice something unpopular but here goes anyway. I was met in the parking lot at Holmes Bend, by a Game Warden doing creel surveys. They asked me what I had caught, numbers, sizes, etc. They also wanted input on the fish attractors installed, and my thoughts on what would improve the fishery at Green River Lake. My thoughts was increase the size limit from 9 inches to 10 inches and reduce the creek limits from 20 to 15. That’s my opinion and I know people will disagree. It’s ok to agree to disagree.

Originally Posted by Dock Shooter

I may voice something unpopular but here goes anyway. I was met in the parking lot at Holmes Bend, by a Game Warden doing creel surveys. They asked me what I had caught, numbers, sizes, etc. They also wanted input on the fish attractors installed, and my thoughts on what would improve the fishery at Green River Lake. My thoughts was increase the size limit from 9 inches to 10 inches and reduce the creek limits from 20 to 15. That’s my opinion and I know people will disagree. It’s ok to agree to disagree.

They did that on Taylorsville ... and you still catch mostly non-keeper sized fish.

As far as "fish attractors" in Green .... most of the ones I have marked (by manually writing them down off the KDFWR website & manually inputting them into my depth finder) are long gone. The "brushpiles" that have been placed by anglers or Ma Nature are still holding up and usually holding fish.

Just to be honest about the attractors .... I'm referring to the ones between Butler Creek & Holmes Bend. I've fished the ones around the State Campground & Emerald Isle Marina, but that was MANY years ago and I haven't been back there recently, so I don't know what their condition is these days.

Green definitely needs some help of some kind. The fish there are pretty thin.

I quit fishing green river for this very reason. Maybe it's just me, but I rarely catch a quality fish in that lake. I'd rather go to Herrington and catch 6 good ones than drive to green and catch 60 dinks. Just my opinion.

I have fished green since I was 5 years old. When I was a child there was no size limit on the fish and creel limit was 60 per person. If the fish was big enough to bite the hook it got kept. We would bring home 120 fish every trip. When I was in my 20's there was a 9" size limit and 30 per person creel limit. We would have to caught 100 fish to have 10 keepers on most days. Now i am 52 years old and for the pass several years if we catch 100 fish 60 or more fish are keeper size fish on most days. I ask my dad a while back about the size of the fish when I was a kid to now and he says the fish are a lot bigger now (as a whole) than they were then. The lake goes in cycles you will have 4 or 5 good years and the fishing will go down for 4 or 5 years. Think of all the floods we have had 3,4,5 years ago and what it did to the spawn. Those fish would have been keeper size fish now.

Originally Posted by Les Young

Green definitely needs some help of some kind. The fish there are pretty thin.

Depends on what lake's fish you're comparing them to, Les. They certainly don't measure equally with Cumberland fish of the same size, and no one expects them to IMHO.

I also think that if the KDFWR were to raise the size limit on Green to 10" keeper size ... it wouldn't take long before you'd hear grumbling about so many 9.75" fish, yada yada yada. (same scenario we've heard about Taylorsville)

If we keep raising the size limit and/or lowering the creel limit ... it won't be long before it won't be worth the effort or expense to even go fishing at our state lakes.

Pappy I wasn't comparing them to cumberland fish i was just making a general statement about how thin a 9" keeper is on green. Seems like when they get 10+ they start bulking up a little. They sure ain't thin because of a lack of food because greens sure not in short supply when it comes to shad for sure. Most of it maybe be because of a higher density of fish per acre compared to other lakes so less chance of getting fat like the other lakes fish.

My RV is set up at The Tackle Box Camp Ground near the state park at Green year round. I fish Green a lot. Also fish Taylorsville as it only about 40 minutes compared to the hour and half to Green. I will have to say that the quality of the keeper fish at Taylorsville appear to me to be thicker and just look healthier than the keepers at Green. Just my observation. There are good ones at Green too, and I have caught them but I am talking about overall.