Lake Athens | |
---|---|
Location | Athens, Texas |
Coordinates | 32°12′47″N95°44′46″W / 32.213°N 95.746°W |
Type | reservoir |
Lake Athens is a 1,799 acre [1] reservoir located to the east of Athens, Texas in Henderson County.
The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center is located on the north shore of the lake. [2] The lake is located in the Neches River Basin on Flat Creek (a tributary of the Neches River). [3] It has a maximum depth of 50 feet. [4]
Lake Athens Dam has a length of 3,000 feet and a maximum height of 67 feet. The drainage area contained by the dam is 21.6 square miles. [3]
The Lake Athens reservoir was constructed in 1962. The Athens Municipal Water Authority oversees Lake Athens and Lake Athens Dam. The construction of the dam began on September 25, 1961, and was completed in May 1963. [3] The design engineer for the dam project was Wisenbaker, Fix, and Associates. The contractor for the project was Elm Fork Construction Co. Lake Athens was built for recreation, flood control, and water supply. The Caddoan Indians lived in the region and made pottery out of clay deposits in the area. [4] The name "Athens" came from the city Athens, Greece. This name was suggested by Dulcina A. Holland in 1850.
The only boat ramp located on Lake Athens is on the northwestern side at Lake Athens Marina. Boat traffic is minimal and allows for calm water for fishing and water skiing. Crappie and largemouth bass are the primary target of recreational fisheries on the lake. [5] Other species include white bass, channel and flathead catfish, spotted gar, smallmouth buffalo, freshwater drum, and bowfin. Largemouth bass on Lake Athens range from 3 to 8 pounds.[ citation needed ] An 82-pound-3-ounce (37.3 kg) smallmouth buffalo taken from Lake Athens in 1993 stands as the IGFA all-tackle world record for the species. [6]
There are several species of wildlife to be seen on Lake Athens. Alligators, javelina hogs, ducks, geese, dove, squirrels, white-tailed deer, and quail are among the many animals at the reservoir. [4]
Lake Athens is in the Texas Post Oak Savannah wildlife district. It has many types of trees including pecans, elms, oak, eastern red cedar, and walnuts.There are over 200 varieties of wildflowers at Lake Athens. The wildflower season begins in early spring and ends at the first frost of the year. Lake Athens has both submerged and emergent native species of plants. Some of the submerged plants include American pondweed, coontail, and eelgrass. Some of the emergent plants include American lotus, cattail, and water primrose. [7]
Several invasive aquatic plants have been found in the Lake Athens reservoir. The invasive aquatic plant species giant salvinia was a nuisance on the Lake for more than twenty years but was eradicated in 2019. [8] Other invasive species include alligatorweed, hydrilla, water hyacinth, and crested floating heart. [9]
The spotted bass, also called spotty, or spots in various fishing communities, is a species of North American freshwater fish belonging to the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of the order Perciformes. It is noted for the rows of dark spots below the lateral line, which give it its common name. One of the black basses, it is native to the Mississippi River basin and across the Gulf states, from central Texas through the Florida panhandle. Its native range extends into the western Mid-Atlantic states and it has been introduced into western North Carolina and Virginia. It has also been introduced to southern Africa, where it has become established in some isolated waters as an invasive species.
The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus Micropterus, and is a popular game fish sought by anglers throughout the temperate zones of North America, and has been spread by stocking —as well as illegal introductions—to many cool-water tributaries and lakes in Canada and more so introduced in the United States. The maximum recorded size is approximately 27 inches (69 cm) and 12 pounds (5.4 kg).
The largemouth bass is a carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico. It is known by a variety of regional names, such as the widemouth bass, bigmouth bass, black bass, bucketmouth, largie, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, bucketmouth bass, green trout, Gilsdorf bass, Oswego bass, LMB, and southern largemouth and northern largemouth.
Bass fishing is the recreational fishing activity, typically via rod-based angling, for various North American freshwater game fishes known collectively as black bass. There are numerous black bass species targeted in North America, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass or Kentucky bass, and Guadalupe bass. All black bass species are members of the sunfish family Centrarchidae.
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