February 2013 Newsletter Robby Limerick - - Lake Manager

LAKE LU

Fishing

Newsletter

February 2013 Fish Report

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Three year Rainfall Comparison

2013 Monthly Rainfall

2012 Monthly Rainfall

2011 Monthly Rainfall

Number of Anglers Number of Bass

Pounds of Bass

Number of Bream

Pounds of Bream

Monthly 92 0 0 147 60

Previous 60 0 0 351 163.25

Calendar YTD

152 0 0 498 223.25

lb/Bass Average lb/Acre Average lb/Bream lb/Acre Average

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Three year Monthly Angler Attendance Comparison

2013 Angler Attendance

2012 Angler Attendance

2011 Angler Attendance

Average

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Formula: Pounds of fish (lbs) divided by number of fish = lb/fish average lbs fish divided by 50 (acres) = lb/acre average

Monthly Harvest Comparison Month Number of

Anglers Number of

Bass Pounds of

Bass Number of

Bream Pounds of

Bream

February 2013

92 0 0 147 60

February 2012

157 600 523.25 251 125.50

February 2011

227 726 519.75 257 128.25

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Three year Bass Harvest Comparison

2013 Number ofBass Harvested

2012 Number ofBass Harvested

2011 Number ofBass Harvested

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Three year Bream Harvest Comparison

2013 Number ofBreamHarvested2012 Number ofBreamHarvested2011 Number ofBreamHarvested

Calendar Year-to-Date

Year Number of Anglers

Number of Bass Pounds of Bass Number of Bream

Pounds of Bream

2013 152 0 0 498 223.25

2012 239 910 813.25 308 160.50

2011 297 993 721.50 274 138.75

Fish Averages (Year-to-Date) Month/Year

lb/Bass Average lb/Acre Average

lb/Bream Average

lb/Acre Average

February 2013

0 0 0.45 4.46

February 2012

0.89 16.26 0.52 3.21

February 2011

0.73 14.43 0.51 2.77

Lake Conditions

Well it was the coldest, wettest February that I can remember. We got 9.3 inches of rainfall for the month and our total rainfall for 2013 is 17.4 inches. I think that we will have longer dry spells in the next two months, but I predict that our rainfall will be above average until May. It was also an exceptionally cold month. The water temperature was 51ºF on 2-28-13. Last year the water temperature was 61ºF on the same date and in 2011 it was 63ºF! Ten degrees really make a difference in how the fish feed and anglers visit!

Bass Fishing

BASS HARVEST IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. NO BASS OF ANY SIZE MAY BE REMOVED FROM THE

WATERS OF LAKE LU. BASS ANGLERS MAY CATCH AND RELEASE BASS WITH

BARBLESS HOOKS ONLY. BARBLESS HOOKS ARE SIMPLY HOOKS THAT HAVE HAD THE BARB TURNED

DOWN WITH A SET OF PLIERS.

The cold weather really slowed down bass angling efforts. Mark said it was the toughest month since he has been fishing at Lake LU. I had no one report catching a big bass.

Mark’s Remarks

(By UWA student Mark Grant)

February was by far the roughest month I’ve experienced on Lake LU

so far. With constant heavy rainfall, the lake stayed muddy, and freezing cold temperatures didn’t help either. With the exception of a few brief two or three day periods of warm weather, the bass have stayed in deep water. The times that they did move shallow, they mostly targeted small shiners and crawdads along areas where there is grass against shallow muddy banks. I was able to pull some small ones out of shallow pockets and mud flats using Rapala X-Raps in size 8. I have multiple colors and I match the color of the lure to the color of the water. To those who use beetle spins, Strike King Bitsy Minnows, and Rapala Ultra-Light Minnows, warm afternoons in shallow pockets out of the wind should be great places to catch a few. Crawdad imitations are great for throwing along grassy banks. I caught a little guy that had a crawdad antenna sticking out of his throat!

A final tip is to be very accurate with your casts. Try to cast as close to the bank as possible without getting hung on the bank. You’d be surprised how close bass will get to the bank when they are in search of crawdads. I actually hit a bass around 2 pounds in the back with a cast and spooked him, and he was only a foot from the bank. Bigger fish have remained deeper for the most part. I caught some decent fish throwing minnow baits over points and drop-offs. The crank bait bite has also been ok. I throw them parallel to drop-offs and ledges. Try to find cranks that dive 8-12 feet down. When we finally get some consistent warm weather without any rain, things will really pick up. Good luck to all anglers, God bless!

Here’s some of Mark’s ice fishing catches. Bass sure don’t fight hard when it’s cold.

Bream Fishing

Bream fishing has been very, very slow. Bream will not become very active until the water temperature reaches 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

James Hollis from Guin, AL. drove down 132 miles one way to bream fish at Lake LU in February. He fishes with small black curl tail jigs and 4 pound test monofilament. James only had about 30 bream on this day and he remarked at how cold the lake water was. He had a story about “the one that got away”. James said that he was fishing out in the dead middle of the deepest part of the lake and hooked a large fish. He said that the fish pulled and pulled and he thought it was a big bass. He didn’t want to risk losing the fish by hogging it in to fast on 4 pound test line. He said that he played the fish for a few minutes and it began to eventually come to the surface. James said that it was not a big bass but a world class trophy shell cracker. He said that the fish had to have been in the 3 to 4 pound range! James said he had left his net at the house and was trying to get his hand on the giant slab shell cracker, when the hook popped out of the fishes’ mouth and it got away. He said losing the fish made him sick and he just had to pack it in and head to the house. James has been trying to catch the state record shell cracker for years now and he thinks that Lake LU has the best chance of beating the record. We have had many shell crackers caught at Lake LU in the 2.5 pound range.

The following information courtesy of:

http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/fish/bream/redear/

Redear Sunfish (Shellcracker)

REDEAR SUNFISH

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lepomis microlophus

CHARACTERISTICS: Locally known as shellcracker, redear sunfishes are one of Alabama’s least colorful but most sought after sunfishes. The back on this species is light green to brown with scattered darker spots. The light grays to silver sides have 34 to 43 lateral line scales. Lower surfaces of the head and venter are light yellow to white. Sides of the head are mottled with brown to dark orange spots. The dorsal fin is light gray with nine to 11 spines and 10 to 12 rays. The light yellow to white anal fin has three spines and 12 to 14 rays. The pectoral fin has 13 or 14 rays and it is long and pointed, its end reaching past the nostril when bent forward. The common name of this species is derived from the characteristic red or orange spot at the rear of the opercular flap.

ADULT SIZE: 8 to 11 in (203 to 279 mm). The state angling record (4 lb, 4 oz) was caught at Chattahoochee State Park in 1962.

DISTRIBUTION: Redear sunfish occur across all of Alabama, but they are much more abundant in the southern half of the state. They can apparently withstand salinities of up to 15 to 20 parts per thousand, which may account for the fact that they far outnumber bluegills in the lower reaches of the Mobile Delta and at the head of Mobile Bay.

HABITAT AND BIOLOGY: This species occurs in moderate to large streams, rivers, reservoirs, lakes, swamps, and other standing-water habitats. Spawning occurs from late April to early June. Males construct and defend nests during spawning and until the larvae hatch. Gerald (1971) notes that redear sunfish produce grunting noises during courtship. In his study of trophic specialization in sunfishes, Lauder (1983) describes the extensive molar surfaces on the pharyngeal arches of Lepomis microlophus and the associated musculature that enables the fish to crack mollusk shells (hence the local name shellcracker). Redear sunfish are usually stocked in small ponds and lakes with bluegills and largemouth bass. They grow quite well in these environments, and because they feed on mollusks and benthic aquatic insect larvae (Etnier and Starnes, 1993), they do not compete with bluegills. Bedding redear sunfish provide tremendous action on light tackle with live red worms or crickets. Carlander (1977) reports that individuals live for six years.

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Günther described the redear sunfish in 1859.

ETYMOLOGY: Lepomis means scaled operculum. Microlophus means small nape.

This copyrighted information is from the Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin.

Additional Lake Information

Lake LU will be closed from Monday, March 25, 2013 through Friday March 29

th, 2013 for the UWA Spring Break.

Lake LU will reopen on Saturday March

30, 2013 at 6:00 a.m.

Nature Trails

Tim and I built a new shed this month.

We had our 5-year Federal inspection on the lake and dam this past February. Pictured is the USDA NRCS survey crew. From left to right: Codie Yelverton, Brian Coaker, Wade Williams and Erika Justiniano, all standing on the stilling basin located below the earthen dam of Lake LU.

Tim and I found this “antique” Mountain Dew bottle floating out in the lake. I remember these bottles from the 1980’s. They had a Styrofoam liner that you could slide down and pop with your hand. My guess is that it had been on the bottom of the lake for 25 years and that algae living inside the bottle finally made enough oxygen inside the bottle to allow it to float up to the surface.

My son came running up one day all concerned that someone had graffiti-ed the Flume of Death. I walked down with him to look at what he had found. This message had been left on the concrete flume with sidewalk chalk by someone’s valentine.

I started doing some small scale burns in preparation for the main controlled burn season.

Tim and I burned the dead grass on the lake shore over by the Civic Center to give the blue flag iris we planted last year some sunshine.

I did some winter trail mowing the other day. It was COLD on that tractor!

Hopefully the prairie wildflowers will appreciate the sunlight the mowing gives them and the flowers will spring forth in a few weeks.

This plum bush is in full bloom. I’m sure that the 27ºF cold that night killed off any hope of getting plum jelly from this bush this year.

A COLD February sunset at Lake LU.

If anyone wants any advice on fishing Lake LU, please call me at 1-205-652-9266 or e-mail me at lrr@uwa.edu. Feel free to visit Lake LU’s website at www.lakelu.uwa.edu Thank you, Robby Limerick Lake Manager Lake LU lrr@uwa.edu 1-205-652-9266

Alabama Flag -- hypeandfail.blogspot.com American Flag --independentrealist.blogspot.com American Bald Eagle – alejandrosportfolio.freeiz.com Great Blue Heron -- flickriver.com All other photos by R.Limerick unless otherwise noted.