Thanks for clearing that up. I am not against the 20 dollar fee. Well I do wish we could launch for free but I also realize that we have to pay to keep the lakes up etc. So I pay it. But I just hate to see money leaving my wallet. LOL Like everyone I would rather see money coming into my wallet than leaving. But I know its' for a good cause.

It does seem to get more expensive to live and have fun each year. The utility company that service me wants a rate hike. But my boss won't give me a raise! The utility says this is the first rate hike that they have asked for in several years. But last year the price of NG skyrocketed and we had people paying $800/month for gas and electric service in Jan. Thankfully the price of NG has gone down a bit but not that much.

Our utility has been force by a law suit to finally comply with the Clan Air Act of 1977 and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1999.

The utility among others was sued by USEPA and force to add new pollution controls to their smoke stacks to control Acid rain.

SO2 and Mercury emissions spew out right above the creek that I want to fish for crappie.

I looked at an satellite view of my potential fishing spot and then saw that it's right in the shadow of the smoke stacks of my utility company.

Then. I thought of all the burned coal dust that had been coming out of those stacks for the last 30 years or more. And then, I though about how much mercury had fallen from the sky around those smoke stacks. Thank god the creek has moving water that can wash the mercury down stream into the river and carry it all the way to New Orleans. But, that creek does not always flow very fast. At times the river may flow into the creek and the creek becomes more stagnant or has a very slow flow rate. The mercury can accumulate in the muddy surroundings and wash back into the creek and accumulate in the muddy bottom. This mercury is in small amounts when it first leaves the smoke stack, but it can accumulate around the smoke stacks over 40 years time. And life has a way of concentrating the mercury up the food chain to humans.

I won't be eating the fish out of this creek, but instead I am looking for that one big crappie that I can mount on the wall or use for bragging rights.

I am sure that there are some huge crappie in this creek. It's just a shame that it's so full of mud.

The creek and it's headwaters is surrounded by farmland. And the farm land loses top soil into this creek by the thousands of tons over time.

What was once a clear running stream with cool blue water is now a muddy mess when it rains. Dirt runs off the plowed fields and since there is not much ground cover between the edge of the fields and the creek the mud enter the creek and settles to the bottom. At times of high flow rates the mud is carried downstream only to be put into the Ohio River. This happens up and down the Ohio River for miles in each direction.

Before the English and French settled this area the land was covered by deep hardwood forests and there was not as much erosion as there is today. So the river ran much cleaner and didn't have the silt loading that it has today.

But then we didn't have AC and electric lights and TV back in those days. And we had to chop our own wood to build a fire and home to stay warm. So times are changing.

I just wish that the old fishing spot had better water quality and that I didn't have to worry about eating the fish I catch.

Yes, everything cost more these day. Including health insurance and medical bills and my utility bills. It all adds up guys. Not really complaining just stating some facts that we need to think about.

Everything cost MORE money these days.

I don't mind paying for the lake permits. I don't mind buying a fishing license either. I don't mind paying to register my boat. I do mind paying $2.25 a gallon for gasoline and $800/month for gas and electric though.


Regards,

Moose1am