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Not to be that complaining guy but....

3K views 8 replies 9 participants last post by  meenyt 
#1 ·
I don’t want to be a “cook out Karen”, but I just want tovent and see if the same is happening on other lakes or ponds. I live on Falls lake and it has always beenpopular, but enjoyable to bank fish. Neveran issue. Never. This year has been a DISSASTER! I am speaking my personal experience, but Ihave heard similar stories from people who have quit bank/boat fishing Falls fora while. The section bisected by route98 (Durham HWY) is a mess. On a good weatherday there are crowds as far down the banks as you can see. Literally shoulderto shoulder no exaggeration needed. I personally don’t know how they don’t gettangled and on two occasions I saw peopleSWIMMING AROUND THE LINES. When theweather is not so great, the crowds are smaller, and you can see garbage up anddown the shore. Even at night they areout there. Okay, honestly (swimming aside) I get that, happy to see people out fishing but the trash is amess. It’s the trash - incredibleamounts. More than I can pick up even when I try.


On three trips, this spring it seems like fun to run jetskis and john boats right up on bank fishermen. Thishappened on us two trips and another I watched it happen to a guy and twolittle girls. It was intentional and theguys were laughing looking for their next victims. Let me clear what I mean. On the first, my son was standing on a verylarge downed tree fishing in the branches. A guy in a flat bottom boat (John?) cameflying through and literally used the barely submerged portion of the tree asalmost a ramp. He went a little air borne;little they do on air boats. He then looked back and laughed at my son in thewake may be ten yards away. Second, about a week later, I was bank fishing and twoguys were cruising the shoreline on jet skis. They saw me and another bankfisherman and went full throttle into a shallow cove then turned and sprayedwhere we were. This cove is over 70-100yards wide. He had room elsewhere. The same day he did this, the middle of thelake it was so crowded, boats were lined up like planes on a runway looking foropportunities to open it for water-skiing. Crazy folks. Fishing has pretty muchdisappeared in formerly good spots. Recent high water has flooded out many of those spots and fishing wasgood from a kayak. Just frustrating towatch the abuse of our parks and resources. Apologies for font my computer is weird post on NCANGLER today! Second time.



 
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#3 ·
it is a complete disgrace what this lake is turning into.hate to say it but maybe time to shut areas down and perhaps get a few more DNR guys patrolling, both on the water and by foot, and just lock these offenders up, because its going come one day when the lake and area will be completely dead of all fish and wildlife and falls lake will look and be another causality of urban spawl and overcrowding.
 
#4 ·
Hello,

Falls lake use to be my old stomping grounds for some good crappie fishing. I mostly stuck to the upper barton area. I know what you are saying, trash and overcrowding seems to be on the rise. I'll keep my advice short for what it is worth. I would contact the park rangers,nc wildlife,city etc. They aren't in that position for the money, I promise you that. Most took that position because they truly care about our lakes and forests. From my own personal experience, I can guarantee they will look into it. Heck, start an online petition on this very site, I'm sure everyone on here can agree something needs to happen to preserve our waters. Little late on the reply, but I think it's worth re-visiting.
 
#5 ·
The social distancing and temporary closing of public outdoor areas seems to have brought out the craziness in people. I'm trying to actively avoid anything that's not off the beaten path.

Many of the state parks have been having their lots fill up before 10AM the past few weekends. Everyone suddenly loves the outdoors, except for the whole "respecting it" part.
 
#6 ·
I do some fishing in the mountains of WNC and I have never seen it so crowded. Lots of people are migrating to southern states from up north and California these days. The load on our parks is just going to get worse.

Yeah people get outdoors to enjoy the beauty and then leave trash. I just cannot wrap my head around that. I hope those types of people never vote or have children.
 
#7 ·
Like a lot of things, there are many places to point fingers. I wont pig-pile on what others have posted but one thing I’ve noticed is once things get some TeeVee exposure or Hollywood movie exposure (think Duck Dynasty and the couple movies about hiking the PCT and Appalachian Trail) it tends to bring the masses and those masses are a lot of times more into the “party” more so than the true experience of said endeavor. In our case, fishing, or by extension, sharing the Lake/river/sound w the pleasure craft.

Add in some rocket fuel and things can become quite interesting. Don’t even get me started on the litter bugs...
 
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