May 2009

Okay, a few pic’s from late April thrown in just for fun. We have only weeks left before opening weekend and the lake is going to be lower than many of you have ever seen in your years of fishing here. The last time we had lake levels close was at the end of a drought in 1992. The winter of 1992/1993 was our “big one” that pulled us out and back to perfect levels near 5108 ft elevation. Since then we have had our ups and downs and the last decent year of water increase was the winter of 2005/2006 when we received around 4 ft. Since then we have not recovered nearly the amount of water over winter that we have lost to evaporation/seepage. We are starting off at around 5098.7 ft elevation according to markings on Stones Landing ramp. All the creeks had quit flowing but Pine Creek started trickling again and actually making its way down to the lake. Flows began shortly after they stopped but only after a warm rainy storm pattern made its way over the area. We have had some unsettled weather since but once these storm patterns pass, it will only be a short time before it ceases flowing into the lake. It has not been enough to make a difference but the way we look at it is that at least it may help slow down evaporation even if it’s barely measurable. On average we lose 30 to 36 inches of water over the fishing season and this year we will see the lake level lower than at the end of the 1992 season. We expect to see levels near 5096 by late summer.