Work to begin soon on popular midstate public fishing area

Work is expected to get started soon on the repair of the Ocmulgee Public Fishing Area.

The lake has been closed since 2012, when its water began draining into the aquifer below. Last year the General Assembly approved $2.3 million to fix the lake.

A contract has been awarded to make the repair, and work is expected to start within 30 days, said Bert Deener, the fisheries regional supervisor for the Department of Natural Resources.

The work should be completed by fall, and the lake can start refilling. If all goes well, the lake may be reopened for fishing by spring 2017.

"It was a great area when it was open before, and I'm really excited about getting it back," said Deener, who once caught a 9-pound large-mouth bass out of the lake.

Although the lake had only been open a few years, anglers were regularly catching bass that were 6 pounds or more.

The projected reopening would be much further out if it weren't for an unusual step the state is taking.

Ordinarily new public fishing lakes would be stocked with fingerlings. Then it would take another year or two for the fish to grow to catching size.

But in order to get the Ocmulgee Public Fishing Area reopened quicker, the state already has fish growing in several hatcheries around Georgia. Those will be adults by the time the lake is ready for restocking, but the bass will weigh just 1 or 2 pounds.

"It's going to take a few years for it for it get back to what it was," Deener said.

The 106-acre lake, located on the county line of Pulaski and Bleckley counties in the Ocmulgee Wildlife Management Area, was known primarily for its bass and crappie, but it also had bream and catfish.

The state is making one significant change in the species makeup of the lake: It will not be stocking catfish this time. Deener said that's because catfish too often eat the other fish in the lake, so removing the catfish should allow the other species to thrive even more than before.

After a prolonged drought, the lake level began dropping in 2012. In November of that year, it was so low that the state transferred the remaining fish to other lakes and closed it.

After the lake was drained, geologists determined that water was seeping through crevices in a large area of the lake bed into the aquifer below.

The drought had lowered the aquifer level, which created space for the lake water to fill.

For that reason, it may not be fully known until the next prolonged drought whether the fix will really work. Deener said engineers have expressed confidence that it will.

The plan is to remove dirt in a portion of the lake and cover the area with a geo-technical fabric similar to a silt fence at a construction site. That will then be covered with a layer of non-porous clay.

Butch Hall, the sole commissioner of Pulaski County, said people are looking forward to seeing the lake reopen.

"The lake was heavily used from the word 'go,'" he said. "It has been a big asset to our area."

To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 8:12 PM with the headline "Work to begin soon on popular midstate public fishing area ."