Mother Nature can be Cruel!

We’ve had a substantial fish kill this summer due to the conditions (combination of water temps and water level + some poaching on our Upper Section). Re-stocking is the only way to get it back but now the real problem is water level. To take a look at the current water gauge reading, here’s the link to the gauge on the Coosawattee near Ellijay by which we monitor the level on the Tick:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?dd_cd=02&format=gif&period=7&site_no=02380500

This link is always easily available by first going to our web site, and then clicking on “Weather Outlook”. The link to the gauge is the last link on the “Weather Outlook” page.

Erik tested the water temps yesterday (9-22-07) in advance of our planned re-stocking scheduled for this coming Tuesday. It was 72 degrees.

But, that’s not the worst news. The water level has now dropped to .90 as opposed to our “normal” level of 1.8 to 1.9 on the gauge. Basically, the drought continues and the creek is in really bad shape right now. We had to temporarily cancel the re-stocking and are rescheduling it for mid-October provided that we get some rain.

Water temps should be OK in early October but the lack of water in the creek remains a problem! If we put fish in now, there is a high likelihood that we would lose a large portion of those fish.

There simply isn’t anyway that we can re-open on October 1 due to the water level of the Tick. We have now delayed our re-opening until we get enough rain to bring the water level up (hopefully around mid-to-late October). If we do not get rain by then, we will need to push the re-opening date further back into the Fall.

Mother Nature can be cruel at times!