Well, it's getting to be that time of year again when the leaves are turning colors and falling off the trees. Unfortunately, we have not seen the sky turn colors or much rain falling. The lake continues to be about 3-4 feet low, the drought is in full swing and Lake Lanier levels are 15 feet low, revealing racetracks and other debris that have not seen the light of day in decades.

The bass are finally getting bigger! We continue to remove the smaller bass (under 14-16" or so) and plan to stock more and more shad into our lake. The bass are not skinny anymore and are in fact getting larger. So am I for that matter, but that's another story. Anyway, we need to keep up our "feed the hungry bass" program. At this point, we have raised a total of $379 through additional donations from Mr. R. Smith (Thanks) and through the sale of the unsightly liquid storage tanks at the picnic area. We need to raise at least $4,000 for the purchase of additional shad. We hope that future BLHA Board of Directors will continue to match the fishing teams' revenue. So with $2,000 from each, we would expect by the end of our tournaments next year we'll have enough money for another batch of shad! If you would like to make an additional contribution to our "Baitfish Fund" please feel free to send a check, made payable to BLHA, with "Baitfish Fund" in the subject line. We keep a separate line item for all funds to be used for future stocking of shad but if possible please let me know as well so I can update everyone on our progress.

I have sent a proposed list of 2008 tournament dates to the Board of Directors and hope to have those finalized in the next edition of Reflections. I also hope for more water in the lake so more boats can be in the water to participate. The tentative dates are as follows:

• Saturday, April 5 7 am – Noon
• Saturday, May 17 7 am – Noon
• Saturday, July 12 7 am – Noon
• Saturday, August 16 5 pm – 9 pm

Unfortunately, I regret to inform you I will be stepping down from the Board at the end of this year. I have truly enjoyed working with the BOD for 3 of the last 4 years. However, my wife Melanie and I are expecting our first child in February and I think it would be best for me to reduce my civic responsibility at least for the next few years. However, I am glad to say that the Board has a new lake manager lined up for next year and I am confident he will do an outstanding job. More importantly, I will continue to run the fishing tournaments for 2008 and beyond. I expect we'll have more participation if we get some additional rain to release some boats from their dry dock situations. Also, I know in just a few years I'll be bringing my new son on our lake to go fishing. It's hard to think of a better place to bring up a child that across the street from such a great fishing lake.

So with that, enjoy the rest of 2007 and tight lines in 2008.