The Good, the Bad and the Ugly....

The Good: 2006 has been a good year for our Lake. We tested several times for fecal chloroform over the summer months and I am happy to report that none of the reports indicated that we exceeded the recommended level for safe swimming. In addition, our introduction of lime and fertilizer, while causing the lake to turn a green color in the summer, kept the water dark enough so not to allow sunlight to penetrate to the depths of the lake therefore keeping submergent vegetation from growing. In addition we had a number of outbreaks of non-native plants in the lake reported by several concerned citizens. Most likely the infestation was due to an accidental introduction from a pond or aquarium, but they didn't have long to enjoy themselves due to a quick herbicide treatment from our staff biologist. In other words; we killed a lot of weeds. Also, I managed through personal time fishing on the lake and 3 fishing tournaments to remove over 425 pounds of bass from the lake. That is sorely needed due to overpopulation of bass. The money generated from the tournaments, BLHA and additional donations from citizens totaled $3,000 that went for stocking the lake with between 28,000 and 30,000 threadfin shad, a much needed bait fish for the bass.

Well I'm sure everyone by now has heard the news that due to maintenance to be performed in the near future on culverts the lake level will be dropped significantly. Please see the article by Steve Seitz on Page 8 and be sure to check with the City of Berkeley Lake for any permit requirements prior to beginning work!

The Bad: With the good comes the bad. Other than the obvious access issues we will face for hopefully only a short period of time, we do have another issue that will hit the fish more than anyone. With the water levels dropping, it will compress the already exceeded carrying capacity of our lake and push the overpopulation of bass with the under population of baitfish into smaller waters. What does that mean? Well, it will be the winter and as long as the lake returns to normal levels by spring, the bass, a cold- blooded animal, should not be too excited about chasing and eating shad. However, if the bass do get the urge to eat, they will most likely find easy pickings. I do plan, even with the reduction in water levels to try to remove more fish from the lake. I'd love to hear about multiple double-digit bass weights caught each year and I do believe we are moving in the right direction.

The Ugly: I fear that the reduction in the lake water levels will show bottles, cans, plastic, coolers and other ugly trash. Mind you I don't think any of us at this day and age intentionally plan on polluting. However I expect a few adult beverages have lead to the accidental watery grave for a number of items from recent years and perhaps some old antique trash items that we could end up selling on eBay. The possibilities are endless! I did catch a green lawn chair last year in 20 feet of water using a deep diving crank bait but I left it at the picnic grounds hoping that its rightful owner would recognize the chair. Other than adding another project or two to your"Honey Do" list the good news is that BLHA will be removing debris during this time. But if you have the time, and see some trash in the dry lake bed you can retrieve safely while the water levels are down, you may want to put on your rubber boots and try to help clean up the lake.

With that, I will publish my 2006 fishing tournament results and the 2007 fishing schedule for the March Reflections. Good bye 2006, come on New Years.