New laws on KY and Barkley Lakes?
Hey guys. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. I have heard that KDFW was thinking of implenting a new law on KY and Barkley lakes that would close off the back of the major bays (Sledd, JC, Big Bear, Eddy Creek, Little River etc.) during the spawn:eek:. I have asked around can't verify it. Just wondering if anybody has heard about this.
Haven't heard any such rumor ....
but, I don't think it'd go over real good with the local fishing business people. KDFWR has already dropped the daily creel limit to 20/person/day, while Tenn has kept their daily creel at 30/person/day. Placing the backs of major creeks & bays, off limits during the spawn, would only serve to push more people across the border ... IMHO.
Our one saving grace is that the KDFWR has "redefined" what a "Possession Limit" means. You can have a daily limit, times the number of people fishing, times the number of consecutive days spent fishing ... as long as no more than one days limit per person is in your possession/camp & not cleaned. Once cleaned, they are considered as the sum total of your possession limit, divided by the number of anglers and the number of days spent fishing. That's a bit more lenient than some states, especially Ala ... which has a possession limit of 2days limit catch per person, that can be transported across the state line, regardless of how many consecutive days you've fished.
The only reason I can think of, where putting spawning areas off limits would be of a benefit ... is that the KDFWR wouldn't have to consider stocking these lakes. With the economy being what it is, for now, however ... I don't see limiting the areas we can fish as being a positive venture. There may be few enough people that can afford to fish these lakes, without limiting where they can try their luck.
... cp :cool:
Maybe pressure is the problem not the regs
Is all of this due to the crappie populations in Kentucky lake? We went down there once a year the last three or four years, and in the spring it is the most crowded lake for crappie fisherman. We use to cross the bridge over Jonathan Creek and laugh at the number of boats you could see around the bridge. One time it seemed like you could walk from one bank to the next by walking across the boats. I always wondered how there could be any fish in this lake with the big spring crowds. I guess the pressure has finally caught up with the populations.
Point being, we would stay for three days and keep around 40-50 good fish over a three day period between three people (back when the limits were 30 daily and 60 possession). People staying in rooms around us would keep anything that really looked big enough to eat. A couple of guys next to us were bragging how they were down the week before and took home 400, and they had caught around 250 that week. If people would practice better fishing habits and get out of the mentality "If its big enough to get on the hook then its big enough to go in the cooler" these regulations would not be necessary. I know guys that have had the same crappie filets in their freezer for years.
Sorry,
Just my 2 cents
New possession limit explanation
I read on the KDFW website or in the Ky. Afield mag. (don't remember which) this explanation. The creel is your daily limit. The possesion limit is the number of uncleaned fish you have in your possession. If you are on an extended trip (say 5 days at Ky. Lake) you can have 200 filets (100 fish) in your possesion. I am positive I read this from official KDF litrature because I was always cloudy on the subject. I clean my fish daily, so the possession limit does'nt effect me.