Exactly....I bet the mom / pop shops there and beaming with the potential revenue heading their way because of this.

Welsh gets hammered pretty good

Athens is always packed when I go.. It will be a while before I go again. I will try fishing Lavon. Never fished that lake

Lavon is over 6 1/2 ft high and rising fast and can’t release any rite now

That is very true

Yesterday Ray Hubbard was release 8000cfs. They closed the gates today and Ray hubbard is at full pool.
I suspect Lavon will start releasing soon

Man i don’t want to push you away from Lavon but if the gates are open during the spawn it’s a wrap it gets beyond tuff

I was out there a couple of weeks ago and got there early morning during the week. There were already 5 boats with "So and So, Lake Fork Guide" there. The funny thing was most of the time I was running offshore grass lines to myself and was wacking them. meanwhile, the Lake Fork Guides were beating the banks with little success.

“Athens will be crowded now”, “RIP Athens”, “There goes Athens”......Where y’all been? Same story has been told for decades. Athens is still here, huh? The states future responses to “invasive, non-indigenous” hydrilla will be the deciding factor on Athens future not fishing pressure.

It's well supported by the Fisheries center nearby. Continues to produce while other small waters struggle, such as Purtis Creek. All lakes either run out of grass (or is killed off) or wood eventually and studies need to be done to develop habitat replacements if fishing is to remain at the same level. I thought the MLF tournament at Table Rock Lake last year brought to light all of the local effort made to bring the fishing level back up and the success of that effort.

Lake Athens has a bit of self-regulation related to trailer parking opportunities. It has 15 trailer spaces right above the ramp, then room for 20 more in the grass beyond the dumpsters, then 26 more on over-flow space leased from TFF as I recall. Anyway, that's a total of 61 places to park. Signage was put in place 3 or so years ago that prevents any parking under and around the trees.

1799 acres at full pool, which it usually is, divided by 61 boats if every parking spot is taken = 29 acres per boat.

This would be the good "compare" with other popular fishing lakes . . . how many boats per acre are fished.

Other anglers? Few places to bank fish except by adjacent lake property owners, few living on the lake are avid fishermen, rarely out.

I sold my lake home last fall but up above the 2495 bridge? I and maybe 2 or 3 others were the only active anglers. My point here is the lake gets very little pressure from its own surrounding property owners. You guys who fish Athens, work around the boathouses know those boats are usually covered with cobwebs.

Anyway, just some stats and observations.

Brad

Athens has more lives than an unlucky, blind alley cat...

And, the lake's popularity is more recent than some stated here. It really picked up about half a dozen years ago for the most part.

Contributors:

1. It has lots of grass and fishes well in the winter. Bill Wilcox of Honey Hole fame did several programs that really touted the lake and how well it fished in the winter. It was, as I recall, one of Wilcox's favorites lakes. Bill always seemed to have big days there;
2. It is rarely much below full pool at 440'. It has dried up a bit on occasion in long drought years but since it is largely spring fed, rain and run-off, it recharges well . . . and fast. I have seen it go from 7' down to almost full again in not many weeks. I had water when so many lakes were very low at the end of the last big drought;
3. It is close to D/FW and that is a big deal;
4. Two Sharelunkers were caught in the 13/14 lbs. range. It seems that was 2013? That brought out the anglers, too;
5, It is a good lake for both numbers and size. If you know how to fish it, it's hard to get skunked on Athens;
6. East Texas lakes are just danged pretty. Beats the heck out of floating around on Lake Arlington, others;
7. And, another big deal is Lake Athens never floods. Records show a high water level of about 3 feet over full pool over many years. And, that occurred after the record wet year (2015 I think???) and a dam breaking up above it where water came liberally flowing in from Athens Fish & Game lake. So, the lake has rarely been inaccessible.

Now? It catches some TV publicity and dang if a pro doesn't pull out a near DD by the bridge.

More interest in Athens developed in about, what, 10 seconds!!!

Brad

It’s always packed I only fish mid week.

[quote=Jeff From Iowa]It’s always packed I only fish mid week

Yep