Drew, I am answering this because I failed to state earlier that I rarely have time to scan the various discussion boards and almost never have time to get into a running discussion. Therefore, I will limit my posts to address issues in a fashion similar to the catfish response I gave yesterday. It's not that I do not want to talk to anglers, I simply do not have the time on these many forums. We are looking at possibly getting a person to keep an eye on the forums so that we can address at least some of the questions and concerns that a broad number of people may have - such as this catfish issue.

Having said all of that, I will try to answer your questions since i'm here. I agree that actually catching illegal sales of fish is not easy, but when it becomes as widespread as it sounds like this has, we do have resourceful Conservation Officers. I would reiterate that the most important factor in catching people who persist in breaking the law is the public who are willing to call us. If someone is really concerned about illegal selling of big catfish, then it should be no problem to turn the culprit(s) in.

I also want to tell you that there are several states talking together to address oversight of pay lakes given the popularity of the trophy catfish aspect of the business.

Fish kills below dams can occur if large amounts of water is released and the plunging below causes supersaturation of nitrogen in the water. The fish end up with nitrogen bubbles in their circulatory system which can be fatal. Not alot that can be done in those cases short of major renovations of the way water is released or by creating a situation where there is minimal plunge associated with the release. There has been some research dedicated to this issue. Google "nitrogen embolism in fish" for more information.

hope this helped.



Quote Originally Posted by Drew1233 View Post
Mr. Brooks, I feel like the best way to catch these people that do not have the lisence and that are selling these fish is to have the pay lake owners fill out some sort of a forum or paper that shows the lisence number the amount and sizes of the fish. These pay lakes need to have a limit on how many fish they can buy and of what species because clearly a blue cat will not thrive in these environments because of the lack of flowing water. I know this probably won't change your thought but I hope it will. I hope to be able to fish the rivers and lakes of Kentucky when I'm old. I'm not one to often fish the river but I feel like its only right to keep the lakes and rivers in balance. I would also like you to look at the conversations on here about the dead fish in the river because of the dams. I was told there were many dead fish from a variety of species in the water. Thank you very much, drew