Saw SOmthing Yesterday That Fires Me Up!

Yesterday Big Willie and I went fish'n. As I came into the bay I hit something with my lower unit. I stopped and looked back and saw a float. Went over and asked a buddy of mine if it was what I thought it was. He confirmed my fear. A DARN GILL NET!

What in the heck is the KDFW doing letting nets in the bays this time of year???!!!:mad: They caught a guy out here a couple years back with illegal nets! Now I'm not saying these nets are illegal. I realize commercial fishermen work hard and have to make a living too but... It is absolute ignorance to allow nets in the bays this time of year!

I call KDFW and check on if the nets should be in there right then. They told me that there was a special netting season that ran thru Mar. 31st. I said "do you realize these bays are full of crappie and bass right now?" He told me "we don't make the laws we just enforce'um." Or something to that effect.

I just went to a meeting in feb. of 2009, that the KDFW put on, that addressed the declining crappie populations in Ky and Barkley Lakes. They just had an artical in the local paper about poor crappie seasons ahead.

Makes me wonder what kinda idiots we got run'n this show. They'll tell ya "Oh these nets have to be a size that won't hurt the crappie." "They have to release all game fish." I told them at the meeting about me going over to commercial fisherman pulling nets to warn him about jigs hung in his nets and seeing the bottum of his boat coverd up with BIG crappie a couple of years ago. I asked the guy if he was keeping crappie. He said "no we gotta throw them back." And then tossed 1 over the side. I said "You need to throw them back before they die!" Paul Rister asked if I reported it. I said "you darn right I did." Ask anybody that was at that meeting. They'll back me up.

BS!!!!!!!!!! They can say what they want to. I've been around nets all my life and I know what gets caught in'um and they don't live after they get caught!!! :mad:

We need to raise some hell about this! Those nets need to be out of the bays by the last of Feb at the latest.

Call or Email Paul Rister (Ky fishers Biologist) and raise hell! I did! If we don't speak up it will keep going on!

What in the Heck are they think'n?!!! :mad:

One of those nets tears up my motor and I'm not gonna take it too well! That's just a side point to your more important point of fish populations. Allowing nets at the busiest time of year when the sport species are moving into the bays is the most absurd thing I've heard! I'd say one way to get things started is to circulate petitions at the various marinas and resorts in the coming weeks. Then someone can take them to the KDFW. Just a thought. I'm from IL but would support your efforts any way I can!

Here's Paul Rister's email adress.

[email protected]

saw some guys pulling up a net in duncan today

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Originally Posted by Lykins tr21

saw some guys pulling up a net in duncan today

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They're all over the darn lake!

I used to troll for sauger a lot on KY Lake. There was a bar just north of Blood River that was good but it had a hang-up that ate several of my baits over time. I thought it was a trotline since you could feel some give just before the line would break. I was in a sporting goods store in Murray one day and they had a display of a tangled gill net and over $600 worth of baits hung in it (this was when the average crankbait was less than 3 bucks). Seems somebody else had lost several baits to it so they took a chain and grappling hook and ripped the whole deal out of the lake.

I don't begrudge the commercial fishermen making a living but the late nets should not be allowed in bays.

I will send an e-mail ,and if there is anything else let me know .

I just sent my e-mail! Hope it helps.

I wish they would stop people from keeping crappie,during the spring time.

Only on certain parts of KY Lake.

They should stop people from keeping crappie, in places like blood river, big sandy, and big bear bay. [B]During the spring spawn[/B]

But only during the months of march, april, and possibly early may.

That would allow the crappie to spawn, and lay their eggs, without getting caught.

Or maybe just make a length reguirement or something.

I am a little dense. Never have seen crappie on the menu of a resturant in KY. Where do the crappie go? Cat food.

Curious

Chuck

There's a bad banana in every bunch.
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/a.../badbanana.jpg

While sauger fishing at the mouth of the Kentucy River a couple of weeks ago, we had a meeting with a BOY in a jon boat, over the loss of his gill net. He seemed to think that we, or one of the other 10 boats, had cut lose one of his nets that he had strung completly across the mouth of the river. After telling us what he was gonna do to whoever cut his net, I suggested he should take his buddy back to the bank, (because his buddy had'nt said anything,) I did'nt see why he should have to swim back because of him with his war eagle mouth overloading his hummingbird a**. After another boater explained how a barge crew had just picked up supplies from the ramp, and that was what happened to his net. Then he buzzed back to ramp, loaded up, and spun clear up to top. What a jerk ! :mad:

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Originally Posted by chuckauten

I am a little dense. Never have seen crappie on the menu of a resturant in KY. Where do the crappie go? Cat food.

Curious

Chuck

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Sposed to go back in the drink, dead or alive. I'd be tempted to keep a few for the skillet though. Wouldn't you?

Concerned Anglers

I appreciate your concerns, and would like to explain our reasons for our decision to allow commercial harvest of rough fish through March 31 and give you more detail concerning the fishermen’s affects on crappie numbers in the Kentucky and Barkley lakes.

There have been several studies that evaluated the potential catch of sportfish in gill nets. One particular study was actually conducted on Kentucky Lake in 1989. In this study, almost 39,000 feet of gill nets were examined. The results indicated that 63 crappie were caught, along with 9 black bass, a few bluegill, and striped bass. The most often caught sport fish was sauger. Of these nets, all sizes (bar mesh size) were considered; 3 inches to 6 inches. Of the crappie caught, 100% of them came from nets with a bar mesh that was 3 to 4 inches. At Kentucky Lake, most commercial anglers are using 5 to 6 inch nets since they are fishing for buffalo and paddlefish this time of the year. We have a regulation that limits the size of mesh they can use for this reason. If they set their net out and leave it over night, the minimum mesh they can use is 4 ½ inch. So, we are not disputing the fact that some crappies are caught and incidentally killed in the fishermen’s nets, but our data is clear that netting is not a major source of mortality to their populations. In fact, it is insignificant when factored into the total mortality rates of crappie in the two lakes.

Commercial gill netting in these lakes has been going on for decades, even when the crappie populations were thriving. As I indicated previously, we limit the size gear they can use explicitly to avoid the sport fish getting caught. We also limit their season (November to-March) to avoid angler conflicts; and have a regulation that limits the number of licenses (25) we sell to commercial anglers that fish at Kentucky and Barkley lakes. More than likely they are never all fishing at the same time, let alone in the same area. Additionally, we believe commercial anglers are helping improve the sport fishery. They are reducing the biomass of rough fish from the lakes. Without commercial fishing, the rough fish would have no predator, and their populations would multiply. Eventually too many rough fish could negatively impact the sport fishery. I have included a few photos of a recent commercial fisherman’s catch. These are Asian carp (bighead and silver carp). We occasionally ride along with commercial anglers to monitor their catch. These were caught just last week in Lake Barkley. Without the commercial fisherman, the Asian carp have the potential to devastate the lakes. This particular angler that we rode with the other day and his son had out 63 nets, which was about 11,025 feet. They caught 39 paddlefish, about 3,100 pounds of buffalo, a few common carp and gar, two striped bass, one largemouth bass and around 7,000 pounds of Asian carp. On average these carp weighed 20 pounds, but they had some as large as 70 pounds. The Asian carp are here in the lakes and we are observing their numbers increase each year. Right now the commercial anglers and the bow fisherman are the only ones that are taking them. I repeat, it is increasingly important that the Asian carps and other rough fish continue to be removed; especially the Asian carps. We have never needed the commercial fishermen more for this, because without their removal, the Asian carp will continue to increase in numbers until there will be no food for any sport fish in the lakes.



The decline in the crappie population is mainly caused by some poor year classes. This means conditions (usually water levels) were not ideal when spawning was occurring. Also, there is likely already an impact from the Asian carps since there are so many of them, and they eat the same food that young crappie and all young sport fish eat. There are also a few other environmental factors that affect crappie, but, I assure you that the decline is not due to gill nets. The nets can not be set after March, and crappie spawn mostly in mid April in these two lakes. So again, the netting is not decreasing spawning levels in the lakes.

We conduct sampling each spring and fall to evaluate the crappie populations at Kentucky and Barkley lakes. In the late 80’s, studies indicated a declining crappie population, thought to be due to drought conditions, and therefore we reduced the limit from 60 to 30. Once we observed a good year class (1989), to protect it, we implemented a 10-inch minimum length limit. The anglers liked this size limit so much that we have left it in place. In recent years we have been monitoring a declining population of crappie; therefore we reduced the limit to 20. To determine if we can help supplement these poor year classes, we plan to stock white crappie in Blood River and Little River for three years. Last fall was the first year of the stocking. We plan to evaluate these stockings and see if they help during the current crappie depression we are in. We are also observing more black crappie as compared to a decade ago. This change from a mostly white crappie fishery to black crappie is thought to be related to environmental changes (water clarity) in the lake, and has occurred throughout the crappie’s range.

One comment that was made regarded nets blocking the bays. The net mesh is big enough that crappie movement is not stopped, they should be able to pass through it, but could require that crappie swim over, under, or around the net. We did a telemetry study a few years ago with crappie. This study looked at the movement of crappie. We did this by placing transmitters in 60 crappie, and tracking their movement. One study was conducted in Blood River and the other in Sledd Creek at Kentucky Lake. At Blood River, none of the tagged crappie ever left the embayment. At Sledd Creek only a few crappie left the embayment. So the thought that nets might be blocking off crappie getting into these embayments is incorrect. Crappie rarely leave the embayments.

One comment was made that a commercial angler had several crappie and other sport fish lying in the bottom of his boat. I have explained how the nets rarely catch sport fish, but it is possible. If they had them in their boat, then it was illegal. The penalty if caught is fines, loss of gear, and loss of their commercial license. Commercial fishing is how most of these anglers make a living, so we believe that they would not risk their livelihood to keep a few crappie.

Another comment indicated that you hit a gill net with your boat prop. By regulation, the nets are supposed to be three feet under the water to avoid this conflict. So technically the net was illegal and should have been reported at that time. You should call 1-800-25ALERT.

I talked with one of our conservation officers on Thursday about these concerns of netting in Blood River. This officer was aware of the commercial anglers fishing there because he had checked them on multiple occasions the past few weeks. When he checked them they were completely legal; right mesh sizes, tagged gear, commercial licenses, no sport fish, nets 3 feet below the surface.

So again I appreciate you concerns, but rest assured we are closely monitoring these fisheries. The commercial anglers are needed to help reduce the numbers of rough fish in the lakes. We have set the regulations that should adequately control their fishing and catch. We understand that there will always be angler conflicts, and we will do our best to minimize what we can. However, these are public resources. The user conflicts are endless from the jet skis, to sport fishermen, to commercial anglers, and dock owners. The declining crappie populations are caused more by environmental affects and possibly the overabundance of invasive species such as the Asian carps. We will continue to work with the US Corp of Engineers and Tennessee Valley Authority on fluctuating water levels during the spring. But, they quickly remind us that these lakes were built for flood control, hydropower and navigation. We have set crappie regulations that should reduce overharvest. We are experimenting with stocking crappie to hopefully help supplement the populations when spawns are poor, and with the help of commercial fishermen, we hope to reduce the number of rough and exotic species in the lakes. I hope this clears up your issues about commercial fishing and its interaction with sport fish and other anglers.

If you wish to discuss these issues further, I will be glad to talk with you.

Thank you Mr. Rister for taking the time to reply.

Good report. Thanks for adressing our concerns about this fishery.

chuck

I gotta say those asian carp are a night mare for any water .