Wiers

[ckinchen]

Originally Posted by boatdriver

Well, I don't think they (USFWS) will "close" the wiers. For one, the only public access is from the lake. That section of the refuge is actually enclosed by thousands of acres of Miami Corp., Sweet Lake, and other private owners. There is no public access from the east. Lease holders would be able to fish it. And, in case no one noticed last year, the whole reason that all 5 weirs' gates were lowered last year was to slow the saltwater intrusion down. If you noticed Grand especially, only one gate would allow water in while all 5 gates would allow water out. Lambert... all closed for the majority of the year. And honestly, I blame the refuge for the death of all those redfish behnd there. They could have a least opened the gates to allow those fish a chance to escape during those hard weeks of freezing weather.

You nailed it the death of those redfish is on the refuge. What a shame, those fish never had a chance.

[Ray]

There are "Slats" or vertical cuts in the bigger weirs that lets smaller amounts of water in and out. In the past, they have closed the weirs and left these open to let fish and shrimp in and out.

When they first put them in, they let water out in the summer so the vegetation could grow to prevent erosion.
I have heard about Miami Corp. crying about water too low during duck season, so the refuge closed them to bring the water up for Miami.
We had lot better hunting in lower water. But the Miami land manager couldn't get his boat to his blinds.
There needs to be a set of rules or reasons to open and close them, and stick to them. Not open and wait till winter to close.
They have closed them in the past before the shrimp got out and lost a buttload of shrimp also.
There is no science to the way they run the weirs or the water levels back there. Or no understandable science.