Shane Watson Guide Service Report (10-20-09). Since my last report, we've seen great topwater at times with big schools of stripers on the surface and the numbers of fish we've caught on a Sebile and on freelines have been very good when they have been up. Somedays, they have not schooled on top at all and we have had to downline bluebacks 50 feet deep or troll leadcore out over the channel to catch any fish.

Read more...

It is the news that people living in North Georgia have been waiting years to hear ... Lake Lanier is full once more.

After several years of not reaching 1071 feet above sea level, or "full pool", Lake Lanier finally reached that level at 9 a.m on Wednesday October 14th.

The lake and its surrounding communities have struggled not only over the last few years, but for around a dozen years. In the early part of this decade the lake rarely acheived full pool. The situation reached a nadir in 2007 and 2008 as a brutal drought gripped North Georgia and the lake flirted with record lows. 12 months ago the lake was 18 feet below its current level which meant that most boat ramps were shut and businesses in the area struggled to attract visitors.

There are still serious issues surrounding the lake's future, including the "Tri-State Water Wars" argument that involved Georgia, Alabama and Florida fighting over the right to use water from Lanier. Today however, the people of North Georgia can celebrate. Their lake is back.

Shane Watson Guide Service Friday Report (10-08-09). Since last Sunday, the striper bite has been some of the best we've seen all year. We've been on huge schools of busting stripers both early morning and late afternoon most everyday this week. These busting fish have bit chrome and blue Sebile's and freelined bluebacks very well.

When they have not been on top, downlined bluebacks fished 40-50 feet deep in the mouths of creeks where you are marking fish has also worked very well. This morning they did not come up for me and I covered most of the southend. We did however, do very well on my boat on downlined bluebacks.

Some of the schools that we have been on this week have been huge in size and have stayed up for an hour or so, when we've had a boat or two on them freelining and casting. Some of the schools have had many boats flying in on them and they have stayed up for 30 seconds at a time. Overall, it has been one of the best weeks of the year on the stripers. We've had great topwater, freelining, and downlining.

This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service www.lakelanierstripers.com and Hammond's Fishing Center. Good Fishing.

The water is back in Lake Lanier and that means that several lake traditions are also back.

Many annual events were suspended during the drought of 2007 to 2009, but now they're being restarted. The latest revival is the Parade of Lights hosted by The University Yacht Club Maritime Foundation, which was last held in 2006.

The 2009 event is scheduled for November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Lakeside News quotes the Ed Gaito, co-charr of the parade as saying:

“With plenty of water in the lake and coordinated safety support with our friends in the US Power Squadron, Coast Guard Auxiliary, TowBoat/US and Priority Medical Services, we expect a fun and safe return for this Lake Lanier tradition. Safety is our primary concern and we’re grateful to these groups for agreeing to assist us with bringing the parade back. There are many opportunities for sponsors and we hope to raise money for a worthy charity. We encourage businesses to join us in sponsoring this holiday tradition.”

Entry is open to all and boat owners are encouraged to decorate their boats in holiday themes to compete for prizes.

History of the Parade of Lights

The University Yacht Club has been holding its Boating Parade of Lights for over 20 years. The parade was opened to all boaters on the Lake in 2005 when the UYC Maritime Foundation took over the event.

Safety was the reason the event had been suspended in 2007 - the water levels were too low to allow safe boating in the dark.

How to Get Involved

• Registration: will open on their website within the next few weeks: www.lanierparadeoflights.org.
• Information: call Ed Gaito at 678-570-7145
• Sponsorship: call Buddy Meeks at 770-597-6589

It has not been a good few years for the Corps of Engineers based on Lake Lanier, and the situation has deterioated in the wake of Georgia's recent floods. Complaints about the Corps have centered on three areas:

1) Water Levels During This Decade

Over the last few years, Lake Lanier has struggled to reach full pool, partly as a result of the drought that plagued Georgia, but also because of mistakes made by the Corps.

The most famous mistake was in 2006. The Corps discovered in June that the water level was actually 1.9 feet lower that they realised. The gauge used to measure water levels has been incorrectly callibrated.

More recently, they've let out more water than local advocacy groups thought neccessary, although more recently water releases have been reduced to around half of the annual average.

Still, the lake has reached full pool only three out of the last eleven years, and currently hasn't been full in more than four years, since September 6, 2005.

2) Long-Term Lake Management Practices

For years, the Corps has argued that it had the right to use Lake Lanier to supply neighoring counties. As recently as January this year, they issued a statement saying that:

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued an opinion saying that it has the legal authority to supply metro Atlanta's drinking water from Lake Lanier ... Corps attorney Earl Stockdale's opinion says that setting aside about 12 percent of the lake for drinking water would have only minor effects on the project's goals to produce hydropower, control floods and float barges."

That position was famously rejected in July by the now famous "water wars" court case in Jacksonville, Florida. The judge had some sympathy for the Corps but still provided plenty of harsh words:

"The slow pace at which the Corps operates has only served to further complicate and provoke this already complicated and inflammatory case. It is beyond comprehension that the current operating manual for the Buford Dam is more than 50 years old."

3) Water Releases During the 2009 Floods

The most recent area of criticism for the Corps came during the floods that hit Georgia during September. As rivers and creeks downstream burst their banks, the Corps continued to release water from Lake Lanier, potentially adding to the flood waters.

Jackie Joseph, president of Lake Lanier Association, commented in the Gainesville Times that:

"The feeling is if that water had not gone downstream, (there’s) a good chance ... that we probably would not have had as much damage as actually was there," she said. Technically, I’m not sure I understand all of that, but I do know that flood control means you are supposed to, in my view, prevent downstream flooding."

As a result, articles questioning the Corps actions appeared in local newspapers, the Atlanta Journal Consitution and further afield. The Corps responded that:

"It is important to note that no dam provides full protection from flooding. Even the best flood structure cannot completely eliminate the risk of flooding."

They have also been defended by experts such as Kent Frantz, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, who was quoted in the Gainesville Times as saying that the releases:

"couldn’t have changed the depths of the water by even a tenth of a foot, probably. I think people are just looking ... for somebody to blame, and there is nobody to blame. All the heavy rain, predominantly, was downstream from Buford Dam."

That might stand as the Corps defence over the last decade. A combination of unprecdented drought, competing interests and government red tape has made managing the lake very difficult. However, it seems that a series of unavoidable problems has placed the Corps in the media spotlight and avoidable mistakes haven't always made the spotlight flattering.