Low Lake Levels In Place Ahead of Fishing Opener

(KNSI) – Several years of drought and little snowpack are affecting lake levels as we enter the spring fishing season.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is warning boaters to be careful in the runup to the fishing opener because not every location will be affected equally. Water Recreation Consultant Nancy Stewart explained to KNSI why the effects at different sites are so scattershot.

“It kind of depends on where the boat ramp is located. Is it more of a natural shallow side of the lake? We’ve done our best to put those boat ramps in those good locations, but there’s going to be some that just aren’t going to work very well.”

She recommends getting advice from local bait shops on which ramps handle the low water conditions best, along with old-fashioned due diligence. “Trust yourself. Check the boat ramp, see what you can see, launch slowly. You’ll be able to tell if there’s going to be any issues as you watch the boat go in the water, and if the boat’s not going to float, it’s too shallow.”

Three years of drought means soil is soaking up any moisture we get rather than having it runoff into lakes and rivers. A lack of snowpack has us dependent on spring storms. Stewart says the garden-variety rain we’ve gotten recently is not enough to help restore lake levels.

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