Drought keeps boaters down

What good is a lake if it's too low to float your boat? Not much, Matt Thompson says.

"Trying to get a boat into Chisago Lake is ugly, ugly," said Thompson, 37, of North Branch. "You have to back both tires of your vehicle into the water, and you still might not be able to get your boat off the trailer. Or on." 

Thompson is among thousands of Minnesota boaters affected by the ongoing drought, as lakes -- particularly in the east and northeast metro -- recede, exposing Department of Natural Resources boat ramps that end before deep water begins.

The agency says it is maintaining ramps on White Bear Lake, North and South Center lakes, Chisago and Green lakes, among others, as best it can. "But there's a limit to how far we can go before we start building runways into the water," said DNR parks and trails division area supervisor Martha Reger, who oversees 113 boat accesses in nine counties with a crew of eight.

Lake levels haven't been this low on many east metro lakes for decades. Lake Elmo hasn't ebbed this much since 1975. And Richard M. Nixon was president the last time Lake Jane in Washington County was this low.

Frankie Dusenka of Frankie's Bait and Marine in Chisago City said the DNR isn't doing enough to ensure that lakes -- particularly in Chisago and Washington counties, where many of his customers seek bass, walleyes and panfish -- remain accessible.

"If the DNR can't get the landings cleaned out so boats can come and go, I'll do it," Dusenka said. "It's not that hard. It would only take a couple of hours, and I wouldn't charge the DNR a nickel."

Changes in recent years in the sizes of boats purchased by anglers, and the types of trailers underneath those boats, are complicating factors. Whereas 14- and 16-foot aluminum boats with motors of about 25 horsepower were once the norm in Minnesota, boats 18 to 21 feet now are more common -- some with motors of up to 250 horsepower.