Big Indiana Bass

West Boggs Park and the Indiana Division of Fish & Wildlife will be initiating the drawdown of West Boggs Lake near the end of August and are informing boaters and other lake users to be aware of significant changes in water levels that will occur in the first part of September.

According to Daviess-Martin Joint County Parks Department Superintendent Michael Axsom, the work will start with a slow release of water in late August, sometime around August 25th. This will be used to test operational structures of the dam and to begin letting off some excess water.  In most years the lake is already at a reduced level because of dry weather and hot weather by mid-summer and that phase of the drawdown would not have had any time advantage. This year has been unusually cool and wet and the lake level is still at or above normal so the drawdown will need to be started at that time to meet the end target dates later on.

A more rapid drawdown will then be started immediately after September 1st. In all probability the ramps will remain open for another week or ten days after that time, and maybe a little longer for smaller boats, but people needing to remove boats should not count on that. Lake users should expect the boat ramps to become unusable earlier for larger boats that require deeper water on the ramp. Any rain during that time will slow things down but only temporarily. Private docks in some areas may become dry areas before the ramps are unusable so if that is your situation keep an eye on both locations.

It will also be difficult to judge how long you might have to get a boat out by watching how much the water falls per day in the early stages. In the beginning the lake has a much larger surface area and the number of gallons per day released is spread out over that larger area. Later the same number of gallons will be released per day but the surface will be constantly decreasing, causing the level to fall faster each day.  In the early stages the lake may only drop an inch or two per day while near the end of the process it may fall two feet in a day.

The timing of all this is determined by the history of previous lake drawdowns, normal weather patterns and the targets of the fisheries work. One important factor in that work is the need to get the lake down to the target level around the end of September to allow for the harvest of adult fish in a salvage operation, the eradication of the undesirable species and then wait for the chemicals used in that eradication to neutralize as they breakdown with sunlight and oxygen to make the remaining water safe for the introduction of new fish stock. This new stock needs to be in the lake and out of the hatcheries before the onset of cold weather. That is why the needs of mid to late October become the driving force for what we do in late summer.

Refilling of the lake will depend on rainfall and snow melt over the winter and spring. It is expected that the lake will be at or near normal levels again by March or April based on normal weather patterns for the area, but again this can vary and it could be as much a several weeks early or late from that average. West Boggs has a large watershed for the lake size, however and refilling is not expected to be an issue unless an unusually dry period was to occur.

• PowerPoint: West Boggs Renovation

Contest Calls for “Out-of-the-Box” Entries

ANNAPOLIS, Md., August 21, 2014 – Are you an armchair inventor with a better way to keep boaters, sailors and anglers afloat? The BoatUS Foundation, along with the Personal Floatation Device Manufacturers Association (PFDMA) and the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), have teamed up to seek out the newest technologies and design ideas with the “Innovation in Life Jacket Design Competition” which kicks off today. “We believe there are some creative folks out there that can help us rethink a 100-year-old design with fresh, out-of-the-box ideas,” said BoatUS Foundation President Chris Edmonston. A $10,000 cash award goes to the winning designer and inventors have until April 15, 2015 to submit their idea to www.BoatUS.org/design.

“Waterway users are always looking for more comfortable life jackets,” added Edmonston. “While current models of life jackets save lives every day, many are still bulky and uncomfortable, leaving boaters reluctant to wear them. This competition hopes to challenge that mindset.”

Entries that embrace new technologies and non-traditional thinking are being encouraged from individuals or groups, such as high school science clubs, collegiate design programs or even boat and fishing clubs. There are no rules regarding types of materials to be used or whether the design meets any current US standards. Entries can be as simple as hand-drawn theoretical designs to working prototypes.

The entries will be judged based on four criteria: wearability, reliability, cost and innovation. "Wearability" relates to the level of comfort. "Reliability" will take into account the chances for potential failure, while "cost" will look at the affordability of the design. "Innovation" will take into account originality or the utilization of new technologies. Additionally, the BoatUS Foundation will post entries on their website and Facebook page for public voting. The winner will be announced at the September 2015 International Boat Builders Exhibition and Conference in Louisville, Kentucky and additional cash prizes are offered for second and third place.  For more information or to enter visit www.BoatUS.org/design.