The lakes are doing OK as far as the fish and fishing are concerned. I see more people fishing now than in the past, especially young fisherpeople. That is what the program is all about.
Thanks to Wayne Tiller, Lake 4 is being well attended which brings me to the point of this memo. The feeder on Lk 4 is using an inappropriate amount of food. Wayne & I have checked the feeder, for animal theft and checked the timer but it still is a mystery where the food is going. Wayne is marking the food level and checking it every other day to see if the draw down is constant. We will compare that to Lk 1 feeder.
We need to replace the timer on Lk 4 with a new digital timer from Gander Mountain, if they are still in stock. That would bring all our feeders up to date with new more reliable timers. That would also remove the possibility of the timer being the culprit. So far all three of the new timers are working beautifully and keeping perfect time. They are more reliable and lot more user friendly than the Sweeney timers we have used for 25 years and at $75 are half the cost.
Noticing more tilapia at the feeder on Lk 3 now. Saw one this evening that looked like it would go 2 lbs. Lucas Lynch reported that he had caught one that weighed about 2 lbs. Have not seen any of the catfish we stocked this year at the feeders but that does not mean they did not survive our larger predator fish but if any one notices smaller catfish in any of the lakes I would appreciate your letting me know. The bream population seems to be growing. We have stocked all the lakes the past several years with 1/2 to 3/4 lb copper nose bream that we have caught and transplanted. It is a fun trip and is free to the Association. One of the suppliers I spoke with does not sell any bream of that size but felt their cost would be $5 to 10 each if you could find them. I have caught a few larger bream that I feel are a cross between the copper nose and our bluegill due to their appearance. One advantage to stocking with larger fish is their survival chances are greatly improved.
I would appreciate your thought and comments.
Jerry Jones
