Posted: Tue, 24 May 2011 07:11 AM - 14,041 Readers

By: Rhonda Lee

AUSTIN (KXAN) - James Willis is getting his fishing in early this week.

"Absolutely! The fishing's always good out here." said James "Buddy" Willis as he set off Monday afternoon to catch his first of what would eventually be 10 fish.

He's fishing before the holiday crowds fill the lake this weekend, and he's noticed the drop in Lake Travis' water level just in the past week.

"Most of the ramps around the lake are closed, this one here is one of the deepest ones and it's usually open until it's almost nothing in there," Willis said.

According to the latest reading from the Lower Colorado River Authority, it seems like there's "almost nothing" in there. Lake Travis is down some 20 feet below normal.

All of Travis County Parks' boat ramps are closed and will stay closed until the water rises to safe usage levels again. The only two that are open for use are at Mansfield Dam and Sandy Creek since the water is deeper at those spots.

"When you launch a boat and even when you are swimming or diving into the lake you need to see where you are launching and make sure your trailer doesn't disappear into some hole that you didn't know was there." said Travis County Chief Park Ranger Dan Chapman.

When you look out on the water here you can see actually how the "Sometimes Islands" have made an appearance. Normally this time of year the water levels are OK. And you can't see the islands because they're fully under water.

"Around the 'Sometimes Islands' and there are some other shoals around, like Windy Point, that even when the water's up a little higher it's not an issue, but nowadays you have to be really careful," said Willis.

"I think a depth finder is probably not a bad idea. It's certainly a useful piece of equipment. I think you should stay well off the shoreline and also pay attention to the buoy system on the lake," continued Chapman.

He said it's important for boaters to be familiar with where they are. They need to know their location in case they need to be rescued. And the best advice they can give is to use common sense and to be sure to boat sober!

"It's very important. So many of our accidents whether they be boat related or swim related, are partly due to the use of alcohol," said Chapman.

Because the last thing you need is to spend part of your holiday weekend "drying out" in the tank.

*  Story Contributed by: Rhonda Lee