Columbus lock and dam

[rboren]

I used to go to Columbus and fish a couple times a year back 10 years ago or so. It was a pretty good lake back then. However my friend,who lived there moved off and have not been fishing there since. Now all I hear about it is how bad it is. What happened during this time that changed the lake? I have never really heard anyone say and had not seen it on here. Although I don't check in the bass clubs much,I have looked in from time to time. Any opinions?

[jigflipr76]

I haven't been there in 6 or 7 years but was fishing there when it started the downturn. In the early 2000's, it was really good over there. Now, most of the tournaments were won by guys locking down to the Aliceville pool, but you could pretty consistently catch 15-16 lbs on the Columbus pool.

When the fishing was really good over there, grass and Lilly pads were everywhere. All the creeks and cuts were full of grass and pads. The gravel pits also had grass scattered all over as well. Then the Corps of Engineers came in and started spraying. Of course they claimed it was just gonna be around the channels and running lanes, but you know how that story goes.

Hell, we had a place there on Columbus that we called the rabbit hole (yep called it that b/c of all the big swamp rabbits we saw in there) that you had to idle at least a half mile just to get to and we had one of their rigs come in on us one day that we were prefishing for a tournament and started spraying pads right in front us! That place never was the same and we caught a lot of fish in there.

I'm sure there will be someone along to tell us that spraying has nothing to do with affecting fish but in every case on any body of water that I've ever seen a massive spraying project the fishing afterwards is nowhere near as good as it was before.

[rboren]

I have seen what spraying looks like on Barnett. Pretty ugly sight! A local stick down there and I was fishing there and he told me that's what was happening to the pads along the river section of the lake. It looked like they just sprayed the edges of the Pearl. Since that lake is mainly used as drinking water,it looks like they would just leave it alone since PADS would be a natural water filter! That lake has a TEA colored water. From the road it just looks muddy. But once on it water is actually clear to a couple feet. Columbus used to look similar to me. I used to run up Tibee Creek and catch some really good fish. Wheeler lake suffered the same fate. When I was a teenager it was one of the nations best fishery's! It is better now but still is the worst of our chain of TN. River lakes. Makes me wonder who is doing the thinking on managing these lakes! A good question is: If spraying was suppose to be so great for Columbus,then why don't they spray Aliceville also? Barge traffic can keep their own lanes open. Vegetation is not going to stop a barge and Tug.,

[jigflipr76]

Well, to answer you question of who is making decisions for the lakes, that would be our geniuses in the guberment. And all you need to do is ask the Corps and they will tell you that they are all geniuses. I can also tell you from personal experience that they don't give a hoot in hell about fishermen. I grew up fishing Okatibbee lake just outside of Meridian. The Corps damn near ruined that lake several years ago from over-regulating the water level. Every time a little rain would come up, they would pull the plug on that sucker. The fishermen in the area, both bass and crappie fishermen, all signed a petition and contacted our Senators & Representatives, both at the state & federal level. It resulted in a meeting in which they told us that fishing was of no concern to them and that they could close the lake access at any time they deemed necessary. Funny thing they were all big duck hunters and the upper end of the lake was known as a great place for duck hunting when the water was down. Hmmm...

Now Barnett is a little bit of a different situation. It is run by the Pearl River Water Assoc. Pretty much all the decisions down here are made from money influence, namely big money folks that live on the lake. I used to sell tires to the PWRA and I saw several times when lake residents would be there raising hell about fishermen being around their docks, or there is some grass growing in the water along the shore behind their house, blah, blah, blah! They are actually some pretty goods folks at the PWRA but they go through a lot of hell in their jobs. The biggest thing that, in my opinion, would help Barnett is dredging. Many years ago when I started fishing "the Rez" there were cuts up the river that no longer exist because they have filled in. You are correct about the "Tea" color of the water. I have said for years, if Barnett was really managed correctly it would be one the best lakes in the whole nation.

[rboren]

Looks to me like fishermen,and I mean all kinds contribute a lot of economic stimulus to the area and they should think about that also! Oh well now we have Asian Carp that have made it into Pickwick! That could spell death to it also. a couple guy have been giving them hell,trying to catch and kill as many as possible. Maybe the cat fishermen will keep them in check. Also bow hunting is big on Pickwick. I have heard they are eatable. Maybe i will find out,but so far haven't caught any,a big school was caught right where I like to put in! Sucks

[jigflipr76]

I had heard that before we moved but had not seen any of them myself. I hate to hear that. Not gonna be good for the fishin up there.

[bass_prodigy75]

Most of the pads above 43 on Barnett are down this year from the high water all spring. A lot of the pad fields on the main lake have started to go into senescence right now so many are browning and beginning to die off. They have been doing maintenance management for aquatic vegetation on Barnett for some time now and in my opinion the population is pretty healthy, lots of shad and multiple 10+ lb fish have been caught not to mention a 30 lb bag this spring.

[g2072]

Barnett is good for about a month if the water isn't too muddy when the water temp is right. It is decent for another couple of months and then it is very mediocre to terrible the rest of the year. Check out the side bar in BassMaster magazine about the slot on Barnett. What they didn't factor in is that there is zero enforcement of the slot. The spraying program is a joke. Most of the statistics you read about are partner tournaments. If you put one angler in a boat and record what they weighed the real truth would be revealed. Until you get enforcement of the slot and some one trying to actually improve the fishery it will continue to be the same. I would be interested to know how many tickets have been written on Barnett this year for a short fish or over the limit. My guess is that it would be a very small number. Does anybody on this board know of one person who has received a ticket for having a short fish or for having too many fish in the boat.