If so, you’ll have seen why the lake was called “Georgia’s inland ocean” during its early days.
Waves five and six feet high or higher made the lake a dangerous place to be in a small boat.
My wife and I got caught out one time when the winds picked up from dead calm to well over 25 mph before we could get back in. Our boat is 16 feet, 4 inches, with a deep vee hull and wrap-around windshield. We’d headed in, the boat dropping deep into a trough where we couldn’t see anything until we climbed the other side of the wave to its top.
We were thankful for the windshield, which kept most of the water out of the boat, along with our bilge pump.
Taking it slow, we finally were able to return safely to the Lake Springs ramp.
The extended weather forecast calls for winds to diminish late tonight.
• The Georgia Wildlife Resources Division will close Ocmulgee Public Fishing Area on Nov. 7 to get ready to repair leaks in the dam. The lake is 17 feet down.
Bass in the 8- to 12-pound category will be removed from the lake and moved to other public fishing lakes. Smaller bass will be netted and kept in nearby hatcheries to stock back into the lake once work is finished.
The reopening will take place in the spring of 2014, a department spokesman said.
• The American Bass Anglers AFT National Championship will be held Oct. 23-25, 2013, on Thurmond Lake.
Thanks to Phil Morris, of Saluda, S.C., and William Hooker, of Grovetown, for the tip. The tournament was held out of the Fort Gordon Recreation Area in 2010.
