Thread: Lake Yahola

Why are they draining Lake Yahola. I went by there yesterday and it looks as if they are draining it.

I remember them draining it in 1990, due to some leaks in the concrete barrier. We were allowed to hand catch as many crappie as we could stand.

I will catch you clean!

I tell you what. Between me and my two brothers, we caught at least 300 crappie, all keepers. The scene was like some biblical story. We were literally walking on fish. There were no limits on the fish. Once word got out, there were elderly people waiting on the hill willing to pay for a tub of fish. It was absolutely a once in a lifetime experience.

Went to Yahola today. The whole west side has been drained. Visited with some of the workers and was told that the west side will be where repairs are made to the concrete. The east side will not be done. You can walk from the middle of the south side all the way around the lake. Didn't take time to fiish it.

Is it low enough to walk out on the west side and can you pick-up fish?

Gman

I drove by there today on 75 and all I could see was mud. It's empty

I went out to take a look today and 2 of the 3 pools are nearly empty. The south pool is still full, but the NE and W pools only have small pockets of water left. There's got to be fish in there right!?

I tried fishing it 2 weeks ago when it was about 80% down and couldn't buy a bite. I've been going around and marking spots (rock piles, laydowns) so I can have places to fish once the water comes back up. I hope this doesn't mean the fish population is going to be reduced to 1/3 of what it was originally.

Well I walked from the south side across the now exposed dam to the north side. Then I walked the perimeter of the lakes back around to the west. I saw one small pool of water out in the middle with about 5 fish backs swimming around, but that was it! I also saw some carp and catfish carcases right near where the water finally leaves the lakes.
But that was it!

Never saw a single game fish... no little crappie, no big crappie, no sandbass, no largemouth bass, no smallmouth bass, no walleye, no perch.... Even around all the pools of water that are left, I didn't see any footprints which might suggest somebody went out there and scooped them up. It's unexplainable. Even if they tried to shock all the fish and move them to the undrained south pool, there has to be something left, right?! I've been fishing that lake for 3 years now and I know it contains lots of fish.

Baffles my mind....