State managed lakes vs County/ City lakes

[Bass Justice]

I was wondering something as an inexperienced bass angler. 

I have been fishing local ponds and small lakes managed by the city and counties for the last year and have not been to a lake that was managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The GDNR is usually really good about updating there website and database with lake health, techniques, records etc, and of course finding information about city and county lakes is extremely difficult. My question is..

For those of you that fish both DNR managed waters and city/ county managed waters, do you notice a difference with fishing success or overall lake health? At a glance it SEEMS like the DNR is more on top of things but that may just be inexperience talking. 

Thanks for your input guys.

-Mike

[buzzed bait]

they all vary widely in my experience...  i usually fish more of the locally managed lakes, but that's because they are typically the smaller reservoirs i prefer to fish from the kayak and they typically have the electric only or HP restrictions on them.  

[blckshirt98]

It varies state to state, county to county, city to city.  In Santa Clara county the Water District could care less about the fish, they just care about the water.  Fisherman are a nuisance more than anything.  The next county over in Contra Costa, they stock almost all of their lakes with trout/catfish/bass and encourage fishing as a source of revenue and recreation.  Just complete night and day in how and why the Water Districts manage their reservoirs.

[Sam]

City of Richmond, VA management of the city lakes is as best as can be expected on a tight budget.

County lakes throughout the state are managed better as the counties have more available funds to budget for their bodies of water.

Richmond is on a tight budget so what funds they have are targeting social programs. Fishing is left far behind and is not important to the City as people come first, which is how is should be. However, the City does a good job managing the Historic James River as it runs through the City towards the bay. And kudos to the City for repairing Lake Cherokee and Lake Locinvar over the past two years. Lots of money spent on the drainage and improvement of these lakes.

The first weekend in June is "Free Fishing Days" when families can go to the city park lakes and fish for free. My bass club and region assist the City with this event each year. What is sad is that there are no bass in the pond we fish. The City will stock the pond with trout after the event. These fish are caught and removed for food.

I would think this is true throughout the country. Cities have to prioritize their funds and ponds and lakes are not high on their list of priorities.

As for me, since I live in the City of Richmond it does not bother me in the least. I would rather drive to the surrounding counties and fish and launch my boat. I must admit that I am still in shock over the amount of money spent on cleaning up Lake Cherokee as the work is first class and is helping that lake survive.

Just follow the money.

[soflabasser]

The state managed bodies of water down here are highly pressured,but have big fish in them.Have caught lots of big bass from these types of places.

[greentrout]

As a side, in Houston, TX there are ponds and lakes managed by Utility districts that allow citizens in those districts to fish them. They have nothing to do with the state or county or city. They are usually very good fishing with access to water that is easy and like walking on carpet.

[Nitrofreak]

Like Sam, I feel the same way, a lot of these little out of the way places that's managed with as little a footprint as possible are really good places to visit, although I frequent a place that was built for a nuclear power plant, it covers three counties, each with their own officers, even though it's owned by Dominion power it's property owners and anglers have a big voice in how the waters are managed which can be and sometimes is very difficult to reach agreements on how to best manage the aquatic vegetation that grows in the lake.

I like them all, I am more at home on larger bodies of water though.

[everythingthatswims]

9 hours ago, Nitrofreak said:

Like Sam, I feel the same way, a lot of these little out of the way places that's managed with as little a footprint as possible are really good places to visit, although I frequent a place that was built for a nuclear power plant, it covers three counties, each with their own officers, even though it's owned by Dominion power it's property owners and anglers have a big voice in how the waters are managed which can be and sometimes is very difficult to reach agreements on how to best manage the aquatic vegetation that grows in the lake.

I like them all, I am more at home on larger bodies of water though.

And she's a tough one

[Bass Justice]

Thanks for the input guys!