Ramp Conditions  
FISHING SEASON IS CLOSED UNTIL MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Lake Elevation in October was 5096.46ft
Last update 3-7-10
PAPOOSE CREEK BEGAN FLOWING EARLY IN THE MORNING ON 2-15-10 
 
SEE OUR GALLERY
 COMPARE PHOTOS OF EAGLE LAKE MARINA IN RAMPS ALBUM AND THE CURRENT PHOTO IN 2010. 
 
ONCE SPRING ARRIVES I WILL BEGIN A 2010 RAMP CONDITION ALBUM FOR ALL OUR VISITORS TO SEE WHAT THE RAMP CONDITIONS LOOK LIKE. 
 
Everyone is talking about the “wet winter” well folks we are not getting much at all at the local level. The watershed does have a little water but not enough to bring the lake up above 5100ft…we are basically running out of time waiting for the deluge we need to see. We are supposed to have two feet of water to come down from the Pine Creek watershed but it has to make it 28 miles to get here and has a lot of “ponds” to fill up on the way. However, having two feet of water in the snow pack doesn’t translate into two feet of water in the lake. I have learned from experience not to get ones hopes up and too many times in the past has that “two feet of water” ended up 8 to 10 inches in the lake.  Nevertheless, 10 inches plus the 7 to 8 we have from the local stuff melting (and there is a little bit more of that to come down) should ease launching problems for the early part of the season.  In order for us to actually gain something from the local snow melting it is going to have to melt fast and flow furiously. If it melts out slowly the thawed and thawing ground will suck it up before it gets to the lake. 
 
Hopefully we get enough water this spring to bring the lake level up to where we started last season.  I am not holding my breath.  However, if we get an additional foot of water (excluding the 7 to 8 inch increase over winter) Eagle Lake Marina should be usable for the early part of the season but we are hoping LNF can improve the situation before it gets as bad as it was last fall.  It really wouldn't take too much to drive equipment out on the right side sand bar (It's packed very well) and drag the silt from the courtesy dock to the existing sandbar.  We will be checking later but let's see how much water we get first.  We know that's what they will be doing.  Photos of the EL Marina and Spalding are up in our gallery already.  Come closer to opening I will once again create a specific photo album for the ramps.
 
The drought is not over for Eagle Lake no matter what you hear from other reports we will continue to see the lake level below 5100 ft elevation this season…more than likely I’d say we will be lucky to reach 5098ft.  We keep hearing about a late El Niño and we keep waiting for it to come…and that’s about it.  Basically, all the storms have been stormed out before they get here.
 
We will be requesting information from LNF regarding any plans for low level launching a little later.  It would be in their best interest to take care of a temporary low level launch ramp for all our visitors this season.  And I am certain that they know we will be posting photos for all of you to see.  We hope to be able to give LNF a big Hoorah after the official mid season water assessment.  BLM needs to reconsider their part in keeping water from leaving the lake....however, if they didn't consider it back when they decided to install the valve and pipe below the level pre-determined by CDFG in 1962 to be detrimental to the lake, fish and recreation which was at an elevation of 5099 ft....BLM supposedly has the end of the pipe set at 5095ft... That is IF it was installed as per plans. So if anything folks, we need a miracle and another miracle from LNF to go out of their way to help the visiting public. 
 
TAKE NOTE: THE SOUTH BASIN CAN EASILY HANDLE LOSING SEVERAL FEET OF WATER…AS LONG AS LNF PROVIDES DECENT LAUNCHING PEOPLE CAN CONTINUE TO CAMP, FISH AND RECREATE. ONE THE OTHER HAND, THE NORTHERN BASINS WHERE THE MOST RESORTS ARE CAN NOT AFFORD TO LOSE AN INCH AND ALREADY STONES LANDINGS PUBLIC RAMP IS UNUSABLE. SPALDING HAD TO SPEND A BLOODY FORTUNE TO DREDGE ONE RAMP WHICH IF THEY ARE LUCKY WILL GET US THROUGH UNTIL ICE OVER IN FALL...UNLESS WE DON’T SEE TWENTY PLUS INCHES OF INCREASE IN THE LAKE LEVEL.
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We will keep watch on the ramps this winter and along with the local moisture and the spring assessment for water content in the snow pack of the watershed.
We need to see a couple feet of water at least just to keep conditions similar to last season. Spalding should fair well for opening weekend and if we see an additional foot of water EL Marina should be more functional for more boats.…we hope Lassen National Forest has come up with an emergency plan for a new low level launch ramp, hopefully sooner than later.   
Maybe LNF should look into having BLM pay up their share for low level launching after allowing several feet of lake water to flow to Willow Creek and the Susan River for irrigation over the last two plus decades. This is the letter from State Water Resource Control Board Referenced to in BLM Water Budget regarding “water rights”…. This does not require reading between the lines…it is right there in black and white that water rights to Eagle Lake water do not exist. This is a very good example of misconstruing information to the public….one document referring to another that says the complete opposite of what they said it says…. You are right, it doesn’t make a damn bit if sense and this is what we have to deal with in Lassen County…Federal, State and Local government in cahoots to make sure that a handful of people including county officials benefit while the citizens, the lake and her natural habitat, the resorts and the tourists pay for it.  What is wrong with this picture folks?  
All contact information is on the link PDF files. Don’t just sit on your butt and do nothing folks…unless you simply don’t care. Think about how much this lake has given you then try to think of something you have done for her.  I’ll just bet that many of you cannot come up with one thing that you have given back to the lake but I’ll bet you count the fish she blesses you with every season. Does that make you any different than the government that rapes her? I don’t have that identity crises. Here is your chance to do something for the lake that has taken care of you for generations…future generations are at stake. BLM Eagle Lake Field Office 530-257-0456

Ramp and camp info:
530) 257-4188 is Eagle Lake Ranger District desk.
Eagle Lake Marina Susanville office (530) 257-3067 (store closed at the Marina).  
 
ALL EAGLE LAKE, ALL THE TIME
  © Copyright C 2004-2009 by the author, Valerie Aubrey. The website’s www.eaglelakefishing.net and www.eaglelakefishing.info, All Maps, Articles and Photographs contained there in are copyright protected and are published exclusively on the Internet by the author and may not be copied, displayed, reproduced or published in any other form without the express written permission of the author who reserves all rights. Viewers may print for personal use. Commercial use of any map or story is strictly prohibited without permission. Any “free Map” from our websites must be a permitted copy for commercial redistribution. Material supplied by others is the copyrighted property of the respective authors. Re-use of any articles, maps and photographs on Eagle Lake Fishing Information and Network without written permission by the author(s) for any purpose is strictly prohibited. We have a tendency to check some publications and newspapers for plagiarism. 
 
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2010-03-07

 

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