This past Tuesday the Fountain Lake Sportsman’s Club held its monthly Tuesday meeting. A couple of the members, Harlan Thompson and Dick Hart, filled me in on what went on at the meeting.

Ken Nelson, a retired engineer and a member of the lake management committee presented some ideas he and some of the other consultants had for the lake and the old Farmland site.

He said one plan involved making a lagoon and canal series with a lock and dam system for boat traffic between the two lakes. The design team that visited Albert Lea has many ideas for housing and recreation in that area and there are people waiting to get on board when a final plan is chosen.

There was also a proposal for a series of lagoons in that area that would provide individual fishing areas for different species. This would be separated into individual fishing areas that would be designated for different species. He compared it to laying out a golf course with the consultant being a fishing expert like Babe Winkleman or Al Linder.

It never hurts to dream on a larger scale and who knows &045; sometimes dreams become reality.

As for Albert Lea Lake itself he has a plan of making rock islands with the center left open. The islands would be made with fill from dredging the lake bottom around the created islands. The rock would prevent the fill from washing back into the lake again. There could be up to $5 million in government grant money available for this because this is a very feasible project.

Ken’s main project was a dam system that he calls the &uot;ying yang&uot; system. It would be built at

the Jugland dam site and involves a system that he has designed to raise and lower the water level of Albert Lea Lake. With Ken’s system it could be accomplished in a short period of time. It also has the potential to keep undesirable fish from entering the lake but there would be a screening process to allow game fish to enter the lake. It also has the potential to draw water through the bottom of the system that would also allow bottom silt to leave the lake instead of building up.

This system would also be invaluable for flood control and after this past year it is something that needs to be addressed. Regulating the water levels at the Jugland Dam would only be feasible if the dredging is done first.

It’s obvious that a lot of people are interested in getting things going in the right direction. Andy Hanson got permission from the DNR to install another aerator on Albert Lea Lake if the oxygen levels warrant it. Hugh Valliant, the DNR game and fish manager, also spoke and said that there were 5.3 million walleye fingerling released in three area lakes. Most were released in Albert Lea Lake followed by Fountain Lake and some were also released in Whites Lake. The fish are reportedly healthy and doing great which is a good sign for the future of fishing in these lakes.

Trevor Birch of Wells Fargo said that Wells Fargo is planning on sponsoring a raffle that will start

sometime after the annual Take a Kid Fishing event. The drawing will be in September and proceeds will be donated to the Fountain Lake Sportsman’s Club to help support the many events they sponsor during the year.

The Fountain Lake Sportsman’s Club, which started in the early 1980’s, has about 100 members with about 25 active members. They are involved in many events during the year. It starts each year with the Take a kid fishing day, which has grown from about 250 participants at the beginning to about 500 hundred participants last year. The club also sponsors an ARC fishing outing each year and they also take members of various retirement homes out for a day of fishing during the summer.

This year they will place some structure such as trees and brush piles in Fountain Lake to help provide fish habitat. This not only helps fish population but also helps us fishermen because it improves our chances of catching more fish. This isn’t something you just go out and do it has to be approved by the state before such a venture can be undertaken.

The sportsman’s Club is just a group of citizens interested in improving our lakes for fishing and want to make sure they are there for future generations. They also like to share their love of the outdoors and fishing with some that may not otherwise have an opportunity to enjoy it.

If you are interested in becoming a member and want to see what they’re all about they meet on the first Tuesday of each month at the Union Center at 6 p.m.

Until next time, play safe, enjoy the outdoors and get that tackle ready.

Remember to keep our brothers and sisters that are serving our country in your thoughts and prayers.

(Dick Herfindahl, Outdoors Writer)