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Fisheries of Tennessee and the TWRA

Headhunter

Headhunter

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Joined
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Tennessee
Unless something is done, in the future the fisheries, lakes and rivers, are being destroyed. You can go to most any lake or river, especially dams, most any day of the entire year and watch the illegal alien/immigrant population (yes there are some people who were born and raised here that are poachers also but by far, the illegal alien/immigrant population are the majority) not only catch fish, but keep every single fish they catch. I mean every single fish, limits of any kind mean nothing to them.

I am not a TWRA employee and this does not come from anyone associated with the TWRA, but the game wardens are overworked and underpaid and there are just NOT enough of them. Not even close! Maybe some of the pencil pushers need to have their pay reduced or be fired. It is sad when preserving our fisheries, one of the main things the TWRA is in existence for, is not even a consideration for them.

The blatant disregard for boating safety and boating laws by the illegal alien/immigrant population is also unbelievable to see.

I do not know if there is an answer, but if something is not done, it has already happened in many areas for different species of fish, but the fisheries will be destroyed. Not an if, but a matter of time.
 
Headhunter said:
Unless something is done, in the future the fisheries, lakes and rivers, are being destroyed.

I do not know if there is an answer, but if something is not done, it has already happened in many areas for different species of fish, but the fisheries will be destroyed. Not an if, but a matter of time.
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Man there's alot of good points in this, this conversation could be exanded into book i believe. Overall the destruction of Tennessee's fisheries has been in the works since the late 70's and early 80's. from my understanding it started when TWRA stocked alewife shad and hybrid striper's under Dave Bishop. My grandfather started an organization many years ago to try and reverse the damage but to no avail. to my knowledge the organization no longer exists. Alewives feed on gamefish beds and such, while the hybrid striper supposedly consumes it's weight daily in panfish. that combined with the amount of fishing pressure is a miracle the lakes haven't all already gone completely dead. If anyone here has any contradicting information plz share because im solely passing on information that i've heard from several sources over the years.
 
Headhunter said:
Unless something is done, in the future the fisheries, lakes and rivers, are being destroyed. You can go to most any lake or river, especially dams, most any day of the entire year and watch the illegal alien/immigrant population (yes there are some people who were born and raised here that are poachers also but by far, the illegal alien/immigrant population are the majority) not only catch fish, but keep every single fish they catch. I mean every single fish, limits of any kind mean nothing to them.

I am not a TWRA employee and this does not come from anyone associated with the TWRA, but the game wardens are overworked and underpaid and there are just NOT enough of them. Not even close! Maybe some of the pencil pushers need to have their pay reduced or be fired. It is sad when preserving our fisheries, one of the main things the TWRA is in existence for, is not even a consideration for them.

The blatant disregard for boating safety and boating laws by the illegal alien/immigrant population is also unbelievable to see.

I do not know if there is an answer, but if something is not done, it has already happened in many areas for different species of fish, but the fisheries will be destroyed. Not an if, but a matter of time.
Click to expand...
I like watching those game warden shows on tv. Those boys have a lot of trouble in Texas with immigrants without licenses and keeping over/under size fish.
 
I've heard other states have the same problem, and not just with fish. The culture that they come from have no concept of game laws/conservation or even trespassing laws. They are nomadic culture that will deplete the resources in one area and move on. Look at the Hmong population in he Minnesota area and the issues that sportsman there are having.
 
I watched this very thing happen last fall below Wilson dam. They were catching the heck out of 10-13" smallmouth and keeping every single one of them right there by the boat ramp.

Me and my fishing partner actually joked that it would be funny to see the game warden pull up and watch them scatter.
 
Chickencoop96 said:
Man there's alot of good points in this, this conversation could be exanded into book i believe. Overall the destruction of Tennessee's fisheries has been in the works since the late 70's and early 80's. from my understanding it started when TWRA stocked alewife shad and hybrid striper's under Dave Bishop. My grandfather started an organization many years ago to try and reverse the damage but to no avail. to my knowledge the organization no longer exists. Alewives feed on gamefish beds and such, while the hybrid striper supposedly consumes it's weight daily in panfish. that combined with the amount of fishing pressure is a miracle the lakes haven't all already gone completely dead. If anyone here has any contradicting information plz share because im solely passing on information that i've heard from several sources over the years.
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I don't know about alewives, but I feel the same about hybrids and stripers, they eat any fish they can. But what argues against that is the bluegill fishing, until the illegal/immigrant population destroys it, is awesome, when they go on bed I can catch a pile of nice bluegill on priest. The bass fishing has been good and is still decent and the crappie are still very catchable to some extent on Priest. If hybrids (moreso than stripers, I haven't seen many stripers in Priest in several years) actually damaged panfish or gamefish populations, Priest would have been done a long time ago, that lake is loaded with hybrids.
The illegal alien/immigrant population are destroying Priest and will continue to do so. They fish every single day, they keep every single fish they catch, especially if they think no one is watching them. Many do not care if they are being watched. If you see a 5 gallon bucket, every single fish they catch goes in it. I see them using cast nets all the time, whatever they net, they keep. There are places on Priest where I used to catch hybrids (midnight to 4 am) and you cannot fish those spots now, depending on the night, there are 20, 30, or more of the illegal alien/immigrant people lining the bank, wading, completely blocking the bank. They are there every single night, those fish are very catchable and at times they are all small, under 15" and they keep every fish they catch. There are boats that anchor, several of them and they will be there every single night. No way they are not keeping large numbers of fish and there is nothing being done, not one thing.

Some of it is ignorance, a lot of it is they don't care about laws, not one bit. Also, if they are selling much of what they catch, have been for years, since they are making money it will take some law enforcement to slow of stop them.

Really need a pile of additional game wardens to combat this and I mean as many as can be gotten. And they need to check everyone. A PSE archery pro staff member (or he was at one time) posted a picture on social media of him and his dad with over the limit of crappie, many looked to be short, and as far as I know not even a phone call was made. As much as I rant about the illegal alien/immigrant population, anyone who breaks the game laws needs to be prosecuted, ticketed, fined, etc.
 
West_Tn said:
I watched this very thing happen last fall below Wilson dam. They were catching the heck out of 10-13" smallmouth and keeping every single one of them right there by the boat ramp.

Me and my fishing partner actually joked that it would be funny to see the game warden pull up and watch them scatter.
Click to expand...
And we use to call the game warden, finally gave up, waste of time. One of a hundred times can you get help from a game warden. Not the game warden's fault either. There are just not enough of them. On every single lake and dam, at least one, if not 2 could be kept busy, 365 days a year.

Heck, the TWRA is always screaming about money, they could make a killing while protecting the fisheries of Tennessee. My cousin went to Mississippi to catch crappie. They caught them. They stayed legal to. There was a game warden at the ramp (I have been told this is true at many lakes there) and checked every boat when it left.
 
Sometimes it just seems the TWRA has been ordered to "stand down" when it comes to illegal aliens and certain other political classes of violators?

Look at all the "defund the police" movements in so many big cities, where looters just break into stores, walk away with stuff, and the police just stand around doing absolutely nothing --- because they were ordered by "the powers that be" to "stand down", just watch.
 
Like i said, Just what i've heard over the years. according to many of the old timers it was nothing to catch 30 + fish a day in most lakes, whether it was Bass, Walleye, Crappie, you name it. mis management and overfishing in combination has taken it's toll no doubt. It also doesn't help East TN's lakes when TVA Fluctuates the lake levels so aggressively year round. But i think you are right about GW's and the need for more of them, especially when people are rapidly moving here from all over.
 
Chickencoop96 said:
Like i said, Just what i've heard over the years. according to many of the old timers it was nothing to catch 30 + fish a day in most lakes, whether it was Bass, Walleye, Crappie, you name it. mis management and overfishing in combination has taken it's toll no doubt. It also doesn't help East TN's lakes when TVA Fluctuates the lake levels so aggressively year round. But i think you are right about GW's and the need for more of them, especially when people are rapidly moving here from all over.
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bad spawns and habitat reduction have taken their toll, well at least on the tn river system. the hydrology now isnt what it was 30+ years ago, where back then the droughts created a lot of weed beds and the wood and bushes where still there.

now the wood and bushes are higher up on the banks where the water most the time wont reach during the spawns in spring. bass and crappie spawns are cyclical and you may only get 2-3 good spawns per decade now.

as far as bluegill, the old timey theory of releasing smaller fish and females and keeping the larger fish has led to declines and probably will in the future. you just cant convince folks that bluegill fisheries can be damaged by over fishing. the same guides on ky lake complaining about low bluegill numbers were the same ones posting pics of cooler fulls of bulls at the cleaning stations.
 
Chickencoop96 said:
Like i said, Just what i've heard over the years. according to many of the old timers it was nothing to catch 30 + fish a day in most lakes, whether it was Bass, Walleye, Crappie, you name it. mis management and overfishing in combination has taken it's toll no doubt. It also doesn't help East TN's lakes when TVA Fluctuates the lake levels so aggressively year round. But i think you are right about GW's and the need for more of them, especially when people are rapidly moving here from all over.
Click to expand...
Pick an argument. TVA? or TWRA?

TVA's primary directive is flood control not fisheries or recreation.

I was part of the team that researched and did all the public meetings about Norris striped bass in the 90's. You're wrong about TWRA in that regard. I sampled and sacrificed a couple thousand striped bass and never found the first gamefish in a belly of a striped bass.

I could write a book, but others already have.

The only thing I will say is a lake is like a garden. You can grow only so many vegetables in that garden. Add more tomatoes, then you can't grow as much okra and corn.

With respect to the original post, I have not personally seen that behavior in East Tennessee, but I do believe that TWRA Wildlife Officers are spread too thin.
 
Headhunter said:
Unless something is done, in the future the fisheries, lakes and rivers, are being destroyed. You can go to most any lake or river, especially dams, most any day of the entire year and watch the illegal alien/immigrant population (yes there are some people who were born and raised here that are poachers also but by far, the illegal alien/immigrant population are the majority) not only catch fish, but keep every single fish they catch. I mean every single fish, limits of any kind mean nothing to them.

I am not a TWRA employee and this does not come from anyone associated with the TWRA, but the game wardens are overworked and underpaid and there are just NOT enough of them. Not even close! Maybe some of the pencil pushers need to have their pay reduced or be fired. It is sad when preserving our fisheries, one of the main things the TWRA is in existence for, is not even a consideration for them.

The blatant disregard for boating safety and boating laws by the illegal alien/immigrant population is also unbelievable to see.

I do not know if there is an answer, but if something is not done, it has already happened in many areas for different species of fish, but the fisheries will be destroyed. Not an if, but a matter of time.
Click to expand...
Very good points and concerns you bring up. But I'm afraid we are all alike, we are disgusted with the situation but will not ever do anything about it. The problem you mention is a microcosm of the nation and our problems as a whole. But to think the TWRA will do much of anything is a waste of thought.
 
In the early 2000's I was in the Air Force based in GA. I was deer hunting public land south of ATL and watched from my climber about 30 Central or South Americans put on a deer drive that would rival any Appalachian Hillbilly deer camp. They all had rifles, shotguns and cheap foreign military rifles and killed everything in site. One stood on the flat above me looking straight at me, with a bolt action rifle, as he watched the rest of his clan run everything from the woods. I didn't rifle hunt public land the rest of the time I was there.
 

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