The GOMH Old and New

If you frequent my blog in March through June I frequently use the GOMH acronym in place of spelling out Grumpy Old Man Hole. The GOMH a bridge that separates Platte Lake to the North and Sullivan Lake to the South. The bridge was getting old and so it was replaced with a new bridge last Fall. Here are a few picks of the South Side of the old bridge with a couple of Grumpy Old Men thrown in for good measure.

Usually the water flows from Platte (North) into Sullivan (South) in varying degrees of intensity depending on wind direction and lake water level, but sometimes the water does flow back up into Platte. The South or Sullivan side where the current is usually flowing tends to be the best place to fish. Not only is into Sullivan the prevailing current direction but there has been a wash out hole that gets about 10 feet deep within 10 yards of the bridge deck on that South side. This wash out hole is the deepest water in the area for a pretty good distance in both directions which are extended sand, muck, and weed flats. At this point I am uncertain if the water depths have were altered with the construction.
At the GOMH we catch all kinds of "Bullheads."

Update Note-The wash out hole is still there but seems to be a about a foot to a foot and a half shallower than before.

Here is a Westward look at the Sullivan side of the new bridge:
Notice the high metal railing that pretty much runs the length of the concrete sides of the bridge.

This picture looking East is on the Platte side and gives a view of the underpass opening:

The changes have me more concerned than excited at this point. I guess I will just have to wait and see how it shakes out, but as of right now I think the old bridge was more fisherman friendly. The fishable water area is wider than it was before, but it seems like there is less room to access the water and it isn't like the old bridge had a lot of space for fisherman. If they would have left 5-10 feet less metal railing on both ends of the South side of the bridge things would be a whole lot better. Access on the Platte side actually looks to be better better than before, but that hasn't traditionally been where the fishing is best, especially early in the year. Maybe if they dredged a little on the Platte side and within the overpass, the Platte side will improve from what it has traditionally been.

It won't be long now, here are a couple of pictures from today looking out onto Sullivan Lake.While there is significant progress on the Sullivan side, it looked a lot like a fair size area on Platte that was open re-froze.

Update 4/3/11- The new bridge definitely seems to have improved the fishing on the Platte side of the bridge, while fishing on the Sullivan side is about the same to possibly slightly worse. The new bridge is at least a couple of feet wider which I think is pulling water from more area in Platte, but the rate of flow tends to be less intense in Sullivan than it was. I don't recall having seen water flows into Platte being as intense with the old bridge as they can be now. On the whole it seems like there is less flow now than there was before with the old bridge.