A new “weigh-in” dock for fishing tournaments at Lake Brownwood has been built by the Brown County Water Improvement District.

Currently in tournaments, fishermen bring their catches to the boat ramp on the north side of the dam for the weigh-in, but that area has been too congested.  Now the weigh-ins will take place in the new dock opposite the boat ramp, over the spillway area.  After the weigh-in the fish can be released back into the lake from the new facility, on the spillway side.

Mark Davis, Chief of the Lake Patrol, pointed out that over the last few years Lake Brownwood has hosted 35 -56 tournaments a year.  This new facility will help tremendously to provide efficient operation of the tournaments.  Water District General Manager John Allen said that each tournament brings several hundred persons to the area, most of whom stay in hotels in town, eat at our restaurants and shop in our stores.  A new facility like this will help to bring more tournaments and fishermen to Brown County.  Water District Board members Johnny Hays, Jimmy Jones, and James McMillian attended the ceremony.

The new dock was built by the Water District’s Field Operations staff, headed by Dale Weaver.

Also attending the ceremony was Tommy Johnson from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s “Inland Fisheries” Division, Steven Barton from Texas Pro Lake Management and Major League Fishing, as well as three members of the Tarleton University Bass Club.

Steven Barton said:  “Major League Fishing pioneered the catch and release format.  We take fish care extremely seriously.  The core of our business is fish care.  Whenever fish are caught and enjoyed by the anglers, they are returned to the same water body quickly and in great health.  When people use this facility the fish they release are going to stay within one mile of the release location for one year.  So one mile around this site will be extremely important to have habitat so that the fish can recover from the stress of a full day in a boat and the weigh-in procedure.  We are going to work to have the weigh-in procedure be extremely stress-free for the fish.  Once they are back in the water the habitat will give them the ability to recover which will increase their survival rates.”

Tommy Johnson commented:  “We are excited for the community, wanting to improve the fishing and have access for the anglers to treat the fish with the utmost respect.  We are excited to help out with the habitat projects with Major League Fishing and the Brown County Water Improvement District.”