Members Imput Sought
If you have any feedback for fish and game committee, please email fishandgamecommittee@gmail.com
On November 13, 2023, the club started a draw down on Lake Thomas to drop the water level down to kill off grass. The water will remain at a lower level throughout the winter and will fill back up in Spring of 2024. This is one of many lake/fishing improvements going on around the club.
A letter from club President Bobby Sprayberry is going out to members in January 2024 about upcoming opportunities at the club. Letter below:
I hope you and your family has a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. As the new year kicks off, I am writing to inform all members of conservation and management practices that will be taking place at Nettleton Club this spring and how you might help and protect personal property such as stands or game cameras located on the Club. This spring the Club plans to plant trees, prescribe burn certain areas on the Club, address predator issues, conduct a deer population survey and engage in fishing management practices on Club lakes. For these activities to be the most successful, the Club needs help from all its members. These practices will occur throughout the spring and summer of 2024. Please contact the caretaker, Russell Taylor at 662-507-8161 if you would like to be involved in helping with these practices. The Club intends to plant Cypress and water oak trees secured from a donation by member Davis Lovelace in the bottom late this winter. The tentative date is scheduled for Wednesday, February 7 and will be planted by Mrs. Emily Jones forestry class from ICC. Please make sure as you are out through 2024 to watch for these young trees and attempt to avoid any destructive activities near these trees. A tentative date for prescribed burns has been set for February 17 or 24. Weather conditions must be correct to secure a burn permit for the areas where burns are planned so these dates could change. This activity could potentially greatly benefit all wildlife and in particular deer and turkeys. Certified burn manager, Davis Lovelace, will serve as the burn manager and a safety meeting will be held at the Clubhouse the morning of the prescribed burn. Volunteers will be accepted. To volunteer please contact Russell Taylor at 662-507-8161. It is important that Club members who have stands and game cameras take measures to protect their property during these prescribed burns. Please either remove stands, cameras, tents or any other property from the areas listed below OR the owner of these properties should rake the ground for 6 foot in every direction to the bare dirt. It is imperative to rake the ground to this bare dirt so as to not have any tinder that could provide fuel to allow the fire to reach these items. A prescribed burn will occur in the following areas: 1 - West Side of the Grant Taylor Road to the edge of Club property from the Old Garbage Dump road to the WPA Road 2 - Between the gas line and Shumpert Road from the Y on Clubland road until it reaches the gas line. This will occur on the east side of Shumpert Road. 3 - Where the red dirt pit on top of Burgess Hill is located to Bougefala Creek along the road from the Alligator Lakes to Bougefala and South back to the Tombigbee River to the road that goes by Benny’s Shack on the Tombigbee River 4- Around the Alligator Lakes on the east side 5 - Along Lake Conwill (River Run ) from the skinning shed to the gate going to Brook’s Bar Please help us by removing or protecting personal property in these areas by February 10. If you have any questions please contact Caretaker, Russell Taylor at 662-507-8161. Currently many coyotes have been reported and heard on Club property. Coyotes have a negative effect on deer and turkey populations. The bylaws of Nettleton Fox Hunting and Fishing Association do not allow for trapping except as sanctioned by the Board of Directors. The Board voted on Tuesday, January 9 to allow recommended experienced trappers to trap for coyotes on Club property from March 1 - March 7 of 2024. This will occur after squirrel season ends and end the day before youth turkey season begins. Traps will be removed before March 8. Many of these traps will be set on side roads on the Club but NOT on Clubland Road, Grant Taylor Road, Rocky Ridge Road, and the roads to the shooting range and Brooks Bar; however, traps could be set on side roads that stem from these roads. The Board requests member help by limiting traffic and pets or dogs in any areas but these main roads from March 1-7, 2024. As spring approaches, turkey season will soon be upon us. Allow me to remind everyone of an existing Club rule and two new special rules created the last year regarding turkey. An existing rule says only a member or an immediate family member can harvest turkey on the Club. Due to the limited number of turkeys and opportunities this rule is still in effect to save these opportunities for members or immediate family ( spouse or children as defined by Club bylaw ). Within the past year the Board of Directors made two rules for turkey hunting. First, all turkey harvests must be recorded at the skinning shed. Secondly, no supplemental feeding for any animal will be allowed during any open day of turkey season. Hunting over feed for turkeys is against the law. Due to the way turkeys move and hunters move during the hunt this feeding could prohibit or limit hunting in certain areas. Recently, board members met with the newly created Fish and Game committee to review recommendations the committee had. At its January 9, 2024, meeting the Board voted to have limited spring food plots strategically placed to benefit game as well as to fertilize Lake Thomas, Lake Green, and Lake Conwill. Plans are also to lime Lake Thomas. In addition, at the committee’s recommendation, fishing management practices will take place on Lake Green and Lake Thomas. Two or three fish feeders will be added along Lake Green. These feeders will have directional casting and will hopefully boaster the health and weight of fish in Lake Green. The Fish and Game committee also recommended any fish taken in Lake Thomas be removed by taking home or placing in newly restored Lake Conwill ( River Run ) or the Alligator Lakes (an example of the signs to be posted at Lake Thomas regarding removal of fish is included in this newsletter following this letter). Members can also be of great help by recording their catch numbers and size in Lake Thomas on a board that will be available under the boat dock. These records will allow the committee and Board to have good data for future management decisions. Beginning in February, any stands not tagged will be taken down and left at the Club shop or torn down if deemed dilapidated. This measure will be taken due to the amount of deer stands on the Club. Members can purchase only 3 tags for each share from the caretaker and the tag must be attached to the stand. The cost of tags are $2 a piece or 3 for $5. Any stand removed by the Club and placed at the shop can be claimed before May 1 by a member by providing a $25 service fee and placing in writing a statement that they are the rightful owner of the stand. Any stands not claimed by May 1 will be auctioned off at the 2nd annual Nettleton Club Day in May. If you have any questions, please contact Club caretaker, Russell Taylor at 662-507-8161. After deer season, beginning on February 3rd the Club intends to conduct a deer population survey using game cameras. Club member, Josh Ridings, has created a grid with 50 grid areas of relatively equal size. Each camera will be placed in a grid area on a food source. The cameras will be left for two or three weeks and then taken up. Members will then compile deer numbers on does and look to identify different bucks that made it through the season on the Club. This activity is being done to give the Club more data in making sound, informed deer management decisions. The Club is asking for members to donate cameras and/or feeders and corn for this survey. The cameras and feeders will be labeled, taken up, and returned to members when the survey is completed. Please contact Russell Taylor for more information or if you would be willing to help with this survey. We will have many exciting management practices occurring at the Club this year! For our Club to be its best, we need your help in these activities mentioned. I believe Nettleton Fox Hunting and Fishing Club is the best in the state. It is the best because of the hard work and engagement of its members for the last 120 years. It will remain the best because of members like you. I hope you have a blessed 2024 and I look forward to seeing you at the Club!