Drought Leaves Them High and Dry

The drought is tough for everyone in the Southeast, including boaters.

Boaters become fish out of water


By SCOTT BERNARDE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It was 4 p.m. Tuesday and traffic was gridlocked.

Not usually big news, but when vehicles are lined up bumper-to-trailer like they were at Lake Lanier's Shoal Creek boat ramp, it causes some grumbling, a few beeps of the horns and raised eyebrows.

The drought has closed most of Lake Lanier's boat ramps. Deanna and James Gabriel take their boat out at Shoal Creek boat ramp on Tuesday.

The sun was getting low, and boaters coming off the lake hoped to get home for dinner. And those putting in, knowing the striped bass were actively feeding in the late afternoon, wanted to catch a few fish before dusk.

The drought has been tough on boaters this fall. With water levels at lakes Lanier and Allatoona nearing record lows, boats ramps are being closed on a weekly basis. Shoal Creek, located off Buford Dam Road on the south end of the lake, is one of only two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat ramps on Lanier that were still open this past week (Tidwell to the west is the other one). It's not much better at Allatoona, which has only four public ramps open — Blockhouse, Galt's Ferry, Cooper Branch No. 1 and Red Top Mountain State Park (at Bethany Bridge) ramps.