|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Full of water and fish, Lake Thompson is back in business
The mystery surrounding the ebb and flow of water in Lake Thompson has grown deeper recently. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, according to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.“The lake is no longer leaking and it's completely full — but we've got no idea what's plugging it up,” said Fred Leckie, assistant director of fisheries with the DGIF. “As long as [the water level] is okay, we don't see any reason why we can't start stocking trout again.”
Biologists from the agency will stock the 10-acre lake, located in a state wildlife preserve near Delaplane, four times between now and the end of May, as long as the lake is full.
“Our whole purpose for stocking the lake is so people can catch the trout — it is strictly a recreational program,” Leckie said. “If the lake level drops [drastically] we'll probably just stop stocking.”
The DGIF does not pre-announce stocking days, but there is a hotline people can call. The number is (434) 525-FISH (3474).
In order to catch trout at Lake Thompson, anglers should be at least 16 and have valid trout and state freshwater fishing licenses. The latter is required because the lake is being put back on the DGIF's official list of designated stocked trout waters, Leckie said.
“I still wish we could figure out exactly [what caused the leak]. We have gotten a lot of phone calls, and there's been a lot of interest in what's happening at the lake since it's a pretty popular spot — especially for trout fishing.”
DGIF officials noticed the water level in the lake was dropping during the summer. Engineers concluded that the bottom drain attached to the base of the principal spillway in the lake had failed, but they couldn't figure out exactly where the malfunction occurred.
The water level continued to drop and with no way to pinpoint the problem or identify a quick, economical way to fix it, officials closed the lake to fishing.
Engineers opted to let the water drain so they could see the pipes well enough to locate the exact source of the leak, but before that happened, the water level slowly stopped dropping. The stoppage may have been due to some bottom silt and/or another obstruction dropping onto the pipe, according to the DGIF.
Since they're not sure exactly why the leak started or how it stopped, engineers fear the lake could start leaking again. They're just not sure if or when it will happen, Leckie said.
In the meantime, anyone who has questions about the lake or fishing there is welcome to visit the DGIF's Web site for more information, he added. It can be accessed at www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing.
E-mail the reporter: abogdanovic@timespapers.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.