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Was wondering if anyone else was aware of the ( vegetation control) that is reaking havoc on the fish in Lake Eufaula? The corps keeps spaying and the fish keep dying. I have fished there a lot in the past few years and have seen a MAJOR drop off in the past 2 years.
I bass fish also and when you have a 25 boat field and 8 lbs wins there is a major problem. :mad:
Got some more info yesterday, this was second hand , from a wildlife agent . There have been reports of large groups of shad and bream sick and dying on the lake. aparently the shad/bream are sick from the spray and the game fish are eating them and in return getting sick or dying.
Also heard a biologist was at one of the bass tourneys taking the sick/dead fish and those with sores on them.
Maby this is the wrong site to make this post since I used the word bass but this problem will effect ALL fish.
Anyone else heard anything on this, or at all interested?
Thanks Dray81. That's my hometown, so yeah, I'm interested. When I was growing up, we always had big shad die offs. This sounds like its affecting the other fish as well. Keep posting. I haven't fished that lake in years, but it is still my hometown.
It is an ongoing war. I was deep into this for years on Lake Guntersville. My brother had guided and fished on Eufala for years, and has done well in a lot of Ts there. He also loves to crappie fish. He is really concerned (and not real happy) about the excessive spraying. A lot of people don't know it, but grass is great for crappie also. It supports the entire eco-system. It's not just by coincidence that fish get sick and die after long spraying campaigns, and don't let them tell you it's "LMBV" or some other virus. If it is, then we know where it came from... Getting a group together and involved is difficult, but as we proved on Guntersville, it can make a difference.
From what I can gather the corps " doesnt really care about fishing, Eufaula is a navigatable waterway." When is the last time anyone saw a barge on the lake? We started noticing the effects last year and just this spring came to the conclusion that it was the spraying. The bass catches are off bad and a conservation officer told my fishing partner that there were large numbers of shad, bream, and bass that died over the winter and spring. We caught fish last year that were very poor and flat out STUNK..... I had 1 bass that was over 18 inches and weighed a whopping 1.8 lbs. A co-worker crappie fishes a good deal and said ilt was tough this year for him. 2 years ago if you did not have 20+ you wouldn't place now 10 - 14 is a good day. This isn't just coming fron a scrub like me, I know GOOD fishermen that are noticing the same thing. Guess I need to spend all my time and MONEY around Seminole from now on. Hope everyone has a happy Memorial day and maby nobody will get sick @ eufaula this weekend. They sprayed all week............
Are they spraying the main lake or up the river too? I haven't been over there since March. We have seen good catches and good weights the last 3 years. I mainly fish from Hwy 82 and North up river. Grass does help all the fish and I hate to hear of chemicals being used to kill anything on the river or lake. Sometimes a pain in the arse to fish it, but the whole food chain benefits from grass. Many lakes are struggling from lack of aquatic growth and the lower levels of the food chain that live in the grass are absent from those lakes. Not to mention, giving the young fry a chance to survive to 1 year + age groups.
A buddy of mine was up there all last week. He actually talked to the guys in one of the spray boats, he told me they were spraying all the way to Florence marina. They are using air boats so they can get into skinny water like the back of the witches ditch. I also heard they are using the pellets that disolve over time to poison the grass/hydrilla.
Seems to me that the Eufaula chamber of commerce would try to help out with this. Fishing is probably the biggest money maker in the county. A guy from one of the local stores told me that the FLW said they would not be back due to the low fish catches in this years event. Think that will hurt???????
I have yet to find enough grass in Eufala to hang a crank bait on , and certainly not in the river( barge) channel. Where is all this grass located ? I wish that I could find Hydrilla in harding and West Point. That would be great for the fishery. The Biologist is afraid that it will get out of hand . I have see what it does to the shallow lakes in Fla. , but they keep it under control and the fishing is great.
First off, thank you so much for your concern and for starting this thread. As I've stated in the past, this is a serious problem everywhere. I've fought this at Guntersville and kept the fight going several times, but in the end big money usually wins. And, by the way, they are spraying again in Roseberry at G-ville, even out onto the river, I saw it yesterday as I was riding by in my boat, stopped and watched "spray boat 2" for about an hour. Finally, as I've said before, I'll just give you the short version, most of you know I'm in law enforcement now and have been for a long time. Used to be a sports editor for 11 years prior to that. I have fought this every time it comes up to try and get justice, sometimes going all the way to the very top people in the state of Alabama to try, and I say again, try, and do so. One thing now, is with the money cuts, you have to summit locally on most cases, then they finally will send it to Montgomery (if it gets that far), then if they deem it worthy they send it back locally on things like potential poisonings. By then a lot of damage has been done, or they just turn their back on it and say they are too busy with other concerns. And, by the way, if it happens on your property, you're responsible for it, say if someone dumps a truck of crap in your yard -- unless the offender can be caught in the act, you have to remove it at your cost or you can be liable. Good luck on trying to get rid of the stuff, as in trying to find someone or somewhere to take it, too. That my friends is the law, too. Anyway, on one of the last issues I was trying to help this man on (and all of us because it was polluting a major creek and a lake), I went all the way up to one of the top officials in the state, and when we got done talking, I said: "So, what you are saying is I should take my kids fishing, and take them today!" His reply was: "Yes."
TVA can do what ever they want any time they want to any one they want too.Just shows us we have know say so when it comes to our environment and what what we eat.The hypocrisy of man kind goes beyond belief I can not spray round up without a special license which you need a college degree to get but you can poison our water ways in lakes that supply drinking water for us all lmao
I think the only way that anything will be done is when there is a negative economic impact that can be tied into the spraying. Or (God forbid) someone gets sick and dies from it. I know of 2 people that were told "dont eat any fish from Eufaula" by a conservation officer.
They are also trying to implement changes to the regulations on the landowners who's property is lakefront.
It is truly amazing how many people are so smart they are dumb. No matter what your eyes see happening it is not really happening because the book says it can't or won't. I was never a big Eufaula fisher untill about 10 years ago and I really started learning the lake and enjoying fishing it. I just hope it is not totally ruined before they leave it alone and let the lake recover.
Foul hook, their was a good amount of hydrilla scatterd about the lake untill about 2 years ago I had a spot I caght fish every trip,till the hydrilla was gone. Now nothing in 2 yearsfrom that spot. They are spraying all the vegitation growing along the banks. They killed everything within 20 yards or so of the water around the rip rap at lakepoint last year.
I don' know the answer but I , along with others, see the problem........
Also what about the ducks and other species that feed on aquatic growth, how will this effect them?
That is an excellent point Blackhawk. In fact, there are laws protecting bald eagles which live in the area where spraying is done at Guntersville Lake. And, laws protecting waterfowl. I really think if it went to a court case and somebody had the time and money to take it all the way to the Supreme Court, it would get pretty wild. Not a big fan of a lot of what PETA does, but they would have a field day with this. You get a lot of bull from both sides on what the poison does, but the fact is - it kills. And, even the studies at Auburn prove that bass leave immediately out of the areas that are sprayed. Kind of tells you something there, too.
Just saw this article on the weed control on Eufaula and other lakes.
To weed or not to weed--a little vegetation can be a good thing in a bass lake | al.com
I started fishing Eufaula over 40 years ago. However, I stopped fishing there back in the 80's when Atlanta 'accidently' dumped 1+ million gallons of raw sewage into the river several times. I mostly fished Oconee, which was fairly new then, and Sinclair after that and caught lots of fish but started back fishing Eufaula 5 or 6 years ago. I've always enjoyed fishing Eufaula and know it from end to end but thanks to the Corps, DNR or whoever I have no intention of ever putting my boat in there again. No more of my dollars in Eufaula's economy.
Perhaps someone can at least tell us fishermen what the bass/crappie fry that always hang around the weed beds for cover every April are supposed to do now.
I got some info this week that the EPA was at Eufaula testing the water. Seems that some people have been getting sick after trips to the lake and a friend told me they were going to test the water up there and possibly close the lake.
I am not sure how accurate this is but I have heard a lot of bad things lately.:(
Anyone else hearing anything?
Not good. For anyone or anything. People messing with mother nature again.