Humphreys Co. Outdoor Report for Jan 29th

Published Jan 30, 2:07pm

With it being winter, most hunting seasons are closed except waterfowl. With warmer weather still a few weeks off, most people have been just fine staying at home, storing hunting gear until next season and dusting off the fishing gear in anticipation of spring bringing more suitable weather to chase their quarry. The waterfowl season will conclude at the end of January for the most part, with Canada goose season ending on the 12th of February.

Rain and wind seem to be the norm these last few weeks; lake levels rose a few feet, and flow rates increased. Lake levels last weekend were at 355.4ft, which is a foot and a half over winter pool, and flow rates increased due to the rainfall, with over 100,000cfs flowing through our area. Lake temperatures are still just under the 50 degree mark, and throughout the winter, we haven't seen water temps dip below 40 degrees.

The higher water temps this year hopefully will allow the ‘yellow tail shad’ to survive in larger numbers. Threadfin shad do not survive well when water temperatures dip into or below the 40’s. As the amount of shad in an area is important to the sports fish population. The more baitfish in a given body of water can greatly influence on how good or bad a sports fish population can be. The better availability of a food source, the more and better quality sports fish population a lake or river can hold. Kentucky Lake was once one of the ‘Premier’ go-to lakes for bass a few years back, but about 8 years ago, something happened to the baitfish population, and the bass, catfish and crappie population decreased along with the shad. We are now seeing a comeback of fish in our area, as some of the recent tournaments have shown. What happened is unclear, but all fish populations have “cycles” of ups and downs. Many point to Asian carp as the culprit, some to pollution in our waterways, or possibility the flooding we’ve been experiencing over the last few years. Possibily due to a combination of all of these and some unforeseen factors put together. Most fishery biologists say its normal for fish populations to have these ups and downs.

TWRA will be conducting a “Trappers Training Camp” on Friday February 24th-26th. The event will be held here in Humphreys Co. at the Buffalo Ridge facility near Buffalo. The event is in conjunction with the Tennessee Fur Harvesters Association. The event is limited to 100 participants, and registration is required, you can register by visiting TWRA’s website; TnWildlife.org and visiting the events page.