Pawtuckaway Lake Association

Well, as you must know, most discussions around the shop revolve around WATER. A few weeks ago it was ‘whoa is me – the lake will never regain the correct water level’. You know – another season of low water. Well didn’t that all change quickly. It seems these discussions are heard every year – too high, too low, someone removed the boards too soon; someone put the boards in too late, etc, etc. Who, but who, could possibly predict the cause and effect of the New England weather in this regard. In the long run, it does usually work out and the lake is at the proper level. With everything considered I’d say ‘hats off’ to those who tend to ‘the boards’.

More discussions about WATER include fishing. The kind of current in most rivers is now unfishable. Even the high lake levels make Bass fishing difficult. Rumors have it that fish don’t ‘hole up’ as well with higher water levels and fast running streams (that feed the lake) may be loaded with other sources of food. The real effects of this will not be known for a few more weeks as water levels recede, currents slow and fishermen return to fishing.

The good news is we did put a new roof on the shop last fall and wader sales are up. (although flooded basements are not usually responsible for ups and downs in sales!) The original roof could also have resulted in damage to some of our products (and the building.) Although the roof was somewhat ‘pricey’ for a small business - sometimes things work out for the best.

Current activities at the shop have revolved around our third annual ‘Demo Days’. We’ve done this in late May for the past couple of years and it has been working out well – for both customer and shop. We hold two days aside – one for paddling and one for fly fishing. The Paddling day is Saturday May 20, and the fly fishing day is Sunday May 21. Stop in and see and try all the stuff we offer – and have a burger on us. It’s a fun (and free) time to see if any of this is right for you. We also hope to have raffle tickets on sale for the PLIA (as we do every year) and you can check out our selection of  ‘PLIAwear’ – tees, sweats, hats – and ‘don’t pee in the lake’ key chains. All proceeds go directly to the PLIA.

As a reminder we also run the only kind in the State – kayak Bass fishing tournament. This year scheduled for Sunday June 25th. This very low impact tournament draws many locals. Last year 41 fish were caught and all were released, at the same site, alive. We fish from 7am – 2pm and follow up with an awards gathering and cookout at the shop.  If this may be on interest to you check out the details at www.mrtp.net.