Water, crowds return to Lake Lanier

Buoyed by a sustained rise in the water level at Lake Lanier, Tom Helmka is now a glass-half-full kind of guy.

“I’m feeling good about June,” said the owner and operator of Aqua Sports Adventure in Buford. “Only a couple of weekends ago did I gain confidence that business is coming back.”

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Brant Sanderlin/bsanderlin@ajc.com

Aqua Sports Adventures dock hand Howie Dahlen washes a rental wave runner . Business owners who rely on the lake to make a living are hoping business will be better now that the lake is near full pool for the first time in several years.

• Photos: More photos of recreation on the lake

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He celebrated by plunking down $50,000 for two pontoon boats, 20-foot and 24-foot, to add to his fleet.

It was a far cry from last year when lake levels were bouncing off December’s record lows. Helmka, 60, saw business plummet 56 percent from 2007 levels last May. This year, he said, May was up 14 percent from 2008.

While the record drought was enough, he said intense publicity made it out worse than it was.

“People are coming in this year who didn’t come last year. They tell me ‘We thought it was dangerous and there was no water in the lake.’ “

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages Lake Lanier, says people are back.

“We know we’re up,” said Chris Arthur, chief ranger for park operations at Lanier. “Every weekend, the parks and boat ramps are full, especially at the south end (of the lake).”

Numbers for April show an increase of 40,000 visitors from the same month last year. But visitors declined in May by nearly 80,000 due to heavier than normal rainfall, Arthur said. The Memorial Day weekend was a total washout, he said.

But May rains have brought June gains.

John Mark Thorne, who runs fishing charters from the Dam Store on Buford Dam road said the “lake is up, alive and well.”

He said fishing never really dropped off, but the drought, coupled with the economy took a huge bite out of the business.

“I forgot how many people came to the lake to enjoy themselves,” he said.

One of those families that remembers well is the Boldts from Tomball, Texas.

As David and wife Jill were preparing to take their kids and nephews on a canoe trip at East Bank, Jill recalled how things were the last time they visited the lake in October 2007.

“We couldn’t light a fire,” she said. “We did a lot of beachplay, but no water play because there wasn’t a lot of water to be had.”

This time, she said, they planned to enjoy s’mores around the campfire.

Gavin Cloy, a teacher from Alpharetta, said he was enjoying the revived lake with friends in his 24-foot bay boat.

“It’s not as dangerous,” he said. “Last year, there was a lot of land out of water, and it could be hazardous, especially at night.”

With more ramps open this year, Cloy said access to the lake has been a breeze.

James Ordway of Buford and buddy Paul Tjepkema of Gainesville fish the lake regularly.

“It’s wonderful now,” Ordway said. “You’ve got your docks floating so I can tie up and have friends join me without walking in mud.”

He said he didn’t stop fishing during the drought, but boaters did need to be careful. Sometimes, he said, watersoaked logs would dry out, then float when the lake level rose.

“You’d be going along 40 miles an hour and have to dodge them.”

It also saves on fuel, he said, because higher lake levels mean more launches are accessible. He said he can drive to a launch near a favorite fishing hole much cheaper than boating across the lake from a remote launch.

His 150 hp/ four-stroke motor uses about 18 gallons an hour.

Laura Smith of Stone Mountain was less concerned with the fishing as she was with cooling off her two boys. She said she was driving home from a tennis match in Cumming and the kids begged her to stop as they crossed Buford Dam.

“It sure looks a lot better since the last time I saw it,” she said while Jack, 10, and Charlie, 6, splashed with other children in the shallows of West Bank beach.

She said she hadn’t seen the lake since January of 2008 when she combed the parched shores with a metal detector, looking for treasure on the expanded beach. All she found was junk, she said.

This was a lot less work, acknowledging the pebbles her children brought up to show her as she relaxed in her beach chair.

“They’ve already said “Can we come back tomorrow?’ “