Message from the President


On April 23, 2010 Dan Michaelson with the VDGIF contacted me and requested a meeting with the board of directors. Dan wanted to discuss some concerns about the reports coming from the hatchery in Vic-Thomas at Brookneal. It seems as they are not seeing the size of fish they would like to have for broodstock this year and the fish they are getting have had more copepods (“gill maggots”) than normal. There were also concerns about the baitfish population. The hard winter we had took its toll on the threadfin population in the lake. The threadfin have a low tolerance to cold water and when water temps dip in to the low forties they die. Dan said during a bass sampling they did that they only saw adult gizzard shad and no threadfins.
On May 8, 2010 the BOD met with Dan at Ramrod’s house to discuss the issues. He shared his concerns with us about there being a good possibility of there being a shortage of baitfish this year for the stripers. The shortage of bait accompanied with high water temps this summer and the heavy copepod infestation could possibly lead to another fish kill. In an effort to try and avoid this he suggested and the BOD agreed that we not stock the lake this year and possibly not next year either. This will be done in an effort to keep there from being competition for food and thus stressing the fish even more. Dan and VDGIF are also planning with BISC to do some roving creel surveys this summer. We hope to determine if people are following the suggested creel of “keep your first four fish” and quit targeting stripers for the rest of the day. We also hope that making people aware of the problems with the fishery will inspire them to support all efforts to bring the fishery back to a healthy state.
After meeting with Dan, the board discussed this year’s tournament schedule and its viability. After much discussion the vote was to cancel all striper tournaments for the rest of 2010 with the exception of Youth Day. We will decide after the first of 2011 if we will resume the tournaments that spring.
Although we are not having our June tournament we are still having our fish fry at the general meeting. I would encourage everyone to attend the meeting and enjoy the food and fellowship. Our menu is fish, French fries, slaw and hushpuppies. As always anyone wanting to bring a dessert is welcome to do so. I hope to see you all at the meeting and be sure to bring a friend. Tight lines all!
Lanny Parrott
President BISC