East TN fishermen?

[RUGER]

I know all about the pollution and warning signs around Chattanooga.
The way I understand it you need to worry about it more with catfish.
What about the bream, crappie etc. ?
Safe to eat ?

 

[Big Pop]

I eat most anything from them but I usually fish Norris, Douglas, Tellico or Cherokee. I love the French Broad River too. I'm close to Knoxville.

 

[chimneyman]

Eat all you want. Most of the bad stuff is in the fat and bones if you filet them no problem Now the catfish might be a different story. Gasman eats catfish do you want to be like him ?

 

[CATCHDAWG]

It all depends on what body or section of body your fishing. The rivers and lakes that I fish have zero advisories for any species of fish.

 

[RobDooley]

Been eating Chickamauga crappie of over sixteen years and it hasn't bithered me abot.

 

[rsimms]

I know all about the pollution and warning signs around Chattanooga.
The way I understand it you need to worry about it more with catfish.
What about the bream, crappie etc. ?
Safe to eat ?

It varies widely from one body of water to another. You can find ALL health advisories in the state at link below. It's definitely not confined to East Tennessee. Middle and West have their fair share as well. Some of the worst are in some creeks near Memphis where it just says, "Do Not Eat the Fish," period.

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/water/watershed-planning/wr_wq_fish-advisories.pdf

 

[Union Co. Boy]

I've always eaten anything I want from Norris as well as crappie and strippers from Cherokee and crappie from Douglas. I remember a time when there was a warning about bass for a time on Norris , but that seems like a long time ago.

 

[BigRod]

I eat crappie and stripe all the time from Melton hill.

 

[Hduke86]

I don't worry about eating panfish around Chickamauga. Now if you get up in creeks like that comes out to the river under Broad Street near the Ace hardware then you may find a body floating and I definitely wouldn't eat anything that stayed up in there long.

 

[RUGER]

It varies widely from one body of water to another. You can find ALL health advisories in the state at link below. It's definitely not confined to East Tennessee. Middle and West have their fair share as well. Some of the worst are in some creeks near Memphis where it just says, "Do Not Eat the Fish," period.

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/water/watershed-planning/wr_wq_fish-advisories.pdf

Very interesting!
Thank you sir.

 

[cowhunter71]

Eat all you want. Most of the bad stuff is in the fat and bones if you filet them no problem Now the catfish might be a different story. Gasman eats catfish do you want to be like him ?

Fish advisories are for those who do not know how to fillet and trim correctly

 

[Jcalder]

it hasn't bithered me abot.

Ummmm, you sure

 

[WTM]

any large city youre going to have polution and run off. it wouldnt bother me if its an occassional meal but then again if youre eating a big bait of deep fried filets every day then youll probably die of something else sooner than cancer anyway, especially if you gobble down a wad of fries and hushpuppies along with them.

that said i try to avoid anywhere where fish may be marinating in human shat, that includes some marinas where the big house boats dock and the little doo doo river down from gatlinburg. but thats just me.

 

[RUGER]

I was thinking specifically of yellow perch from nickajack.
I wanna catch some and try them.
Never had them.
Only caught two in my life.
One at ky lake and one in the white river for a combined total length of about 8"

 

[FLTENNHUNTER1]

Catfish would be my only concern.

 

[Crow Terminator]

If you're coming that far, you might as well skip NickaJack and go to the real east TN yellow perch haven and have the cleaner water as a bonus.

 

[Planking]

I have a pond i get fish out of so im biased i guess. If it runs through cities, nuclear facilities, cattle feed lots and chicken houses im not that interested in eating it. When it floods that just runs right into the fishery.

 

[hoghunter65]

Most of the advisories are for catfish, and I'm starting to see some for Large mouth bass.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

What Crow said X100!

 

[RUGER]

What Crow said X100!

Didn't you tell me y'all catch them in the fall ?

 

[CATCHDAWG]

Correct, the fall bite is usually very good (and winter).

Didn't you tell me y'all catch them in the fall ?.

 

[DayDay]

I've always eaten anything I want from Norris as well as crappie and strippers from Cherokee and crappie from Douglas. I remember a time when there was a warning about bass for a time on Norris , but that seems like a long time ago.

Whoa buddy!

 

[Union Co. Boy]

Whoa buddy!

Yeeeaaahhh…. I probably should have read my post before sending that one!
Man might get a little more than mercury poisoning there!!!

 

[BigRod]

Yeeeaaahhh…. I probably should have read my post before sending that one!
Man might get a little more than mercury poisoning there!!!

Douglas and fort nasty are 2 of the worst lakes on the east side!!!!!!

 

[Union Co. Boy]

Douglas and fort nasty are 2 of the worst lakes on the east side!!!!!!

I've never eaten anything but crappie from Douglas. Nothing at all from the Fort. There are a lot of us that eat them. I've never heard of any issues. Man I've never heard that before. I'll check into it though. I appreciate the heads up!

 

[rsimms]

READ THIS PLEASE:
Here's the one thing that REALLY makes me mad about this discussion. Commercial fishermen who legally catch fish for consumption from a body of water with a Health Advisory are NOT required to report where their fish came from. I know for a fact that commercial fishermen catch tons of catfish from Nickajack Reservoir, where there is a Health Advisory (one meal per month). Yet they are not required to report to anyone, including the buyers, that those fish their selling came from waters with a health advisory. There is an excellent chance that the exact same scenario is true for any fish you buy in a grocery store. It makes me mad as he!! for state health officials to put the fear of God into sport fishermen, yet they have no requirement forcing sellers to report the source of their wares to the people buying the fish. TWRA says (rightfully), "It's not our job." The Health Dept. says, "We make every effort to inform the public. It is simply an 'Advisory' and it is up to the consumer to ultimately decide what they want to consume."
In 1998 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, published results from a longterm study on Watts Bar Lake (which has some some serious health advisories). They actually surveyed and monitored fishermen for several years and obtained permission to access health records. You can read the entire study here but it reads in conclusion, "PCB level and blood mercury levels (in study participants) are very similar to levels found in the general population. In addition, the PCBs and mercury levels of the participants were lower than ATSDR health scientists expected to find in persons who consume moderate to large amounts of certain fish or turtles from Watts Bar Reservoir."
So, for the record, except for those "Do Not Eat the Fish" streams in Shelby County, I'd probably eat damn near any fish I wanted from anywhere. Any dangers are from "cumulative" effects. To take home one mess of fish from any given fishery for a meal is NOT going to hurt you. Disobey a health advisory for week-after-week, month-after-month, or year-after-year, maybe? But I refuse to believe that eating a meal or two of fish from virtually any body of water on occasion is going to hurt you.
Rant over... drive through now.

 

[Pilchard]

But I refuse to believe that eating a meal or two of fish from virtually any body of water on occasion is going to hurt you.
Rant over... drive through now.

Tell that to someone who has had ciguatera poisoning.

 

[rsimms]

Tell that to someone who has had ciguatera poisoning.

With due respect, we're talking about Tennessee health advisories, primarily regarding man-made, chemical pollutants in Tennessee waterways. I certainly would NEVER wish ciguaratera on ANYONE. But it is a naturally occurring (not man-made) toxin in salt water fish. It is apples and oranges to the context of this thread.

 

[RUGER]

READ THIS PLEASE:
Here's the one thing that REALLY makes me mad about this discussion. Commercial fishermen who legally catch fish for consumption from a body of water with a Health Advisory are NOT required to report where their fish came from. I know for a fact that commercial fishermen catch tons of catfish from Nickajack Reservoir, where there is a Health Advisory (one meal per month). Yet they are not required to report to anyone, including the buyers, that those fish their selling came from waters with a health advisory. There is an excellent chance that the exact same scenario is true for any fish you buy in a grocery store. It makes me mad as he!! for state health officials to put the fear of God into sport fishermen, yet they have no requirement forcing sellers to report the source of their wares to the people buying the fish. TWRA says (rightfully), "It's not our job." The Health Dept. says, "We make every effort to inform the public. It is simply an 'Advisory' and it is up to the consumer to ultimately decide what they want to consume."
In 1998 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, published results from a longterm study on Watts Bar Lake (which has some some serious health advisories). They actually surveyed and monitored fishermen for several years and obtained permission to access health records. You can read the entire study here but it reads in conclusion, "PCB level and blood mercury levels (in study participants) are very similar to levels found in the general population. In addition, the PCBs and mercury levels of the participants were lower than ATSDR health scientists expected to find in persons who consume moderate to large amounts of certain fish or turtles from Watts Bar Reservoir."
So, for the record, except for those "Do Not Eat the Fish" streams in Shelby County, I'd probably eat damn near any fish I wanted from anywhere. Any dangers are from "cumulative" effects. To take home one mess of fish from any given fishery for a meal is NOT going to hurt you. Disobey a health advisory for week-after-week, month-after-month, or year-after-year, maybe? But I refuse to believe that eating a meal or two of fish from virtually any body of water on occasion is going to hurt you.
Rant over... drive through now.

Very cool, thanks for your input!

 

[WTM]

READ THIS PLEASE:
Here's the one thing that REALLY makes me mad about this discussion. Commercial fishermen who legally catch fish for consumption from a body of water with a Health Advisory are NOT required to report where their fish came from. I know for a fact that commercial fishermen catch tons of catfish from Nickajack Reservoir, where there is a Health Advisory (one meal per month). Yet they are not required to report to anyone, including the buyers, that those fish their selling came from waters with a health advisory. There is an excellent chance that the exact same scenario is true for any fish you buy in a grocery store. It makes me mad as he!! for state health officials to put the fear of God into sport fishermen, yet they have no requirement forcing sellers to report the source of their wares to the people buying the fish. TWRA says (rightfully), "It's not our job." The Health Dept. says, "We make every effort to inform the public. It is simply an 'Advisory' and it is up to the consumer to ultimately decide what they want to consume."
In 1998 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, published results from a longterm study on Watts Bar Lake (which has some some serious health advisories). They actually surveyed and monitored fishermen for several years and obtained permission to access health records. You can read the entire study here but it reads in conclusion, "PCB level and blood mercury levels (in study participants) are very similar to levels found in the general population. In addition, the PCBs and mercury levels of the participants were lower than ATSDR health scientists expected to find in persons who consume moderate to large amounts of certain fish or turtles from Watts Bar Reservoir."
So, for the record, except for those "Do Not Eat the Fish" streams in Shelby County, I'd probably eat damn near any fish I wanted from anywhere. Any dangers are from "cumulative" effects. To take home one mess of fish from any given fishery for a meal is NOT going to hurt you. Disobey a health advisory for week-after-week, month-after-month, or year-after-year, maybe? But I refuse to believe that eating a meal or two of fish from virtually any body of water on occasion is going to hurt you.
Rant over... drive through now.

ive come to realize over the last few years that folks drinking well water probably has a higher concentration of heavy metals and poisons than folks that eat fish from the lakes.