I've got a few things to do around the house this morning, but I'm hoping to get out on the water for some fishing by 11:30 a.m. With the wind out of the SE, I should be able to get the boat off the lift, and then back on again, with little difficulty. Then once on the water, I'll deploy the drift sock to control my drift in the wind.
Later this evening I'm going to go over to my neighbor's (John Newman) house for dinner and to watch the Major League Baseball All-Star Game which is being played in St. Louis this year.
Noel Hancock and Jerry Schiebe stopped by at 11:15 a.m. to continue the discussion about the Army Corps of Engineers plan to lower the water levels in Leech Lake. While we were talking I received a phone call from Dave Laursen, secretary of the Leech Lake Association (LLA), and he filled me in on the discussion that took place at the LLA meeting last evening.
Dave said that the representative from the Corps of Engineers was at the meeting and stated that all public comment was closed as of November 3, 2008. The representative added that nearly all public comments on the proposal were negative, and that at this time the plan was "being reviewed, but on hold."
After discussing the matter with Dave we agreed that I would contact Steve Clark, the project manager for the ROPE/DEIS at the Army Corps of Engineers, to determine the current status of the proposal. I would then report back to the LLA as well as the Ottertail Peninsula Township board.
Ironically, during my meeting with Noel and Jerry, and my phone call with Dave, it was raining very hard, putting much needed water back into the lake.
After Noel and Jerry left, I put a call into Steve Clark, project manager for the Mississippi River Headwaters ROPE/DEIS. Clark answered on the first ring of his phone and after my introduction I asked him the status of the project. I was told that the project is being revised and that the revised proposal will be released to the public in early August.
Once the proposal is public, the Army Corps of Engineers will take comments for 30 days. Clark told me that the original proposal was met with such violent opposition that the Corps of Engineers decided to drop its plans for an early-summer draw down of the lakes in question. One thing that remained in the plan, however, was the increase in the minimum flow out of the dam for Leech Lake -- from 100 cfs to 120 cfs.
Clark tried to down play the minimum flow increase saying that on a lake as big as Leech Lake the increase in flow would amount to no more than a day's worth of evaporation. I pointed out to Clark that if you take into a account that the average evaporation out of Leech Lake on a hot August day is roughly 1/4", and add to that the 1/4" that the increase minimum flow from the dam would take out of the lake, you end up with a total decrease of 1/2" of water per day. Over a two week period that's 7", which is by no means insignificant.
Despite my efforts, Clark remained committed to the newly revised plan, including the provision for the increase minimum flow out of Leech Lake. I told Clark that he could likely expect opposition from the Leech Lake Association, the Leech Lake Band of Objiwe and various area townships around the issue of the proposed increase in minimum flow. His response was that the public is free to submit any comments to the Corps of Engineers once the ROPE is distributed publicly.
After my discussion with Clark, I called the Dave Laursen of the LLA and my Ottertail Peninsula Township board representative Jerry Schiebe to give them the new information. I was surprised that the LLA was not aware of the plan to increase the minimum flow out of Leech Lake. Apparently the Army Corps of Engineers representative who attends the monthly LLA meetings had failed to mention that element of the proposal for nearly a year now.
The LLA will take up the issue again as soon as the revised plan becomes publicly available in early August. In addition, the Ottertail Peninsula Township board will also oppose the new Corps plan and will attend the LLA meeting in August to lend its support in opposition to the plan.
After finishing my work to keep the water levels stable in Leech Lake, I decided to go out onto the large body of water to do some fishing.
Despite gray skies and a slight rain, I left the boat lift at 1:30 p.m. and took the boat out into 12 feet of water in front of our house and put out the drift sock. Near shore the effects of the 15-20 mph SSE winds aren't felt much, but out on the water the wind produced some sizable waves and was pushing the boat along at .75 mph ground speed, even with the drift sock deployed. The water temperature had cooled to 69.7 degrees.
All of my fathead minnows had perished, so I was using a 1/8 oz. Lindy Max-Gap jig tipped with a Northland Slurpies Swin'N Grub. I caught a couple of nice sized perch, including a solid 12" jumbo; all fish went back into the lake.
As I fished, the rain continued to fall harder and harder until there was a virtual downpour. There were also some flashes of lightening off in the distance accompanied by some rumbling thunder, but it was the lack of catching fish that ultimately got me off the lake. I came ashore around 2:45 p.m.
This evening I went over to John's house for a dinner of beer-can chicken, fried potatoes and green beans. Then we watched the MLB All-Star Game, won by the American League 4-3. Curtis Granderson of the Detroit Tigers scored the winning run.
The rain and wind, as well as the All-Star Game, kept me off of Leech Lake tonight. But I hope to get out for some fishing tomorrow, both during the day and for an evening troll.
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