LAKE LU Fishing Newsletter
January March May July September November Inches of Rainfall Three Year Rainfall Comparison 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 2017 Monthly Rainfall 2016 Monthly Rainfall 2015 Monthly Rainfall 0
January March May July September November Number of Anglers per month Three Year Monthly Angler Attendance Comparison 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 2017 Angler Attendance 2016 Angler Attendance 2015 Angler Attendance
January February March April May June July August September October November December Number of Bass Caught Three Year Bass Harvest Comparison 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 2017 Number of Bass Harvested 2016 Number of Bass Harvested 2015 Number of Bass Harvested 0
January March May July September November Number of Bream caught Three Year Bream Harvest Comparison 1200 1000 800 600 400 2017 Number of Bream Harvested 2016 Number of Bream Harvested 2015 Number of Bream Harvested 200 0
We will end the 2017 angling year with approximately 40 pounds of bass harvested per acre! This is good news. The majority of the bass removed were in the 10 to 14- inch range and their reduction in population will greatly benefit the lake in 2018. We got 0.9 inches of rain at the lake for the month of November. Secchi disc readings indicate 48 inches of visibility. Water temperature is 55 F.
We had Chris McKee, District 3 Fisheries Biologist (on right) and Katie Brown, District 3 Biologist Aid (on left) come by Lake LU in early November. They brought the state shock boat and checked the fish population at the lake. They found that small bass are still in vast numbers, and that the bluegill population was expanding. Hopefully this next year will prove to be an even better year than 2017.
Chris McKee, District 3 Fisheries Biologist, poses with a nice 7-pound bass that he shocked up during his fall electro-shock survey. The survey revealed what we already know. Lake LU is producing vast numbers of largemouth bass.
We didn t shock up the state record, but we did shock up a lot of 5, 6 and 7-pound bass.
For the first time in many years we finally saw impressive numbers of bream in the 3 and 4-inch range. This is the size bream that are crucial to the fishery at Lake LU. I will contact the Fisheries Office and see what they think the harvest regulations will be in 2018. 2017 BASS HARVEST REGULATION Anglers have an unlimited bass harvest at Lake LU, as long as the bass is less than 14 inches in total length. In addition, anglers may also harvest 1 fish greater than 22 inches in total length, per person, per day at Lake LU. Please continue to encourage anglers to harvest small bass. ~ Jay Haffner
Bluegill harvest REDUCED to 25 bream per person per day
Arnold Thomas and Ryan Harris came to the lake one Saturday. They said that they didn t care what they caught since the lake was so beautiful at this time of the year. REMINDER: Bream harvest has changed and anglers may only catch 25 bream per person per day.
My son Eli was determined that he was going to get back in the boat with me and go fishing. It was the first time that he had been in the boat in 5 years. It took quite a while before he felt comfortable in the boat, but by the end of the day he said that fishing in the boat was more fun than playing video games! It was July 2012 when Eli last got in the boat with me. He slipped and fell in while wearing his life vest and got his head wet. He vowed that day that he would never,
ever, EVER get in the boat with me. I told him that getting your head wet was nothing to be afraid of. Heck, he didn t even drop his bubble gum! He said he would never forget having his head under water and all the fish were looking at him. The Burr Marigold were exceptionally pretty this year.
It was taken in too much light, but I thought that this made a nice photo. An angler on the pier was enjoying a beautiful day.
Burr Marigold at the pier.
A nice green patch of moss growing on the Nature Trails.
One morning I noticed a beautiful sunrise over Tartt Field. James Snow, a bass angler in a boat on Lake LU, noticed that the sunrise was exceptionally beautiful on the same morning. James snapped this photo and emailed it to me. Lake LU will be closed from Monday, December 11,2017 through Tuesday, January, 2, 2018 for the UWA Christmas and New Year s Holidays.
Lake LU will reopen on Wednesday, January 3, 2018 at 6:00 am. If anyone wants any information regarding fishing, nature trails or prairie wildflower blooming times, please give me a call at 205-652-9266 or e-mail me at lrr@uwa.edu. Feel free to visit the Lake LU website at www.lakelu.uwa.edu. Thank you, Robby Limerick Lake Manager Lake LU The University of West Alabama lrr@uwa.edu 1-205-652-9266. All photos by R. Limerick unless otherwise noted.