A Special Report by Buzz Ansley and the County Buzz Team
Most recreational boaters and fishermen are accustomed to seeing small cedar trees staked to the lake bottom in shallow areas that provide cover and concealment for small bait fish, which in turn attract larger fish. This past week saw two local men take a new and improved attractor to the lake bottom as a means to improve the lake’s fishery.
Working largely on their own, with some help from members of the Tims Ford Bass Club and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), Lahr and Davis designed and constructed a series of state-of-the-art attractor devices that will be put through the final test - anchored in spaces around Tims Ford Lake.
Lahr and Davis have drawn upon their knowledge of fish feeding and spawn habits, to design several types of man-made structures that are being submerged deeply enough in the reservoir that most boaters will never be aware of their presence.
The fish, however, get it! With names like: armadillos, citrus trees, faux stumps and more, these attractors are intended to provide safe havens for numerous types of small baitfish seeking to evade the larger predatory fish. At the same time, the larger fish get the benefit of a feeding pool they can sneak up on.
But, while most freshwater fish attractor efforts traditionally utilize a hodge-podge of assorted types of shrubbery anchored to the bottom, Lahr and Davis have employed heavy-grade construction materials carefully designed and constructed to last below the lake’s surface for many years to come.
Utilizing the TWRA floating work station, with the assistance of area TWRDA officers, the hundreds of pounds of concrete, PVC tubing, drainage pipes, shaped 2x4s along with anchored evergreen trees are being strategically placed on the lake bottom under the careful supervision of area fishing guide, Jake Davis, who is well known for his successful fishing and guide services on this and other local waterways.
According to Davis and Lahr, providing substantial areas of the lake bottom with these long-lasting attractor devices, does more than just give fishermen a good place to present their lures. The structures allow large numbers of vulnerable ‘baby’ fish to survive their first weeks of life and thereby increase the overall bait population in the reservoir that eventually leads to the growth of larger fish in in the food chain. So yes, the goal is to produce larger, and more, trophy fish in Tims Ford Reservoir, which is known in fishing circles as an average fishery for most popular sport fishing species including: largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, walleye, catfish and others.
Both Lahr and Davis reside on, and fish regularly on Tims Ford Reservoir and hope that their concerted efforts will help increase the lake’s national standing as a big fish producer, which will in turn result in increased economic impact for the local business community as more sportsmen being attracted to this lake does far more than just sell boat gas locally.
Motels, restaurants and many retail businesses benefit significantly from the numbers of avid boaters and sportsmen who are attracted to this beautiful lake and it’s dynamic fishery. "Sure, we like to catch big fish, but its bigger than that for this community.”
According to Lahr, “TWRA’s generous contribution to this effort is much appreciated by Jake and I and hopefully they may be influenced by our efforts to consider stocking a few million ‘Florida bass’ seedlings into Tims Ford Reservoir as they have done so successfully in Chickamauga Lake near Chattanooga, which has transformed that reservoir into a top notch big bass fishery in the national listings.”
While today's effort was limited to the areas of the lake in and around the city limits of Winchester, Lahr and Davis hope that their efforts might also attract enough attention to spur additional area efforts of this nature in other reaches of the reservoir to improve the lake’s fishery overall.
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