Search the Community

Referring back to the Diane Black residence and location. I have been fishing on Old Hickory lake since the 70's and during that time bass fisherman saw a great lake forming and becoming a Big Bass lake. By the mid early 90's the lake was a Maga big bass anglers dream. The section of land in Station Camp creek was one of the best locations on the lake to catch numbers of big bass because it had a beautiful growth of Milfoil beds in which big bass lived. Milfoil was growing anywhere the water was 5 feet deep all over the lake but would not grow very far away from the banks because it is a shallow water plant. All of the channels remained clear of the plant. There was a large farm on the point of land located in Station Camp creek and cattle would live on it and they would go out in the lake to cool off in summer. The elderly man that owned the farm had no living relatives and a contractor made a deal with the gentleman to purchase the land and gave him a lifetime endowment allowing him to remain on the property as long as he lived. The old gentleman passed away in 1995. In 1997 the Milfoil began to die off and dissappear all over the entire lake and not just in Station Camp Creek. Through a bunch of investigations it was discovered that the Corps of Engineers was killing off the weeds beginning in Station Camp Creek. Problem was that it was a private deal made under the table between the Contractor and a man high enough up in the Corps ladder to get the weed erradication done without needing to go up the ladder to get approval. Next problem was the Corps and Contractor subcontracted to erradication to an outside firm to do the work. Well they began spraying in late 1996 and in late 1996 hundreds of thousands weeds were being killed along with hundreds of thousands of fish of all species. Turns out the contractor used the wrong chemicals to kill the weeds and it killed the fish also. That brought the TWRA into the mix and they began investigating the fish die off. They collected many different species of fish and sent them to labs to find out what killed the fish. It was determinded that it was the weed killer used by the contractor killed the weeds and the fish. The guy that worked for the Corps tried to cover up the true reason for the weed erradication as the fact that the weeds were damaging to Turbines at the dam that they used to generate electicity which in turn ended up being a proven lie. The investigaton turned up that the contractor that had bought the land in Station Camp Creek knew that his lake front property would be worth millions more if the weeds were gone so he found a guy at the Corps he could bribe to get the approval to kill the weeds and once he had that he was the one that hired and paid the sub contractor to do the job and told the contractor to do it as cheaply as possibly and to do so he bought the cheapest weed killer available that was not approved for the protection of wild life including fish. Old Hickory Lake fishery is still trying to recover from the damage that was done to it in 1996. Everyone found to know anything about what deal was made at Corps was fired and the main 1 or 2 at the top level where prosecuted. The contractor was charged with Bribery of Government officials & distruction of Government property and was still fighting it in court when the housing bubble burst and he went bankrupt and lost everything. Construction on houses that were half done was stopped for about 2.5 years and everything sat dorment there till a new owner bought the operation. The Sub contractor was also charged with distruction of Government property and lost his license and was fined some astronomical figure! The weeds are still gone and the fishing average at best and where bags of fish averaging 25 to 30 lbs coming into tournaments in 1995 are now 14 to 17 at best on a good day but many are 12 or under. Off my soap box now!!!!!!