Thread: Fishing destinations changing ?

I went to Grenada today. Put in at 6:30. Stayed until the heat was just too much and we may have seen 10 boats total. I couldn’t believe it.

Saw plenty last Saturday at Sardis.


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It is hot but I remember summers where there was crowds at every C.O.E. lake . Lack of money likely the cause along with an aging population of fishermen . I tend to fish the state lakes more for redear but Folks do not seem as enthused about outdoor life as they were 20 years ago .

I agree with that. We were talking the other day about squirrel season starts in about 5 weeks. I remember when I was a kid how big of a deal squirrel camp was on opening weekend. I haven’t heard of a squirrel camp in 20 years at least.


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Personally I feel too much "Tweaking" of the big Lakes is going on all over Mississippi. Man Made disasters. I've noticed on Ross Barnett the people over destroying all the food source & spawning Habitat for Crappie are not fisherman. Kinda like the Budweiser debacle, people in charge don't know their patrons. Totally against Mother Nature's way, after seeing a little success a perception of "More is Better" takes place. They don't know when to quit. Ever since the quote "Hybrid Crappie" hit the scene all the Crappie fishing has been on a slow but steady decline. Its not Livescope doing it, it's Lake Management operating without their finger on the pulse of the lake.

A few small lakes have decent fishing like Oakatibbee where they constantly dump fish in boosting the population. Not natural in my book.

Originally Posted by Eagle 1

Seeing lots less folks on Enid / Sardis than in years past . Tenn./Tombigbee Waterway gaining popularity . Actually there seems to be a trend in my area (New Albany / Tupelo )to fish Alabama T.V.A. lakes to fill freezers . Is the 12 inch rule here to stay ? or will the legislature get cold feet ? Folks that have kept the roads hot since the early 2000 are not coming any longer . Thoughts ?

I haven’t been to any of the big coe lakes other than for a crappie.com gathering in years. It’s 40-60 miles more drive each way from here. Besides fuel, I’ve just got to where I hate driving.

The 12” thing. I’m not a local, and I usually feel that nobody asked me, so try to keep it zipped. But going to say, I think it is ridiculous. Last few times I fished Sardis years ago, was leaving trails of 11 1/2-12 inch fish floating on their sides, I think when it’s super hot, a lot of them don’t make it.
I’m just not going to do that.


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Originally Posted by Eagle 1

fish the state lakes .

I got burnt out on dealing with state lakes years ago. At that time, the fees were not consistent from lake to lake, and some of them high as cats back.
But the real gripe was that they come open the gates when they feel like it. Been sitting in the road at crack of dawn several times waiting on sleepy joe possumcop to come open the gate



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I can go way back. Sardis Oak Grove and John Kyle campgrounds had a few concrete tables, fire rings, no paved pad to park on. Just pull off the road and set up camp where you wanted. Some family or group sites were loaded with tents and lots of people everywhere. Come early morning and the sound of engines cranking mostly to get to a good place to fish. Come lunchtime and most were back with stringers filled. Crappie at that time had a 100 per person per day and no size limit. During my late teen years the limit went to 50. The crowd at the campgrounds reduced some. The campgrounds got paved sites during my early 20's. The north area of Kyle campground is where we liked since it was flat and we had young kids. Sites were first come and on weekends most were taken. Grass was cut short, maybe every other week. Now if it's cut, it's at the high setting. Crappie 10" limit 50 per day was started during my late 30's. The 12", 15 per day rule hasn't been enforced very long.
Pickwick lake was hard to fish, needed to know where the state lines were or have 2 or 3 licenses if you moved around a lot.
I can see why people are moving from the big 4. Fish half a day, catch 100 fish with a few keepers.
MS is getting hard to fish, having to keep up with size limits on the different waters. I think we are the only state that has so many different length limits.