Man Booted from “No-limit” Fishing Lake for Catching Too Many Fish
OutdoorHub Reporters 05.27.15
Does a no-limit pay lake really have no limits? Not according to Kentucky angler Ron Riordan, who said he was recently kicked out of one pay lake in South Louisville because he caught too many fish. Riordan recently posted a video of a confrontation between him and a representative of Horseshoe Pay Lake, who told the angler that he was catching too much fish and needed to leave.
“You’re done here. Period,” said the representative in the video.
“Why am I done? It’s a no-limit lake,” Riordan protested.
“For you, there’s a limit on you,” the representative answered.
You can see the video below:
Horseshoe paylake that was me
Posted by Ron Riordan on Thursday, May 14, 2015
According to its Facebook page, Horseshoe Pay Lake offers 12 hours of fishing for $20. Anglers are limited to two poles and are advised against fishing dams or bridges, but otherwise are not limited in the number of fish they can keep. According to the property owners, Riordan was asked to leave because he consistently came to the lake and kept large numbers of fish, which took away opportunities from other anglers.
“The lake is a business. We want everyone to have a fair chance to catch fish, including kids and beginners. When a handful of fisherman decide they are going to catch 50+ fish REPEATEDLY through out the week, they not only hurt the business, but the average fisherman’s chance to catch including kids,” the owners wrote on Facebook. “A very good example is an all you can eat buffet. Can you go there pay, then eat breakfast, stay for lunch, stay for dinner, then fill a backpack with food and leave? No, we call that common sense.”
Representatives also said that Riordan edited the video to make them seem unreasonable, and suspect that the angler may have been keeping fish to sell.
“He caught 80 [fish] in one trip, lets say average 3 lbs. That’s 240lbs of fish. 1.65 x 240 = 396$. We didn’t say a word. But when he comes back repeatedly to do the same there is a problem. I’ve never filet [sic] 240lbs of fish in one night in my life, my best bet says they where [sic] sold,” wrote one of the owners.
Riordan, a trucker and reel maker, hotly denies that he was catching fish to sell. He told WDRB that he caught 31 fish during the seven-hour trip before he got booted, which, while it is not a small amount of fish, is also not excessive for an experienced angler in a well-stocked lake. According to property owners, Horseshoe Lake stocks around 6,000 to 7,000 pounds of fish a week.
“I feed my family. I donate them to charity. I give them to people who needs them,” Riordan said.
The angler added that if the lake wanted anglers to watch their fish count, then it should stop advertising itself as a no-limit lake. The owners responded by saying that the lake will remain no-limit, as long as no one abuses the rules.
“Our lake will remain no limit with common sense (not going to take advantage of no limit for personal gain),” the owners wrote.
Horseshoe Lake has been in operation for about one year.
