HAHAHA come try Trout fishing in Tellico one morning after they start stocking again....you have to bring your own rock to stand on!! The locals are just as friendly as the out-of-staters when it comes to sharing tail waters!
And if there was no start time there would be no boat races - or at least that's how it was before the 4AM rule was instituted. Ducks in the woods are really hard to run out. We've put in at 2 and 3 AM prior to the 4AM rule and never saw a duck get up and fly more than a few yards before settling back down. We witnessed rafts of ducks simply swimming far enough off to let the boat pass then coming right back together. It's different during daylight hours and different in fields that I've hunted - where a slammed car door could spook the whole field into leaving. I've offered to take any ARG&F commissioner or officer out at 2 AM to see for themselves that you just about can't run the ducks out of those woods at night. If there was no start time, and there didn't use to be one, you have one or two boats leave early, but the majority of the hunters didn't show up until after 4, more like 5 AM - and it was staggered launches, much like a modern bass tournament ooze off, instead of a blast off. You are right in that whatever time is set is the race start time. Remove the start time and remove the race.
Oh yeah you reminded me. This season I could have caught ducks by hand at 4 am. I'd pull up on one and damn near run over it. They're not that smart in the dark for sure.
So what would you suggest? An hour after sunset launch time? There would still be races but at a much smaller magnitude.
Well, in spite of what you may think, or imagine, from personal experience, before there was a 4AM start time, THERE WERE NO BOAT RACES. Hunted there before the 4AM rule was implemented, camped in a tent at the ramp, so I base what I say on actual, real-life experience and knowledge, not some made up thinking. So, I would suggest one could enter the WMA after midnight. Keep the no boat traffic rule from 1:00 PM until the next day - at midnight. It used to work quite well. Again, THERE WERE NO BOAT RACES. Can't make it any clearer.
There may or may not have been a boat paddle assault early one morning. A friend (whose name I forget) told me about it. Keyboard duck hunters don't get it, as they have never witnessed it.
I've spent many a cold camp fire burning night sleeping in a hole for what I thought was a nice chunk of money. However now a days I like my sleep and warm bed and wouldn't do it for less than two fitty. I would probably only do it 2 to 3 times a year for that.
