The recent storms have brought much-needed rain to the Valley, filling up lakes across the state, including Bartlett Lake.
Visitors told ABC15 Bartlett lake looks a lot different than it did almost five months ago, when it was blue and clear. Now, it's brown and murky.
“The water level’s way up,” lake visitor Ray Hemmele said.
It is true that the water level has gone up significantly, but it is far from clear.
“It was very much chocolate milk. Where, historically, say last year this time, you could see down a couple of feet. You couldn’t see down over an inch,” he added.
Hemmele said fishing has been made very difficult.
“Not good. Cold, muddy water is a real bite killer when it comes to fishing,” Hemmele said.
On most trips to Bartlett Lake, Hemmele said he catches anywhere between 15 and 35 fish.
This time that was definitely not the case.
“Nope. Got dealt the skunk,” he said.
While fishing is less than ideal at the lake now, Larry Mantle says there are positives.
“It’s going to be good. All the lakes this year are going to be full this year. We’re going to have a great spawn,” Mantle told ABC15.
Mantle and his wife, Pat, also come to the lake to fish.
“It’s just good to see this because it’s been down so low. Last time I seen these likes…all our lakes really full was like ’92,” said Mantle.
Another plus, Hemmele says, is that the rain brought greenery around the lake.
“The wildflowers are outstanding on the road into Bartlett Lake. Even better in the afternoon when they’re all open. But yeah, that was sort of the saving grace,” Hemmele added.
Officials at Tonto National Forest say it's a natural process.
They explained when you have a lot of water from reservoir releases, like from Bartlett and Horseshoe, in addition to snow melt, it stirs up a lot of mud.
It takes a while for all of the sediment to then settle and clear out downstream.
Officials with Tonto National Forest say, as the lake recedes, they expect debris to be captured on or near the shoreline.
