The facts about Lake Waco’s water woes are well-documented in study after study by some of the country’s best scientists and universities, including Texas A&M. I’m a concerned citizen, not an industry expert, but no matter what I or anyone else says, the facts are that these studies point to dairies as being the main source of the lake’s taste and odor problems.

Yeah, the water here has never been that great, but it had the nasty taste only once or twice a year. Old-timers will remember being told that the lake was “turning over” and things would be back to normal in a week or so.

But in the past 20 years, things never got back to normal, and evidence shows a distinct correlation between Waco’s chronic water problems and the dairy boom of the late 1980’s.

Of course dairies aren’t the only reason for our water troubles. There are a lot of contributors, like other types of agricultural operations, golf courses and residential runoff. But reputable academic studies have pointed to dairies along the North Bosque as a major influence.

It’s like my friend Big Mike. He wasn’t the only reason that beer ran out at halftime at the Super Bowl party, but he was a big reason.

The fact is that whether you fish in it, swim in it, or make iced tea with it, we’re all in this water mess together and we should all do our share to fix the problem. I know that dairies pay a lot of money in taxes, and taxes are being spent to remedy this problem. But I also know about government subsidies that support dairy prices and income.

There are solutions that hit the problem at the source. Systems are available that convert manure into commercial-grade fertilizer, and there are dairy farmers using these systems who have found that they have more than paid for themselves through fertilizer sales.

Fighting wind for cats

Lake Waco catfisherman George Courtney and partner Joe Johnson fought the wind last week to haul in nearly 3 dozen nice catfish, including channel cats to 7 pounds and blue cats to 5 pounds. Big Marv’s Punch Bait was the bait of choice.

White bass anglers anticipating the upstream spawning run are finding a few fish in the rivers, and most agree that without significant rainfall, the majority of this year’s spawn might take place in the lake.

Whites need a stream flow strong enough to suspend eggs in the water. If the flow isn’t strong enough, eggs sink to the bottom, become covered in silt, and die. When fishing for white bass in the lake, look for rocky, windy points.

Ernest and Regina Akers, along with their son Matthew, recently cashed in on some Navarro Mills crappie, and the action was strong as soon as the first bait hit the water.

In fact, Matthew kept his dad so busy taking fish off the hook and re-baiting that Ernest didn’t get started fishing until the youngster had a half-dozen fish lead on him.

Caddo lunker no myth

Caddo Lake has long been a lake of mystery, spawning rumors of strange happenings and sightings of mythical creatures.

Ronnie Arnold of Karnack met one of those creatures face to face Monday: a 15.1-pound largemouth bass that became the latest entry into

“I was fishing in the same area where I’d hooked and lost a big fish a month ago,” he said. His first impression was that he’d caught just another ordinary bass. “I’ve caught four-pounders that fought harder,” he said. “But when I got it up on top, I saw it was a big fish.”

Arnold’s catch becomes the sixth ShareLunker entry from the East Texas lake, but it’s not the biggest. In 1992 Bobby Shaver of Waskom caught the current lake record, a 16.01-pounder.

Turkey calling contest

Academy Sports & Outdoors hosts its 2nd Annual Turkey Calling Contest on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at its Waco store, located at 210 N. New Road.

Participation is free with three divisions of competition — gobblers (ages 16 and older), jakes (ages 6-15) and poults (costume contest only for ages 5 and under).

For more information, call John Dickey at 399-2416.