Outdoors: Tip-Ups, Lakes Down
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By Larry Porter, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.  Feb. 11--LINCOLN -- Ice conditions in the Sand Hills are the best in a dozen years, but it's a mixed blessing for ice fishermen.   Even if fishermen should happen to fall through the ice, they wouldn't be in danger of drowning.
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By Martin Merzer, The Miami Herald  May 30--It's confirmed: Florida's deepening drought has dehydrated Lake Okeechobee to a record low.   The lake officially stood at 8.97 feet early Wednesday, matching its lowest level since record-keeping began in 1931.
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By Gareth Purnell  THE area's pools have fished remarkably well following the snow and the freeze.  For instance, I've always thought of Barston Lakes as a great summer water where sport drops off in winter because it's so shallow.
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By BOB RIEPENHOFF  Lake Geneva - The plan called for checking out a few spots on the frozen surface of Geneva Lake, setting a few tip-ups for northern pike, putting up a tent shelter and jigging for panfish while we waited for a flag.
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By Mike Archbold, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.  Mar. 9--Bonney Lake's proposed boat launch fees at Allan York Park on Lake Tapps might have hit a snag.
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By Nicholas Azzara, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.  Dec. 10--MANATEE -- You'll have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Byron Shinn and his 20-foot ski boat to the water on Saturdays. He knows parking spots at the ramp at 59th Street/Warner's Bayou fill up fast.
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By Art Campos, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.  Jun. 7--The warm weather has arrived, and so has the potential for accidents in lakes, rivers and swimming pools.
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A Las Vegas shopping center is trucking in water from as far away as Canada to fill its fountains. Reno will have to dip into its drought reserve supply for the first time in a decade. The most popular public ramp on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe is closed because there's not enough water to float a boat.
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An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn't have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York's reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year. Across America, the picture is critically clear Â the nation's freshwater supplies can no longer quench its thirst.
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When players awoke yesterday, there was rain. Lots and lots of rain. When they got to East Lake Golf Club for the start of the Tour Championship, there were streams and puddles where a day earlier there hadn't been streams and puddles.
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By Jill Redhage, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.  Sep. 20--It's triathlon season at Tempe Town Lake, and enthusiastic Valley triathletes hope they won't be thwarted by the lake's borderline water quality.
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By Georgia Evdoxiadis  gevdoxiadis@@dailyherald.com  Though a bane to lake bathers everywhere, so-called swimmer's itch is no more than a cycle of life gone awry.
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By RICHARD COWEN, STAFF WRITER  LAKE HOPATCONG  Another summer has come and is nearly gone at Lake Hopatcong, another season of long, hot days in which the locals grappled with  and occasionally griped about  the weeds choking New Jersey's largest lake.
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By Scott Richardson, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.  Feb. 15--Al Nutty spends his days as a fishing guide on Kinkaid Lake in Southern Illinois.   The 2,750-acre reservoir offers walleye and smallmouth fishing that is improving. He's seen crappies that reach 2.5 to 3 pounds.
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By John Weiss, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.  Jun.
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By Mark Yuasa, Seattle Times  Dec. 14--The rain and wind have washed out most fishing plans, but those willing to venture out should find an odd place here and there to catch something.
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By TODD RICHMOND LAKE DELTON, Wis. - In a wooded ravine tucked away from the water parks, restaurants and mega-resorts that dominate this tourist town, a piece of history is quietly dying.