Horsepower Limits Small Lakes - Meetings

[kyriverblues]

I fish Lake Jericho in Henry Co. and it is an idle speed only and I have not seen any problems there. I fished Elmer Davis lake once and it sucked having to use the trolling motor to get from place to place, I have not been back. the boats with the 9.9 motors I saw there put off quite a big wake! I think idle speed for everyone is the way to go.

[MrSplitshot]

Very simple...remove all horsepower restrictions and make these lakes "Idle Speed Only" for any size motor. Whether it's a 250HP Merc or a 5HP Johnson is irrelevant. My 90HP Yamaha 4-stroke is dead quiet, clean, and causes virtually no wake at idle, yet it's okay for an old 9.9HP to run wide open and throw a big wake? That makes no sense. As for speed, the speed limit on I-64 is 70MPH, whether I'm driving a Prius or a Peterbuilt. The key is enforcement. The reality is that there is no way KDFWR can be everywhere all the time, just like KSP can't be sitting on every overpass on I-64. I think most boaters would obey the law, but there are surely some that will break it too. KDFWR will have to at least be present enough at times to enforce randomly. As anglers, we should also police each other; Go remind a guy that you see running above idle that it's against the law on that lake, then call him in to KDFWR if he continues to ignore it. It's not that hard to help out like that if you are a true steward of your fishery. The "protect my fishery from extra pressure" argument is weak, in my opinion, on any public lakes. That's just life. Bigger boats with bigger motors have no business trying to run on these smaller lakes, but there is no harm in idle speed only to get around the lake. To have to fight the wind with trolling motor only in a bigger boat while a 14' jon with a 9.9 goes barreling by throwing a wake makes no logical sense to me.

[DJD]

Very simple...remove all horsepower restrictions and make these lakes "Idle Speed Only" for any size motor. Whether it's a 250HP Merc or a 5HP Johnson is irrelevant. My 90HP Yamaha 4-stroke is dead quiet, clean, and causes virtually no wake at idle, yet it's okay for an old 9.9HP to run wide open and throw a big wake? That makes no sense. As for speed, the speed limit on I-64 is 70MPH, whether I'm driving a Prius or a Peterbuilt. The key is enforcement. The reality is that there is no way KDFWR can be everywhere all the time, just like KSP can't be sitting on every overpass on I-64. I think most boaters would obey the law, but there are surely some that will break it too. KDFWR will have to at least be present enough at times to enforce randomly. As anglers, we should also police each other; Go remind a guy that you see running above idle that it's against the law on that lake, then call him in to KDFWR if he continues to ignore it. It's not that hard to help out like that if you are a true steward of your fishery. The "protect my fishery from extra pressure" argument is weak, in my opinion, on any public lakes. That's just life. Bigger boats with bigger motors have no business trying to run on these smaller lakes, but there is no harm in idle speed only to get around the lake. To have to fight the wind with trolling motor only in a bigger boat while a 14' jon with a 9.9 goes barreling by throwing a wake makes no logical sense to me.

Excellent points....I would add that instead of signs for idle speed only it should read idle speed/no wake.....it still comes down to obeying the law or pay the fine if you get caught.
i have fished with people whose idea of idle speed was not being on plane.....some folks just don't follow laws and rules.

[RngerMac]

Excellent points....I would add that instead of signs for idle speed only it should read idle speed/no wake.....it still comes down to obeying the law or pay the fine if you get caught.
i have fished with people whose idea of idle speed was not being on plane.....some folks just don't follow laws and rules.

Place bouys down the middle of the lake reminding boaters idle speed/no wake.

[Gus]

Place bouys down the middle of the lake reminding boaters idle speed/no wake.

Lifting the restictions will greatly increase the fishing pressure on these lakes. Leave them alone!

[kyriver]

Lifting the restictions will greatly increase the fishing pressure on these lakes. Leave them alone!

This is misleading. If boater chooses to go to Beaver, Elmer, etc it means the boater won't be going to Willisburg, Stoner, Taylorsville, or the Kentucky River. Pressure increasing in one location, but decreasing in another.

[DJD]

This is misleading. If boater chooses to go to Beaver, Elmer, etc it means the boater won't be going to Willisburg, Stoner, Taylorsville, or the Kentucky River. Pressure increasing in one location, but decreasing in another.

^^^^^agree^^^^^ it would workout.

[Wormin]

Lifting the restictions will greatly increase the fishing pressure on these lakes. Leave them alone!

Most of us are there already just now we can idle with big motor.

[RngerMac]

The "protect my fishery from extra pressure" argument is weak, in my opinion, on any public lakes. That's just life. Bigger boats with bigger motors have no business trying to run on these smaller lakes, but there is no harm in idle speed only to get around the lake. To have to fight the wind with trolling motor only in a bigger boat while a 14' jon with a 9.9 goes barreling by throwing a wake makes no logical sense to me.

I agree