Lake Manitou Fishing Spot

• Elevation: 780'
• Last Modified By: vinny60 on 09/10/09 10:16 AM
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Lakeside Park Wraps around Lake Manitou Dam at 9th Street and Ewing Road. A public boat ramp, pavilion, fishing piers, picnic areas and restrooms are available. A butterfly garden was planted by local Girl Scout Troop and is maintained by Fulton County Master Gardeners. Boating access to Lake Manitou will be severely limited early next week to fight the invasive weed Hydrilla verticallata, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday. Hydrilla grows so fast - one-half-inch per week - that it threatens to choke more than half of the lake. Four DNR representatives spoke during a meeting at Rochester City Hall. They outlined their plan to kill the lake's burgeoning hydrilla population and prevent it from spreading to other Midwest lakes. Preventing spread outside Lake Manitou is the top priority. The plan includes closing the boat ramps and treating the lake for three or four years with the herbicide Sonar. All public and private ramps will be cordoned off and locked. • The only ones with keys will be those who have signed compliance agreements with the state. Even emergency responders have to sign the agreements, Keller said. • The only people allowed to have boats on the lake, other than emergency responders and the DNR, will be those who own or rent pier space on the lake. • Watercraft cannot be carried on to the lake to circumvent the closed launches. • There will be no day use by watercraft owners. That means no bass fishing tournaments, no weekend visitors, no cottage renters with their own boats. • Those who live on the lake and use canoes, kayaks, rafts, skis, trampolines, tubes and other toys must clean plant and sediment from them. It's illegal to possess, in any form, hydrilla in Indiana. Anyone caught with hydrilla on their boat, lift, toys, etc. after they've been removed from the lake will be ticketed and fined.

Lake Manitou is a man-made lake in Rochester, Indiana, created in 1767 by the Bawokahonda Native American Tribe. The lake contains about 775 acres (3.14 km2) of open water, with a maximum depth of 154.5 feet (47.1 m).