Well, I hate the vegetation. I went with my son and his family today and we struggled to bream fish, from the bank, due to matts of eel grass and hydrilla floating by. I caught 2 small bream and one of the girls caught a tiny one. We could only cast between the matts as they floated by. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I wish TVA would accelerate and expand their spraying.

I will take the vegetation everyday and appreciate that its there.

If all the vegetation was gone tomorrow, and had the same amount of anglers fishing it.....get back to me in 3 years with your shock data and tell me it didnt change. I think it provides a safe haven for them. It cant get fished out with heavy cover like it can with no cover. Sure there is other cover besides vegetation. But every lake has that. Not every lake has vegetation as thick as g ville and thats exactly WHY it stands out as a top lake in the nation.

Common sense tells me if the fish are hard to reach due to massive cover that it will be more productive on population and growth size. Thats not hard to believe. Whats hard to believe is a guy telling me....we are gonna strip all the grass outta this lake then let yall fish it like normal then 1 year later we are gonna tell you it has the same amount of fish in it. Im gonna say well you need to check it in 3 to 5 years. You have not given it enough time. And....common sense would tell you that if you take out vegetation that is a main stake in a lakes cover and food provider, the fish are gonna starve or be stunted. Not to mention get picked off like fish in a bucket with the same pressure as before. That dont take shock testing to prove that. Shock testing 1 year later aint gonna prove much in my mind anyway.

I don't have any hard data to back up anything I'm about to post, but I remember well when the lake was "defoliated."

The fish were still there, but the quality of fish caught were nowhere near what they were before, or after the vegetation returned.

The vegetation is a two edged sword. It provides much needed cover for spawning baitfish, cover for their growing fry, as well as the game fish too. It does make fishing hard.

You guys that think it makes bass fishing hard should try pulling or pushing crappie jigs. Some days that's impossible.

There's got to be a happy medium somewhere. I think the pendulum has swung to the too much vegetation side right now.

Its like bush hogging a field. The grass is high, full of rabbits everywhere. A place to hide every 2 feet. The rabbits populate and thrive to the point its well known that the field is outstanding. We cut the grass low, all the rabbits run to whatever cover is left. They will be concentrated in those areas. A few hunters come through and hit those obvious areas up hard each trip. After billy joe and his family and friends hit the field and keep their bounty, the rabbit hunting aint great in that field anymore. Sure there are rabbits in the field. But nothing like before. Because the field can only support a small number of rabbits due to the amount of cover provided. Now its just another plain old field. Nothing more. And g ville would be just another lake after a few years. Sure there will be bass. But nothing like it was before. Thats my point.

Lanier
Smith
Lakes in Arizona, New Mexico

Let's drop a 4-inch worm on 3-pound test line on a spinning rod in 67 feet of water, down to 38 feet where bass are suspending over the lone rock on the bottom.

Hurray. Sounds like a blast.


IMO the aggravating thing about all the floating grass and clippings is we don't get enough OhShitWillThisEverStop! rain in summer on a consistent basis to keep the river rolling and cleaned out.

Also, with all of the hydrilla, milfoil and eelgrass clippings with the nodes attached that float downriver, it's amazing that nothing grows in the Decatur Flats anymore except (it seems) every few years. Whatever nasty chit has been dumped in the river over the years over there must have really $*(@*$#@-up the system to prevent anything from growing on a consistent basis.

It's no surprise to see that ONLY the bass are of concern to 99% of y'all. If every other fish could survive I'd be for killing off every damn bass in the lake.

Schit like this is why I'm glad I hate fishing.

I guess i should have used the word fish instead of bass. I fish for blue gill and catfish the most. Then bass then crappie. The last 4 years i been taking my little boy. So we used night crawlers only basically. Tryin to catch anything for him. But this year we have been swapping over to bass too.

I been bass fishing my whole life from an early age. I honestly get more enjoyment out of using night crawlers, bobber and a lite rod. You just never know what you might catch that way. We fish for pleasure but we keep fish to eat half the time. Especially crappie.

Three good things about the green growing across the lake....good fishing, beautifull scenery and....no wake boarding boats!!!!! The wake boats can go play in the river

The vegetation's great for crappie, cats and bream, too. Provides habitat, hiding places, etc.

We have water-drainage lakes in our neighborhood and the HOA gets Aquaservices to come airboat the lakes with chemicals to kill the shoreline primrose. I get that, or otherwise the primrose would take over.

But almost anywhere I can find a little patch of primrose growing I can flip in a worm, craw, jig, etc., and catch a bass or a cricket under a cork for bream. Vegetation makes a difference.

Now Clem, you done gone and are gonna get something started! Best pre-emerge herbicide...EVER!

Back several years ago, we got on crappie and bluegills in the submerged milfoil. I caught so many fish, I quit. 7 straights casts at one time. Couldn't tell you how many other back to back fish were caught. Any grass is good.

Yeah I catch the piss out of fish when fishing above grass. It’s hard to do that though when there’s so much broken up crap floating above the other grass or just all over the surface in general.

TejasNative, if the water above the dam looks that way how can the water below the dam not look the same? They do release water every day when they generate electricity. That last time I fished below the dam, there was lots of the same stuff I’m describing flowing down stream. That was just before the tropical storm hit a few weeks ago.

There is plenty below the dam. We went yesterday. Grass in the current seams 3 bluffs down

Thanks for the post. Thinking about taking Fur lite down there cat fishing before the week is over.

Unit 1 is down for maintenance. Prolly don’t affect y’all but thought I’d mention. Got a buddy who bank fishes and I think it’s messing with them.

Fur....the water level is pretty good rite now. Not too high. Current should be just rite for the rest of the week if we dont get a lot of rain. I dont know about the dam being repaired but it looks good when i cross it to and from work.

I drift fish for cats. So my bait is dragging the bottom. The floating grass on top doesn't affect me.

Ok thanks.

All about the flow of the river. Boaters chop it up with their props or the TVA mulchers. When water is being released through the dam, the fragments are pulled to the channel from the coves and pockets. Then when the dam stops releasing, all of the fragments remain near the channel. I have found several crankbaits in the trash mats this year.

We need a good 3- or 4-day soaking OMGWillThisStop rain here and upriver that would get the floodgates open for a good cleansing.