No-Wake Below Dix Dam

[Bonefish]

I realize by opening this discussion that I am opening a can of worms most possible, but I keep hearing from the grape vine that from Highbridge on the Kentucky to Dix Dam it is a no-wake zone, or it is going to be sometime in the furture. The Dix is traveled by a wide range of fisherman on a daily bases and there seems a lot of bigger boats do not respect the kayaks, canoes amd bassfisherman on the river. I regularly get washed out on the bank when I bass fish in that stretch of river. I would be interested on how the discussion board feels about a no-wake zone on the Dix below the dam.

[Bonefish]

I agree with the affect of flood control flow from time to time but there are only two places on the river where cows drink and it is has minial affect on erosion in those two small areas.

[Chubminnow]

Bonefish brings up an excellent point...the next time Ky Afield has their annual fishing call in show we need to call in and simply ask KDFWR: "Hey do you guys ever log onto fishin.com?"

[artcarney_agr]

The bank that the cattle have eroded is more than any bank affected by boat wake combined on the Dix River. That was my point.

[Bonefish]

I can't argue that fact about the cow erosion. I appreciate Chubmimmow's comment because through my time on Fish.com, I have not seen where the Fish and Wildlife pesonnel have made a contribution to educating the public on important topics of concern. This is a powerful medium to make things better for all Kentucky sportman. I hope we see a response. Maybe for some reason it is against their policy to get envolved. Thanks, again.

[artcarney_agr]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jul-12-06 AT 02:14PM (EST)[/font][p]I would guess that the Dept. of Fish & Wildlife cannot patronize any website but their own. Since Fishin.com has advertisements on it, it may be against their policy to participate in such things.

[Bonefish]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jul-12-06 AT 03:52PM (EST)[/font][p]I have a friend who I call the River Man who has lived on Dix over seventy years. His family lived on the Kentucky River bank just up the river past Highbridge when the river was vibrant with river trade. Here are his comments about erosion below the dam. The hydro flow didn't have much affect on the erosion of the banks before the steam plant was built. When excess water is released over the spillway, the river level is usually over the lower bottoms and the affected banks get very little erosion. The introduction of beaver into the river system in the fifties allow the beaver to undercut the tree roots lining the banks which weakens the anchoring system of the trees and allows them to fall prematurally. The past practice of hinge cutting of the trees lining the banks for agriculture purposes formed a barrier for the banks. The hydro runs less every year since the steam and gas turbines were installed. KU did open the gates at one time with the river at normal stage and did a lot of damage to the river below. So the extensive erosion has only been in the past ten years.

[the_donger]

I know for a fact that some of the KDFWR people log onto this site and participate in some discussions because I have talked to and asked questions of one of the officers. That being said, even if they cannot logon while they are at work, they have many other hours when not at work when they can come and contribute. I know this statement is a generalization, butt, I would imagine that most of the KDWFR officers are also active hunters and anglers and would also be helped by the information that can be received from the posters here.

That being said, I do not blame them for not identifying themselves on this forum. Just think of the bombardment of questions and the "do this, do that" posts that they would receive on a daily basis, it would be a non-stop assult. The state has a web-site that people can use to ask questions of the officials there and they have been very prompt and efficient when answering any of the question I have asked.

[Bonefish]

I can see your point, the_donger.

[ALB]

I have fished that tailwater for many years and am intimately familiar with its sharp curves and hidden underwater obstacles, like the many logs that just out just below the surface. There are also places where the water gets real shallow all of a sudden. Regardless, I see people running wide-open at break neck speed through there. I am just waiting to hear a loud collision some time.

I have also noticed some serious erosion in some areas along the river bank. Then again, who is to say how much is from boat wakes and how much is from river level fluctuations coming from the dam.

Final point - who in the world would enforce such a rule? In nearly 15 years of fishing there I have seen KDFWR only once, and that was on a very busy weekend.

Dont get me wrong, I like the idea.

[Tedb]

I fished that section by canoe a few weekends before the 4th, the only boat that scared me and made me stop fishing to turn the bow into the wake was, you guessed it, two game wardens flying upriver toward high bridge. At least they went on by though and didn't fly up within six feet of my canoe and slam it in neutral to make sure I didn't have any beer in my cooler, like they did at Boonesborough on the 4th, TWICE in the same day, same two officers!
I think no wake for the whole river would be a great idea, but that's just from my jon boat, canoe side of things. Most of the time the recreational boaters are the dangerous element, not the fishermen. Shutting the lock system down put a good sized dent in the weekend warriors, that's why I fish the river anyway.

[artcarney_agr]

I agree with you TedB, some of our Fish & Wildlife officers are the most disrespectful guys out there. I have never had one slowly approach me or in a couteous fashion. They pull up on you like you've done something wrong already!

The only time a Fish & Wildlife officer was courteous to me was when I had actually called them out to bust a guy purposely duck hunting on a wildlife refuge. He was nice, talked about hunting, where the ducks have been, and so on. Super nice guy, unfortunately he had just missed the law breakers. So out of the goodness of his heart, he checked me for EVERYTHING! That's the way it is though, the bad guys never get caught and the good guys always get a hard time!