Yes and I also heard not only do they want to close the hatcheries. They plan on buying more land that they can't even take care of.

 

Just back from Glenn Springs - - -Water Temp at 20' depth is now 48 degrees (28FEB2011)

I'm looking into the above by the way - so far I found this source page for Fish and Wildlife (federal):
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Home

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) is found here:
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

This looks interesting/relevant:
(from the TWRA website newsroom)


Major Deer Poaching Case, Fish Hatchery Program Among February Agenda Items for TWRC
Released on Wed, Feb 16, 2011 - 4:07 pm under

* Wildlife Resources

NASHVILLE --- A report on one of the largest deer poaching cases in Tennessee history and an overview of the state’s fish hatchery programs will be on the agenda when the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission convenes Feb. 23-24 in Nashville.

The commission will hold committee meetings beginning at 1 p.m. on Feb. 23 in the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Region II Ray Bell Building. The formal commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. on Feb. 24. The public is invited to attend each day.

TWRA Montgomery County Wildlife officers Jereme Odom and Dale Grandstaff will be at the meeting and answer questions from commission members on the agency’s involvement, along with Kentucky and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in the investigation of trophy deer being poached off Fort Campbell. A video from a December press conference will be viewed.

Bobby Wilson, TWRA Fisheries Division Chief, will give a presentation highlighting the improvements in the statewide cold water and warm water fish production program within the state over the past six years. The report will include the progress to this point and future plans for the program.

The commission will hear an update on the Cumberland River Aquatics Center in Gallatin with the current projects and upcoming plans for the facility.

The February meeting will mark the final scheduled one for three TWRC members. Mike Chase (Knoxville), Johnny Coleman (Livingston), and Mike Hayes (Samburg), are scheduled to have their commission appointments conclude at the end of February.
---TWRA--

 

Okay - This is a seperate post because I don't know how much of it will show.
For Memphis we fall under district nine, and this is our TWRC representative:

Danya L. Welch- 2007-2013* District Nine Representative


Danya Welch

(West Tennessee - W-9) - District counties: Fayette, Hardeman, Haywood, Lauderdale, McNairy, Shelby, and Tipton.

7751 Wolf River Blvd.
Germantown, TN 38138
Business: (901) 759-5100
Fax: (901) 759-5111

A longtime resident of West Tennessee, Ms. Welch is a partner in Welch Builders, residential commercial and industrial properties. She is an advisory board member at First Capital Bank and serves as a member of: Memphis Area Home Builder's Association, National Wild Turkey Federation, National Association of Scuba Divers, and American Quarter Horse Association. She is a member of Friends of the Community Animal Society and Disaster Area Rescue Team Wildlife Division and holds a Wildlife Possession (Rehabilitation) Permit for Class II Mammals.

*This info is on the TWRA website

Now - it is apparent that we can contact our district state representatives for TWRA, but I wonder if it wouldn't just be best to ask if some kind of a commentary be made on the main TWRA site, rather than pester these folks to death. I can see where there is a lot of concern here.

Still - it looks like overall there is an expansion underway, not a ditching or trashing of things.
It might be that they have started up new hatcheries for all we know - but WE DON'T KNOW

THUS: Ask for more information...

I seriously doubt that they intend to "dynamite the grocery store before they have some way to put food on the table". If you look at the comment from the hatchery rep - for every dollar spent, two and a half more come from it. There is something missing - and a lower tier "Reaction Reporter" has no need of looking it up, do they?

I strongly suspect bad or incomplete reportage

 

From the TWRA:

"In 2010 Dale Hollow NFH stocked 1.3 million trout, or 289,000 pounds of trout, into Tennessee waters. That is 64 % of all trout stocked in Tennessee, and 51 % by weight. The loss of Dale Hollow NFH would be a huge loss to Tennessee anglers.Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery stocks trout at our most valuable trout fisheries such as Caney Fork, Hiwassee, Clinch, South Holston and Watauga rivers. Several large lakes such as Dale Hollow, South Holston, and Watauga reservoirs rely on Dale Hollow NFH production. Dale Hollow is TWRA's sole source for brown and lake trout.Erwin National Fish Hatchery plays a less visible but critical role in egg production for Tennessee and other hatcheries throughout the nation. In Tennessee the loss of Erwin NHF would jeopardize production at Dale Hollow NFH and TWRA hatcheries. Erwin NFH raises trout to adult stage and harvests eggs for distribution throughout the National Fish Hatchery System, and provides eggs to two of our state hatcheries at no cost. (Frank Fiss, TWRA Fisheries Division)"

 

I'll be damned - I just discovered that links can be put in the thread tags. I put the TWRA homepage link down there at the bottom of the thread...
Hold the phone on that - it just goes to a list of threads that have the same tag on them


So anyway - I wonder if this is a move to privatise the hatcheries, and put them on a money making or corporate footing?

If so - the state would have to PAY FOR all of those fish instead of OWNING the operation, and that means:
A) Somebody is going to make money while it lasts
B) It is bound to cost more than it did in the long run...

You just go figure now - what happens when a thing like that becomes "FOR PROFIT" ???

 

The state doesn't own the operations, they are federal hatcheries. I've spoke with the hatchery manager at Erwin, and the TWRA. It is all in the hands of Congress and the Senate. If they approve this proposed budget, the hatcheries are gone. It really makes no sense to me. The hatchery program actually makes money.

 

Latest from Glenn Springs:

1) THE LAKE STORE IS OPEN AND ANNUAL LAKE PERMITS ARE ON SALE
2) THE FISH ARE BACK IN THE SHALLOWS!!!

~ I saw them, all kinds of brim can be spotted from the docks in about four to ten feet of water. Bass have come back to where you can catch them from the shore. Catfish is also up out of the bottoms, so OH YEAH! It's on now...

I spent a good while talking to retired Master Chief Williams - who manages the place. Glenn Springs only stocks Tilapia anymore, because the fish in the lake are prolific enough that they don't need outside replenishment. For this reason the Crappie minimum size limit has been reduced to 8". There are too many of them...

I also spotted a couple of really sweet looking fly rods and reels in with the other tackle they have on sale that I'm particularly moved to collect.

They really do have a fine selection of gear for sale there, I was impressed.

And for dead in the middle of the week there sure were a lot of people out there - more than I've seen for a long time.

 

I've got a small quandary on my hands - wanted to know what you all think about it.
My tax return is enough to go one of two ways on a used boat this year. On the one hand I can go after a jonboat type, on the other I can get a canoe (preferably a large one).

A canoe means paddling, and I can probably use a fly rod sitting down in it. It would save a lot of cash, and I need to get after my roof in a big way this year. It also means no trailer is needed, but a motor would be out of the question.

A jonboat means a trailer is called for, I think I can get one of the 2 outboards I have running, it makes it easy to load up and is a lot more stable than a canoe would be, plus with my background I can upgrade the trailer and the boat itself eventually turning them into a much nicer rig in the long run - so it would be an investment despite what people say about boats being a convenient hole in the water to throw money into.

I have a Ranger truck as most of you know, so it's no biggy to tow.

If it was up to you, with a limited budget, which direction would you go in?

PS: I can finally tell this story, because I got the one reel like this that I saw at the lake shop!
I've been a huge fan of Fly Fishing for years, and now I finally have a working fly outfit again, based on a truly exotic reel -

It's a Pflueger 1195 automatic (notice that it has no crank handle?)
It has an integral spring coil that can take up slack much faster than cranking by hand. The trigger is the lever that is sticking out, and it is just above where your hand grips the rod when it is mounted.

This is going to be the first of about three rigs like this that I'm going to set up. I've already got my eye on a Martin with a super-basic reel, nothing like this miracle of modern technology at all... There is also a twelve foot rod I want, and a Shakespeare outfit that breaks down into three sections so that it packs away smaller.

When you really want to get into a classic and elegant style of fishing - dry fly is the way to go!

 

Wolf, what fish are you going after with your fly gear? I trout fish a little and have done some pond fishing with a fly rod. I'm hoping to get into some stripers on the fly this year.

 

I plan to go after Bass and Trout with it. We have a park and lake in Munford nearby and also Edmund Orgill in Millington that are trout lakes. Glenn Springs for bass goes without saying...

To my suprise the guide books (which finally came out) list at least a half dozen places nearby that are stocked with trout, including Bartlett and Shelby Forrest

A fly outfit with a light leader is ideal for trout since they have notoriously soft jaws. You can tear a hook right out of a trout no sooner than you hook it if you're not aware of that. I plan to set up at least one more fly rig, because I always want to have one that is so plain jane basic that absolutely nothing can go wrong with it. Just a stick with a line spool on it...

I dunno about the stripers - it just seems to me with as light a leader as I like to run it would take all day to wear one out enough to land it.

In the news this year - the feature article in the guide for 2011 is seriously big Tennessee Muskellunge. Several places are finally working out with trophy sized populations of these monsters. Great Falls Reservoir, Dale Hollows, the Nolichucky River, and Melton Hill Reservoir. Melton Hill is producing large fish faster than normal because of a steam plant (Bull Run) that warms the lake water in the winter time. The lead picture in the article shows a fella holding up a 49 incher that was caught at Dale Hollow!!!


The state record for muskie right now stands at 42 pounds.

To look at this years TWRA Fishing Guide, click on this link. I think it's in PDF format, you can print out whatever you like from it and viewing it online makes the advertisers links available:
Tennessee Fishing Regulations Guide – The Official 2011 Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Fishing Guide | eRegulations.com

The article about Muskies is on pages 30 and 31

Dale Hollow naturally is more'n halfway across the state from me. GO FIGURE!

 

Well, it's snowing, the TVA is running Watauga and South Holston as hard as they can. All the small streams are blown out. So all this equals another day of no fishing for me.
Here is a link to a petition to stop the closure of the national hatcheries.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/sav...sh-Hactheries/

 

I figured with the Ohio and Mississipppi rivers getting high and flooding as the nothern snow melts, all the tributaries would be stopped up.

 

I signed it, and in the spirit of KPAYNE himself we should all go there. I am signer #218
(He always led us when aftermarket products and accessories were threatened by stupid laws)

My comment on it was:
"I see this as a federal program that for once is actually making money! To shut these hatcheries down is CRAZY!"

(F)ing Obama - next they'll strip mine Yellowstone...


I SUPPORT THAT PETITION

Damned right I do
~Wolfie

Speak your mind, and let your voices be heard:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/sav...sh-Hactheries/

 

I have a list of the 2011 bait prices at Glenn Springs now and would like to post them up for reference
(This is at the Lake itself)

Nightcrawlers (box) 3.70
Red Worms (box) 3.60
Medium Minnows (dozen) 1.75
Large Minnows (dozen) 2.55
Crickets (approx. 50) 2.55
Crickets (approx. 100) 3.55

These are all live bait....

For turkey and chicken liver expect them to be priced about $1 higher than at a grocery store, but they keep it in stock.


At the next nearest bait shop down the road - their prices are just plain sky high, so I would advise bypassing them and getting bait at the lake or as stated for CL and TL drop in at a grocers along the way.

The Lake Shop also carries a tremendous variety of artificial lures including various sized Culprit products that puts even wally world to shame. There's also a fair amount of boating accessories, which you should see for yourself.


~Wolf sendzzz

 

I'm thinking over what I saw at Munford City Park Lake. Lots of surface activity - ringlets and fish actually jumping at around noon - but it was cold as a salted mackerel.

The whole pond is probably about an acre and a half, maybe two. I did get a strike on frozen corn, but didn't bring a decent rod or bobber one - and this is definitely a spot that needs to be top fished. Lots of benches around the shoreline too. Another nice thing about it is there is hardly any wind down in there with trees all around it. No point in bringing a net because the shoreline gives easy access for landing whatever you hook.

I expect I'll be back there tomorrow, checking the weather right now...
Oh yeah! Wednesday and Thursday look good - 67 tomorrow and maybe 78 the day after.

I'd like to try flipping some crickets out there on an unweighted hook, could be a job for a fly rod. And I'm not going to forget my minnow trap either...