West Boggs

[kenny]

Anybody know if you can still use the ramps,
also how much longer are they going to let the water out.
Thanks

[Moose1am]

Is Mike on vacation down in Florida? I would love to find out how the draw down at West Boggs is working on the Shad?

Anybody know if you can still use the ramps,
also how much longer are they going to let the water out.
Thanks

[MikeAxsom]

Is Mike on vacation down in Florida? I would love to find out how the draw down at West Boggs is working on the Shad?

Florida? If I were on vacation it would probably be in Wyoming. Actually, this is the first time I have been logged back on sinc ethe board was updated.

We really don't know how the drawdown is working right now, but I'm hopful that the results will be good. We certainly got the weather we needed, and we were able to get the water level down to right where we wanted it. So, if we don't get a good kill this time, I think we'll have to back off and reconsider this whole experiment. I'll try to let you know more when the ice breaks up and we can see what is under there.

[Moose1am]

Thanks for the update Mike:

Look for the Sea Gulls when the ice metls. They find the dead shad as soon as the ice starts melting. We had a shad kill on the pits I fish down here two or three years ago. As the ice was melting the gulls were standing on the edge of the ice and feeding on fish that were still stuck in the ice.

Florida? If I were on vacation it would probably be in Wyoming. Actually, this is the first time I have been logged back on sinc ethe board was updated.

We really don't know how the drawdown is working right now, but I'm hopful that the results will be good. We certainly got the weather we needed, and we were able to get the water level down to right where we wanted it. So, if we don't get a good kill this time, I think we'll have to back off and reconsider this whole experiment. I'll try to let you know more when the ice breaks up and we can see what is under there.

[MikeAxsom]

Thanks for the update Mike:

Look for the Sea Gulls when the ice metls. They find the dead shad as soon as the ice starts melting. We had a shad kill on the pits I fish down here two or three years ago. As the ice was melting the gulls were standing on the edge of the ice and feeding on fish that were still stuck in the ice.

We do watch the gulls, and we saw a few show up right before the lake froze over. We aslo know from experience that when the shad kill is working well, it can draw in Bald Eagles and have them more visble than normal. Back at the end of January this year, I got a series of photos of a pair of Mute Sawns feeding on shad that were struggling just below the surface. That was new to me as I didn't know Swans would eat fish. Live and learn I guess.

[kenny]

Mike
You still pulling water out of the lake

[MikeAxsom]

Mike
You still pulling water out of the lake

No. We opened the gate on December 11, 2006 and closed it on February 9, 2007. At the time the gate was reclosed the water level was about 7.5 feet below normal pool, but heavy rain on frozen ground on February 12 AND 13 brought it up some from that low point.

Anyone considering ice fishing should probably go someplace else, the changing wate rlevels tends to make our ice unstable and unpredictable. On the other hand, I did see a few guys out here last weekend, and they made it out alive, so you'll have to be your own judge of the safety. Our official policy is that we wouldn't call the ice safe if it was frozen all the way to the bottom. Use some wisdom and be aware of subtle changes.