Closing bays for spring spawn

**Slab Slayer** · 12-18-2010, 03:34 PM

I could not disagree any more about the number of poles that are being used as i live real close to the lake and i fish a lot and beleive me it does matter. These people are going out there at day light with 8 to 16 rods and catching a limit in the spring in an hour or two, then if not checked by a game warden they have people pick up the fish and then catch another limit in a couple of hours, put there boat on the trailer, go home and dress them, then go to another bay that evening and catch another limit. I have seen this happen and know that it goes on. If you reduce the rod number the limit will not be acheived as quick and will not stop all of this, but will cut down on it a whole lot as if you are fishing with 3 rods you will probably not catch the fish as quick as if you are fishing with 8 rods. I also understand that the problem is more on the enforcement side than it is on the number of rods, but it is a big lake and the reality of it is you would have to have a lot of game wardens to police it and that is not going to happen. I spider rig in the spring and there has been a lot of times that i have caught a limit of crappie in an hour or less and i put my boat on the trailer and go home, but you have to understand that there is a lot of people that will dress them and be back in another bay or if unchecked will be back in the same bay within another couple of hours.This may not work,but i would like to see the state of KY.go into each bay on the lake and tag a certain number of white female crappie and also a number of male crappie and if these crappie are caught with tags and not released and you get caught with them then instead of the 50 dollar fine you get a 5000 dollar fine and fishing license pulled for 5 years. If people abided by this then you would have a certain number of spawners in each bay and let mother nature take its course.

**BIGBADDAD** · 12-18-2010, 04:13 PM

7 posts and this is what u bring.....WHOA NELLY!

**Quackrstackr** · 12-18-2010, 09:07 PM

Maybe just limit the number of hours per week that people that live close to the lake can fish to 14...

**BIGBADDAD** · 12-18-2010, 10:36 PM

Originally Posted by Quackrstackr

Maybe just limit the number of hours per week that people that live close to the lake can fish to 14...

Is a half mile too close for 20? Who am I kiddin, I rarely get 20 LMAO!

**buffalo13** · 12-18-2010, 10:58 PM

Don't worry about the rod numbers just the fish numbers and size that is the problem. One rod or 20 rods doesn't matter, when you catch your limit go home and come back another day. Keep only what is legal and that will help.

**gabowman** · 12-19-2010, 12:42 AM

Not a part in all this...but after reading SOME of the posts in this topic it sounds obvious the problem isnt with your typical 12 mos. a year sportsmen, rather the spring timers wanting to fill coolers to fill freezers when the pickins are easy. These people arent your year round fishermen who enjoys the sport of catching. What will closing bays during the winter months do to curtail these activities of the spring timers? Just sounds to me the real problem needs to be addressed rather than closing parts of the lake off.

**justinp61** · 12-19-2010, 07:28 AM

The number of poles will make no difference, good fishermen will find and catch fish, one rod or ten.

**CrappiePappy** · 12-19-2010, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by bgcastreel

I hope you knew the guys who's boat you were circling.

Actually, Bgcast .... we didn't know them from Adam. Didn't matter ... we didn't encroach on their space, but stayed far enough away from them that our casts never got within 20ft of their boat/rods. We didn't cast "towards" their boat, anyway .... we were casting parallel to it. They came in "after" we had already established our "space" in the bay, and we acknowledged their right to be there by not saying anything to them. They were catching fish often enough, & fast enough, that they didn't pay much attention to us, anyway .... and we were catching them often/fast enough that we didn't have any problem with them being there, either.

The funny part of the story was that my partner & I had to go back to camp, shortly after we had arrived at the cove ... we'd forgotten the lunch cooler .. LOL !! When we got back, we asked our other two friends if they were catching any ... & they said "no, nothing much going on". Then I happened to notice that they already had two stringers hanging over the side of their boat !! I told them to pull up the stringers & show us what they had. When they did, they'd already caught about 10-12 apiece !!
The other boat had shown up during our absence, and was anchored. No biggie ... we weren't minner fishing, anyway, so we just eased around the bay & cast our RR's. They were fishing with cane poles/floats/minners ... and when a wave of Crappie would come thru, it was a Chinese Fire Drill ... with fish & floats & poles flying ever which a way. It was a cold & drizzly day, with air temps in the 30's ... and we were entertained by these guys wailing & flailing on these fish. LOL !! I think they were watching us, and when we would catch two or three real quick, they'd get into the "ready mode" ... knowing that a wave was coming thru. At the same time, we were watching them ... and when they started snatchin & yankin, we'd ease towards the back of the bay (between them & the creek coming in), knowing that the fish that had passed thru their "space" would be heading towards the back of the bay. Everybody was catching fish & having a blast ... so there was no reason for any animosity.

Here's the results of that day :

I'm pretty sure their stringers looked about the same ...

... cp

**Kicknbass** · 12-19-2010, 10:44 AM

I'm of the opinion that closing the bays is not the answer.

I am a guide on KY Lake www.kicknbass.net and fish about 275 days per year. A lot of my trips are crappie, especially in the spring. The fact is we have more fishermen on the lake now that are fishing for crappie and these fishermen are better than they used to be for a lot of reasons. I know that the clients I fish with become better anglers since they are exposed to new techniques and good fishing locations. It's no secret that these same clients return to these same spots to fish and others that don't hire a guide see where we fish too. No issues here, it's just the way it is. The end result is you have more anglers fishing for the same amount of fish and fish will succumb to fishing pressure. Crappie fishing was very good this year for Kick'n Bass but for us to be successful we've had to find new locations and hone our techniques.

If push comes to shove, rather than close the bays, I would hope that the KDFWR would look at alternatives. Some have mentioned a reduction in creel and size limit or a combination thereof rather than closing of the bays. I'm no biologist and certainly don't have all the answers but it seems that doing so would probably have a more profound affect on the population since it would be a lake-wide implementation.

I know the KDFWR wants what's best for the angler and resource and I'm sure their intent is good.

I'm trusting them on this one and if they make a change I'm hoping it will be the right one.

**acgriggs** · 12-19-2010, 05:08 PM

Hey Slab Slayer why make a new law when the ones that are in place are not enforced?

In my opinion the state should hire some new KDFWR officers and let them do nothing but patrol KY lake and Barkley Lake. If people started getting fined for short fish/too many then more people would start abiding by the law. I know that the fine is $50 a fish but do the fines increase for repeat offenders? Maybe they should. Do it just like the laws for illeagal hunting. I guarantee you that if a few boats were confiscated by the state that would get peoples attention.

Are the KDFWR boys the only ones who can write tickets for this? If so maybe they should look into letting water patrol or forest service in LBL. I can remember a time when during hunting season you had to stop at either the north or south welcome station in LBL if you got anything. Do it for fish.

Limiting poles will not help if the laws are not enforced. If you want to limit poles I want there to be a HP restriction cause all the guys with the 150hp plus motors get to the good fishing holes before I can!

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