Thoughts on CCA meeting tonight on state of Calcasieu fishery

[BuckingFastard]

Originally Posted by "W"

Don't take my word for it just ask anyone who has been fishing big lake since 1988

I recall a few times the bay boat was closed but the gate was open allowing water flow

I use to catch a limit of reds every time I fished in the late 90s at Conni weir that was always flowing

thats what i remember! even if they were closed, they were still open!

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by BuckingFastard

thats what i remember! even if they were closed, they were still open!

I can't even make sense of that.....

["W"]

Originally Posted by Smalls

I can't even make sense of that.....

Easy the bay boat board was down so you could not pass but gates were wide open

Like a I said ; you ask any guides who have been on this lake since late 90s they will say the same thing !!

The gates were always open Hell from 2001till hurricane they were always open and I know that for a fact because my data books have many trips back there on redfish

["W"]

We just did not lose all that marsh because of the levee breaks we also just had a 22ft tidal surge 2 out of 5 years

That's what caused the marsh loss pure gulf water and 100mph winds

[BuckingFastard]

Originally Posted by "W"

We just did not lose all that marsh because of the levee breaks we also just had a 22ft tidal surge 2 out of 5 years

That's what caused the marsh loss pure gulf water and 100mph winds

maybe everyone else forgot about the hurricanes.
your nailed it, thats what i meant. i lived on big lake from 94-05
my grandpaw and dad grew up on it making a living since the sun was invented. both talked of the destruction over all the decades of politics and industry. this isnt some NEW idea that we just found out about. theres been corruption amidst for generations... it just keeps getting more powerful.

yea things change, everything does.

[BuckingFastard]

water would flow so the bait could go where they have been going forever, into the marshes. now they stop it completely where not a dang thing can enter.

[noodle creek]

It doesn't matter how much land is gained, next hurricane that dumps straight ocean water on the marsh is going to kill it all and it will all open back up. They need to be pumping lots of water from intracoastal into the marsh. There is a small blowout west of Gibbstown bridge right now, but if they had big weirs and maybe a pump or too I think that would help tremendously. Until then, their plan is "wait for rain." Not a very strong plan in my opinion.

["W"]

Smalls thinks because his crew had a history lesson power point that showed my camp floating on water ( according to the map) that we lost marsh because the weirs were open

They have data from when to when and shows they gained thousands of acres and the weirs were opened all the time with flow and only after two major hurricanes we had a loss of marsh

They can keep weirs open and not lose anything but

maimi corp is getting ready for another great duck season

[Top Dawg]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

Black drum dominate the oyster predation. Word among the commercial fishers is that there are a lot more black drum in Sabine than in Calcasieu, and several commercial guys whose home base is in Hackberry are regularly fishing Sabine now because there are more black drum over there. The predation and parasite pressure on oysters are comparable between Sabine and Calcasieu, so what's causing the biggest difference in the oyster stock assessments? Dredging is the obvious dominant factor, so don't let them blind you with reports of confounding factors.

But the Oyster Predation issue may open the door toward a useful policy change that both the oyster lobby and the sport anglers can agree on: Commercial and recreational limits on black drum should be completely eliminated state wide.

There is very little risk of extirpating the species state wide, and other than human activities, heavy predation of black drum on oysters is likely the most significant contributor to declining oyster reefs and challenges in oyster reef restoration. Now, I personally like black drum and enjoy catching them, but the scientific fact is that black drum are a nuisance species destroying far more value in oyster reef habitat than their value in the commercial and recreational fisheries.

There is a small commercial black drum fishery in the state, but they may not even object to removing limits, because the commercial fishery may even be sustainable without limits, and these guys also earn money in the oyster fishery, which is much more lucrative. In addition to protecting the oyster reefs, removing limits on black drum would also have the effect of reducing competition among juveniles for forage resources shared with other species. There are certain subcultures (mostly ethnic shore anglers) who would also appreciate removal of restrictions on black drum harvest. Like many fishery regulations, there were never any stock assessments showing the regulations were needed, someone simply decided that the life history of black drum was close enough to redfish to manage them with the same recreational regulations.

I laughed

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by BuckingFastard

water would flow so the bait could go where they have been going forever, into the marshes. now they stop it completely where not a dang thing can enter.

100% False. The structures are never 100% closed because of the fish slots. Were you even at the meeting or did you even look at the presentation with the layout of the weirs in it?

yea things change, everything does.

So are you in favor of it converting to open water? Because that is legitimately what is at stake. However you argue it, once the weirs were constructed, the marsh was coming back.

Hey Waltrip, what were your observations about the weirs in 1990-1991?

I have a report right here that indicates less openings that we have seen in the last 3 years. I would estimate the overall percentage of gates open at less than 50%. In fact, the only time that greater than 50% of the weirs were open occurred in February and Mid-March to Mid-April 1990, and from Mid-January to March 1991. From Mid-April to Mid-October 1990, the percentage of gates open was less than 50%. From June to October 1990, the percentage of gates open was less than 25%.

So, maybe this statement,

Small from 1988-2004 marsh was gained while the weirs were open 90% of the time . I can't ever recall in the 90,s of the weirs ever being closed

isn't completely false, but it isn't completely true either. If over the course of 15 months there weren't even 50% of the total gates open, I seriously doubt over the course of 16 years that the entire system was open 90% of the time. The 75% openings you see in early 1990 were reportedly due to high water in the Cameron-Creole. Take that away, and you may not even have 50% total gate openings over that time period.

Of course this is only 15 months of a 16 year time period we are talking about, but I seriously doubt that you could have achieved 90% openings over the course of 16 years (that is approximately 172 months, or 14.4 years).

Now, if what you are saying is that 90% of the time there was at least 1 gate open, then I will agree with you on that. But that isn't what you said.

Also, keep in mind, the figure that Leigh Anne showed was the Boat Bay Openings. My understanding is that the management is in Phase 2. If this is in fact the case, then only the Boat Bay would be left open, unless salinities become to high. This seems to be consistent with what has happened in the last 3 years, without looking at salinity data and fully basing that on the number of days the boat bay has been open.

[BuckingFastard]

Yea and Toledo bend is never "all" the way closed either. Lmbo, I know the guy that manages the land that borders the weirs and he does a great job, much better than the crap so called weir authority.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BuckingFastard]

You can blab on all you want trying to reword whatever you want smalls. Louisiana looses a lot more than a couple pieces of grass each year behind the weir.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by "W"

Smalls thinks because his crew had a history lesson power point that showed my camp floating on water ( according to the map) that we lost marsh because the weirs were open

They have data from when to when and shows they gained thousands of acres and the weirs were opened all the time with flow and only after two major hurricanes we had a loss of marsh

They can keep weirs open and not lose anything but

maimi corp is getting ready for another great duck season

Find where I've argued that all of the maps presented are correct. That's why pretty much every land loss figure is a plus or minus number. They aren't exact.

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by Top Dawg

I laughed

You poking fun at my Hispanic heritage?

Maybe that's why I love black drum and gafftops?

Or maybe it's because it's all I can catch.

I tell you what, late one afternoon at the beach a crew 10-12 of "ethnic shore anglers" showed up and waded well out into the surf slinging mullet on drop rigs. They put 10-12 bull reds on the beach more quickly than I've ever seen it done before right as the sun was setting, with a few gafftops mixed in.

Don't you white boys be making fun of us ethnic fellows.

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by BuckingFastard

You can blab on all you want trying to reword whatever you want smalls. Louisiana looses a lot more than a couple pieces of grass each year behind the weir.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What am I rewording?

I know very well that Louisiana loses more than just what is behind the weirs. So does that mean we should just not worry about it, because we are losing more land elsewhere? What if we treated every watershed that way? Where would we be?

[Top Dawg]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

You poking fun at my Hispanic heritage?

Maybe that's why I love black drum and gafftops?

Or maybe it's because it's all I can catch.

I tell you what, late one afternoon at the beach a crew 10-12 of "ethnic shore anglers" showed up and waded well out into the surf slinging mullet on drop rigs. They put 10-12 bull reds on the beach more quickly than I've ever seen it done before right as the sun was setting, with a few gafftops mixed in.

Don't you white boys be making fun of us ethnic fellows.

I just found humor in your terminology lol. No biggie

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by Top Dawg

I just found humor in your terminology lol. No biggie

I guess you missed my attempt to return the humor. Let me try again:

My identical twin brother used to deliver pizzas to some of BR's ethnic neighborhoods. On one occasion, a couple local gentleman blocked his path and said, "We don't like white boys comin' round here."

My brother smiled, put his hand on the grip of his Glock, and replied, "Who you callin' WHITE?"

They got out of his way in a hurry.

[CajunGuy]

Originally Posted by Smalls

I know very well that Louisiana loses more than just what is behind the weirs.

From what Leighann showed at the meeting the entire Calcasieu-Sabine basin lost land during the bad years, but 50% of the land loss occurred in the Cameron Creole watershed. It is the most vulnerable place in the entire basin and that is why it has the extra measures to protect it.

[Top Dawg]

Lol it's all good. I'm still laughing

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by CajunGuy

From what Leighann showed at the meeting the entire Calcasieu-Sabine basin lost land during the bad years, but 50% of the land loss occurred in the Cameron Creole watershed. It is the most vulnerable place in the entire basin and that is why it has the extra measures to protect it.

Exactly.