Quote Originally Posted by TnT View Post
.....Just because the tournament trails will not be fishing there, those of us who fish there regularly will still be spending our money in Gadsden and the surrounding counties and probably be more likely to fish a little more without worrying about all the boat traffic from tournament fishermen.....
Tournaments only increased boat traffic on tournament weekend or immediately prior to the tournament. Most pre-fishing is done during the week or the weekends prior to. Yes there will still be folks traveling to Lake Talquin and spending money while there. There will also be many more that do not visit Gadsden County that spent more money in a couple weeks than most do by just traveling down on weekends or just for the day. There were folks from the North and West that would spend weeks and months there and using Talquin as a base for other lakes in FL and AL to fish also.

Quote Originally Posted by crappielimits View Post
......Talquin is still GREAT and has been way over pressured by tournaments. Tournament fishing has put a strain on our resource. I hope to see it be as it once was. Maybe they will consider drawdowns again too. We used to catch much bigger fish the first 3 years after a drawdown.

Tournament anglers do not over pressure any lake. Keep in mind, they are looking for the largest 7 crappie. The over pressure on Talquin has come from the folks that stay there for long periods of time and keep a limit in the morning and another in the afternoon. That trend goes on for days. The DNR was doing a study down at Talquin by picking up carcasses from cleaned crappie and they couldn't keep up with the amount being left daily in the coolers! That is pressure that will hurt any lake. I don't expect anyone to admit it happens, because they know who it is doing it. I have seen it, and voiced my disgust about it on the spot. Yes, draw downs would and have helped Talquin and other lakes recover quality fish of all species. Aquatic growth is improved from the draw downs as well.


I don't expect everyone to have a kind out look on tournament anglers. I just expect valid reasons for comments on why a lake is over pressured or has a declining crappie population.