Greenbo Lake Gets a New Habitat
By Chris Erwin
The day starts with a cold rain as the winter breeze mixes with the rain, reminding us that summer is over and most of the docking slips on Greenbo Lake are empty. I'm here because Gary Green, a two-time nominee for the 8th district wildlife commissioner, called to tell me of a plan he had helped put together to Improve the fishing at Greenbo Lake in Greenup County.
Hydrilla weeds were starting to take much of the lake over again, and to relieve the situation, the Department of Fish and Wildlife is considering stocking the lake with Grass Carp again. In the past, this action stripped the lake of all vegetation, so Gary felt someone must do something to prevent this from happening again.
 The DFWL also said that they had learned a lot from the last time Grass Carp was added to the lake, and the DFWL would use what they had learned, and it would be done more in line with what was appropriate for the lake's size.
Green and Bobby Hall (Judge Executive) put together a meeting that included the DFWL, and a plan of action was agreed upon to add habitat to the lake in areas to promote fish reproduction if the carp consumed much of the natural grass.
Donations for materials and labor had to be acquired to make this plan work. These people donated time and money to make this all happen: Bobby Hall, Brenda Danner, Doug Jordan, Roy Luther, Rob Williams, Chris Witten, Larry Pancake, Greenup County Detention Center (inmates), Keth Hieneman, Aaron Timberlake, Sunbelt Rental, Scioto block, Claxon Farms, and Bridgeport Equipment.
With labor supplied by the detention center, sixty stake buckets, forty-eight PVC trees, and twenty pallet houses were built and made ready to be placed in the lake when I arrived to do a ride-along with the DEWL.
The members of the DFWL were Biologist Tom Timmermann, Nathan Hayes, Clay Johnson, Chad Nickell, Nick Keaton, and Bobby Widener, along with Kentucky Afield editor Clara Kinsey and photographer Ashley Reaves.
The team had already planned the general location to introduce the new habitat. The DFWL had supplied two pontoon boats customized to place the structure in its new location. These boats carried the habitat in four separate loads; one boat was equipped with rollers so the pallet houses could be rolled off the front of the boat once we were over the designated location, and the other boat carrying the PVC trees and stake buckets had a lift bed so the bed could be raised to let the trees slide off the front of the pontoon.
The crew on the dock loaded the pontoons with a skid loader, bringing the habitat from the parking lot to the ramp as each boat returned to the dock for another load.
Most locations were in the heads of coves in about ten feet of water. Each load was being done in cold, drizzling rain; however, I can report it all went off like clockwork.
While doing my ride-along with this crew, I discovered that more than one 10-pound plus bass had been observed during a creel survey. This could mean another state record bass could come from the waters again. Greenbo once held the state record caught by Delbert Grizzle. Who knows, that might happen again.
Another thing that has been suggested is the stocking of Saugeye into Greenbo; this decision has not been made but has been discussed; for any of you that doesn't know what this fish is, it is a cross between a Sauger and a Walleye, it is a sterile fish that doesn't reproduce so the numbers can be managed to ensure no overpopulation could accrue.
I want to thank Roy French. Roy came all the way to my house to take me to the event, and he brought me home. Many people went out of their way to try to make Greenbo Lake a place where you could have a good time on the water; it gives me hope that we can make our lives a little richer. Chris Erwin is the publisher and editor of Kentucky Angling News Magazine and can be reached at Trimmer308@gmail.com.
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