January / February  2012, Page 3

Reservoir Conditions

by Bob Andry

Good news! Passage through the reservoir is no longer blocked. The drawdown is progressing more or less on schedule and bringing with it an extra bonus. As the water level lowered the currents were restored to the old river channel instead of being spread the width of the reservoir, and this extra water pressure flushed the lettuce blockages down stream thus opening the channel. On December 16th I put in at Eureka and went all the way to the dam and back but it took a good four and a half hours.

The main reason it took so long to go from Eureka to the dam and back was I had to keep slowing down for fishermen! The lower water level moves the fish to the main channel and the fishing is great. The water level on the 16th was a tad over fourteen feet and there are still three feet yet to go until we hit the lower limit of eleven feet. Just think what the fishing will be like in a few more weeks when the reservoir is all the way down.

It's easy to see where the water level was. The ring on the tree in the picture is quit dramatic.

Orange Springs was the only temporary ramp that was usable when I made my December trip. The Hog Valley ramp was still too wet and slippery and the Kenwood ramp's top was still too close to the water level to be prepared for use. Just a warning about the Eureka Ramp West. The Ocklawaha River level is very low and there is only about a foot and a half of water in the ramp basin. Besides that, there is a big hole at the bottom of the ramp so if you push your boat trailer too far down the ramp you run out of ramp and sink into the hole. This can lead to costly trailer repairs so be careful at Eureka West and also plan to use your trolling motor to get out of the ramp basin.

At the Orange Springs Temporary Ramp a party was in progress, a fishing party. Parked cars and trailers were lined up along the ramp's road while the owners were lined up on the channel in their boats.

 At the ramp itself, near the channel, the bank fishermen were doing their thing with good results and, as they say, "A good time was had by all."

As always, when the water is low it is easy for the birds of the aquatic community to reach food and they do take advantage of nature's buffet.

The drawdown plan seems to be working with no time deviations. It was planned that around November 28 the draw down from eighteen feet would commence and it did. The schedule says we will be at the eleven foot level by end of the year and it looks like we will.

It is always interesting and a little depressing to see the water leave the reservoir. The only thing that mitigates the bad feeling is knowing that like the phoenix it will rise again.

Here is a series of pictures of the same location, more or less, taken from between Dec. 4th and Dec. 17th. It looks as though a city of stumps was being built out of the water. You can tell from the pictures that the water was going down more slowly at first and speeded up as the reservoir shrank.

I hope you had a good holiday season and hope you have a chance to visit Rodman during the drawdown to take advantage of this great fishing opportunity. Nothing tastes better than fresh fried specks and hush puppies.