Briery Creek and HP limit

[burleytog]

Why?

[Wayne P.]

Because it is a FISHING lake, not skiing, jet ski, sailing, pleasure boating, swimming, and whatever else people do on the water.

Another 2 lakes in that area have the same HP restriction.

[quanjig]

I'm sure Wayne will tell you the same thing but I believe there is an amazing amout of treetops thay lay in wait just under the surface in a bunch of different places making anything over 9.9 extreamly dangerous.  I know a lot of large impoundments are the same way but vgdif is funny that way.  I wonder the thing about Fountainhead reservoir!!

[burleytog]

That 9.9 limit keeps me from even thinking about making a trip up there.

I can understand the need to discourage pleasure boaters, but there has to be a better way.  Perhaps any boat over 9.9 is limited to idle speed only?

[Dan:]

Can you take a bigger motor out there as long as you have it trimmed up?

[Wayne P.]

quanjig, the trees had nothing to do with the HP restriction.

In reality, any boat that can get on plane can get you in trouble IF you are not familiar with it. The HP limit has been in force since the lake was opened to fishing  and the trees were so thick you couldn't see the far shore line. If you are not careful, you can damage your boat and trolling motor if you try to go too fast thru the submerged stumps. Until Dec 2009, I had a 12' jon boat with a 9.9, it would GPS at 25 mph. I used to run WOT thru the forest of stumps and trees because I know where and how. I've been fishing there since it opened in January 1989.

[Wayne P.]

There is no "trimmed up" rule there. You just cannot legally operate a gas motor above the 10HP max. limit.

Keeping the big motor in the water just gives another part of the boat a place to hit a stump.

Lots of large bass boats are on the lake in late Winter thru Spring from all over the country.

There are a few poachers occasionally, some get caught, some don't. Here is one--

[Dan:]

There is no "trimmed up" rule there. You just cannot legally operate a gas motor above the 10HP max. limit.

Keeping the big motor in the water just gives another part of the boat a place to hit a stump.

Lots of large bass boats are on the lake in late Winter thru Spring from all over the country.

Gotcha. Some of our lakes up here have rules about being trimmed up.

Burley, would a kicker motor be an option? A buddy of mine has one setup on his aluminum boat for HP restriction lakes.

[burleytog]

There are a few poachers occasionally, some get caught, some don't. Here is one--

Poacher?

[burleytog]

Burley, would a kicker motor be an option? A buddy of mine has one setup on his aluminum boat for HP restriction lakes.

BC is about 6 hours away.  Not worth the effort for a trip a year.

[Wayne P.]

burley:   Poaching is the illegal hunting, fishing, trapping, or eating of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws.

The guys in the picture had been fishing and were moving to another area to fish. Their use of the 250 HP motor to take or attemp to take game fish was in  an illegal manner.

Is there another term to describe their offense?

[burleytog]

burley: Poaching is the illegal hunting, fishing, trapping, or eating of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws.

The guys in the picture had been fishing and were moving to another area to fish. Their use of the 250 HP motor to take or attemp to take game fish was in an illegal manner.

Is there another term to describe their offense?

Using a large motor on a HP restricted lake is anything but poaching.

[J Francho]

I know a bunch of guys that fish it regularly, but they all fish it from kayaks.  I was supposed to go down in a couple of weeks, but I have to work a show up here that weekend.

[s13john]

the stumps at briery can get mighty frustrating at times. its a great lake though and not that big, and you dont have you go far to get from one good spot to another.

i havent seen any one with a big motor down though... well once, but he only used it to get off a stump.

[XLFISH]

Wayne maybe you should have used SPOTLIGHTING deer as an example of poaching, and compared the use of an illegal motor to clear that up for whats his name there.

[Joe D]

I guess I have the same question as others, I understand the hp restriction for safety, but why not restrict all others to idle speed? I called VDGF and they could not give me an answer. I have a 30hp on my boat and to have to travel all over the lake with a trolling motor just seems silly. Last year we went from the 711 ramp to the back of the lake, fished about 6 hours in strogn wind and our 24 volt system was dead as could be. Had to idle back to the ramp just to get home. Sure would be nice to be able to explore the lake a little more with the big motor. But I don't want to be a poacher : just kidding wayne

[XLFISH]

I hear you Joe. My first thought is that if you give us an inch we will take a mile. There is a reason the jails are full. Not for using big motors of course, but for not following the rules set up in our society.I am guilty of it myself. When the posted speed limit on the highway reads 55, I do 65 or higher all day long. I stay on the trolling motor at Briery 99% of the time. People always assume the grass is greener at the other end of the lake, but when in reality that lake has so much timber that any cast has the potential to produce a fish. Personaly I dont mind the HP restriction as it keeps alot of people off the lake. It is a MAD HOUSE in the spring and I will not even go on the weekends if I can help it. You see tags from as far away as New York looking for a place to park. My brother has a big motor and the funny thing is the boat sits in the garage most of the time as we target trophy fish from a smaller craft on smaller waters. I found out a while ago that I dont need a fifty thousand dollar boat to catch a big bass. Look at the lakes in California. Trolling motor only. Yet they are sticking Goliath fish. You can catch big fish on Briery out of a John boat or you can race around the Potomac, Kerr, or Gaston and catch a limit of "keepers". Dont let boat size or HP stop you enjoying a day on the water.

[Joe D]

Don't get me wrong I agree with what you are saying, I guess there is always something to complain about. I am accually trying to find a 9.9 electric start so I can pull my 45/30 off and be a little more moble at briery creek and sandy river, it sure is nice driving from the console. If anyone has one to sell shoot me a PM.

Joe

[burleytog]

Wayne maybe you should have used SPOTLIGHTING deer as an example of poaching, and compared the use of an illegal motor to clear that up for whats his name there.

How would running a 25, 50, 90, or 200 HP motor at BC increase your chances of catching a big fish?

How would using a spotlight increase your chances of killing a big buck?

[XLFISH]

BirdDog you seemed to miss Wayne's point that using an illegal motor to obtain game is basically poaching. You can fish there but you can not use anything over 10hp to do it. You can hunt for deer but you can not use a spotlight to do it. The size of the boat or motor does not increase your odds but regardless, the rule is 10 hp max. Personally I would not drive six hours to fish Briery if I were you. Myself and many others have gone there and been very disapointed in the past. I would hate to think of driving 12 hours round trip for a roll of the dice. I remember two years ago on a nice March day, two guys from N.Y were loading thier boat and cursing at how much of a waste of time the trip had been. The grass is not always greener at Briery.

[IMPY03]

The grass is not always greener at Briery.

Very true. I also like to 10 H.P. limit on briery being that it is a dangerous lake if you don't know much about it and during the spring time I would like to see as few people as possible because it is a madhouse on the weekends. Sooo I'm glad I have a small boat and 9.9 hp motor  ;D

[Aluma-Bass]

trust me with all the trees and hidden stumps, structure you dont want to go any faster then a 9.9 can push you. I think if they allowed any bigger motor it would be dangerous!!  If i had a bass boat i wouldnt want to risk running my big motor and nailing a stump/tree and messin up the motor bc structure is everywhere even if you think you in open water, bunch of crap just out of view under the surface. Everytime i go out i see/hear someone stuck! 9.9hp is perfect for this lake...now sandy maybe a lil diff bc you have more open water.

[Froggin]

I like the 10hp restriction on briery and sandy....Its bad enough with the 9.9 motor and all those stumps but I would love to see some guys with larger motors play bumper cars all day....Basically get a 9.9 motor or call someone who has one!!!!!!! :'(

[fishguts]

To keep boat traffic/fishing pressure down. No other reason. Same with Sandy and just about every other horsepower restricted lake.

Think how crowded Briery would be in March and April if big boats were allowed to run at idle speed.

[Wayne P.]

Thru contact with the district conservation officer today, a couple more reasons for the HP restrictions that haven't been mentioned. Those are: the size of the body of water enters into the consideration and the temptation to use the larger engines above idle speed creating a hazard to other boaters and themselves.

The number one reason is the lake was created as a fishing lake which lead to the trees being left standing in a majority of the water and done so with Federal and State Funds which gives the VDGIF the responsibility of management and control. Along with the management, was the stocking of Florida stain bass as an attempt to create a trophy size population (that sure has worked).

Nearby Sandy River Lake is county owned and chose to use the Briery Creek rules for their model of management.