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Extremes follow extremes! So far we have received 49.4 inches of rain at the lake. Last year we only got 40.5 inches for the entire year! We have had abundant rainfall for 6 out of 8 months! We got 5.15 inches of rain at the lake for the month of August. Secchi disc readings indicate 25 inches of visibility. Water temperature is 86°F.
August saw the return of UWA students to Lake LU. The UWA BASS Club came back to town with some new summer skills and they have been catching some nice bass almost every day that the lake has been open.
UWA student Brant Lewis caught this 5.5-pound bass on some kind of beaver bait while fishing off the pier.
UWA student Joe Hutchins caught this whopper 9.75-pound, 23.75-inch bass with a rattletrap one hot and sunny day in August.
Jonathan Gray caught these two bass one a rainy day. The fish on the left of the photo is an 8-pounder; the fish on the right is a 3-pounder.
New UWA student Andrew Liveoak took a selfie with this nice 6.5-pound bass he caught one day.
Jay Haffner will be returning to Lake LU on Thursday, September 21,2017
to conduct his September Seine Survey.
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
Bream fishing remains terribly slow. The downward trend of the bluegill harvest is in direct proportion to the increased number of big bass in the lake. One thing is for certain, the UWA administration must be thrilled with so many UWA students posing with big bass they have caught!
REMINDER: Bream harvest has changed and anglers may only catch
25 bream per person per day.
The Solar Eclipse was the biggest natural event of August. I had tried to make a cereal box pinhole viewer like I had seen on the Internet, however I could not adjust the focus. The image I got was just a blurry sun with a dent in its side. During the eclipse I grabbed a pizza box and an icepick and punched a few holes in the box top. Holding the top about 5 feet above the bottom, I could then adjust the focus and cast the sun’s image onto the box bottom. This made a perfect pinhole viewer to view the eclipse with. (Note the crescent shapes on the cardboard in the above photo.)
During the solar eclipse I noticed crescent shapes on the walkway outside the lake office. Apparently the pinholes of light that were shining through the leaves were at the proper focal point to project the shadow of the moon passing in front of the sun during eclipse. This was an awesome discovery!
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 [email protected].
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 [email protected] 1-205-652-9266. All photos by R. Limerick unless otherwise noted.