Scoria Bay Ramp Open

Boaters on the big lake have been dealing with a shortage of boat ramps for years This year most ramps are open This includes one ramp that has been closed since the year 2000 The Scoria Bay ramp in Sakakawea State Park is the surprise story of the year for park officials This spring this area of the lake was just mud Today this boat ramp sits about fifty feet into the water John Tunge Sakakawea State Park Kind of a perfect storm where we had a good snow pack out in the mountains this past year and good rains to the west of us and you couple that with the downstream concerns with flooding and the lake has come up significantly more than what we anticipated Tunge says the rising waters has many people in the area upbeat He says if the water continues to rise it could help the fishing on the big lake John Tunge Sakakawea State Park short term it might not be a big boom The fishing is not just going to turn on because of that I think if you talk to the game and fish and the fishery people they are going to say that as we move back up into that mid 1825 range it is going to significantly help the long range look for fisheries on The Lake level as of this afternoon is at 1825 1 feet up about seven tenths of an inch from last week