One of the most well-known and sought after attractions in the Washington County area are its lakes.
Lately, however, local fishermen have been paying the price for such popularity due to a lack of suitable landing spots and out-of-towners exploiting some of those lakes’ recreational purposes, leading to the Board of Supervisors’ decision to acquire a realtor to find suitable property in the Lake Lee area for the purpose of developing suitable access to the lake.
Several local fishermen attended Monday’s regular meeting of the BOS with fisherman Rev. Melvin Moton speaking on their behalf about the various woes they’ve experienced in recent years.
Moton also spoke at a 2019 BOS regular meeting at which he voiced concerns specifically regarding the Lake Lee boating ramp at Deerfield Landing, located approximately seven miles south of Greenville and known as the best access point to the lake.
In that same meeting, BOS president Carl McGee highlighted the county having had a 50-year lease on Deerfield Landing, but when it was up for renewal, the landowner decided not to renew the lease.
From there, the county engaged the landowner in negotiations to no avail.
And now, with more than three years having gone by since the Deerfield Landing landowner’s decision not to renew the county’s lease, local fishermen are once again seeking a solution.
“We left the meeting (in 2019) with the impression that something would be done by this time and hoping we would’ve had a fishing ramp,” Moton said to the BOS.
He asked all the fishermen in attendance to stand and they were well represented with more than 11 occupying seats in support of a means of feasible access to Lake Lee as well as a way to prevent other lakes from being devoid of substantial fish.
“We’re getting into the spring of the year and I don’t know if the supervisors have any control over this or not, but the spring of the year is the peak for fishing. We can’t fish Lake Washington because out-of-towners take the lake over. They just really pushed us out and what disturbs us is out-of-town fishermen come in and they fish all day and all night,” Moton pointed out, noting there seems to be no limit enforcement. “These people bring deep freezers and they’ve been barred from five states already and the State of Mississippi has got to do something.”
Moton acknowledged the BOS’ authority and regulatory power only goes so far, but he believes their influence and relationships with other entities, particularly Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, & Parks, could affect change.
Lake Ferguson, according to Moton, is a major hotspot for bass fishing as well as periodic tournaments, which creates difficulty for recreational fishing in addition to the commercial barging that goes on.
As for the Wayside Landing, the consensus among local fisherman is that it is just “not a good landing” because of how shallow the lake is.
“Our plea is that you all will move expeditiously on trying to get us a place to fish because we live here and we ought to have access to a fishery in Washington County,” Moton said, reiterating the need for access to Lake Lee.
BOS attorney Willie Griffin addressed the issue of Lake Washington, saying, “For years, we have expressed concern about the yoyo’s and these people coming in with refrigerated trucks pulling the fish out of my Washington. There were complaints made with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks. I personally made complaints with them and they claimed they were trying to resolve it. There needs to be additional complaints and possibly a resolution from this board to try and clear that up because they are draining that lake of good fish.”
Griffin said further, “Secondly, with respect to Lake Ferguson, I don’t know how much this board can do to address that issue. Getting back to Lake Lee, we looked at trying to do something with Deerfield, but Wayside is not a realistic place to try and place a ramp.”
He favored the idea of continuing efforts to have access to Lake Lee via Deerfield Landing, but alluded to the means of such being quite challenging.
“To me, it sounds like the best opportunity we have right now is to get with a realtor, find some land and develop our own right there,” District 1 Supervisor Lee Gordon suggested. “I think it’s the best way and the easiest way this year and maybe even next year.”
McGee assured the fisherman the BOS would not give up on making strides to acquire an ideal landing spot for Lake Lee.
“We have a number of things going on, but that is a priority for us and I want every fisherman to know that. I do fish and it’s important that we give access back to all the fishermen around here that includes Lake Lee,” he added. “I just need a good faith effort in resolving this issue.”
Gordon made a motion to acquire assistance from a realtor to check the availability of properties down on the Lake Lee area and it was seconded by District 2 Supervisor Tommy Benson.
The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
