Sen. Lamar Alexander wants to stall a ban on fishing in the shadow of dams in Tennessee run by the Army Corps of Engineers. Many anglers like fishing right under such dams because they trap bait fish, which attract bigger catches like striped bass and catfish.
The Corps says boating near spillways is dangerous, and plans to put up barriers this year. Fisherman Ken Freeman helps put together bass tournaments, and worries about the cost in tourism dollars.
“The tourism impact done to the state of Tennessee alone will be detrimental, just the amount of people that come here for those bait fish – they’re not anywhere else but at these dam locations to get.”
Sen. Alexander is hoping to delay the barriers for at least a year, and if that doesn’t work, he hinted he could pull funding for the project.