Lake Season Gets Extension At Lake Martin

It’s another beautiful day on Lake Martin, and that means plenty of people out on the water.

“WE’re having a great time on the lake. Just hanging out with friends and family, enjoying the weather,” said Hope Hicks.

That means a great year for businesses like Russel Marine.

The shop had a record year for new and pre-owned boats.

“I would say it’s probably the busiest we’ve ever seen it. A lot of people coming in. A lot of people maybe expecting this to be the last time to get on the lake. We’ve seen more traffic, a lot of people having fun. The weather has been great,” said Lisa Peffer.

This year the lake could stay at summer levels for the entire month of September. And if the weather holds out anything like it is for Labor Day, it’s going to be fantastic.

Up until this year, Alabama power would start lowering the level for the winter at the start of September. But new regulations mean the water can stay higher through the fall.

“We’re definitely planning to come again next weekend. The weather is better in September than it was in August so it’s great for all of us that have boats to be on here, enjoying it,” said Hicks.

“We’ll be open seven days a week until the end of September. So we’ll be here on the weekends waiting for people,” said Travis Wiggins at Russell Marine.

It’s another record year, not only because of the levels and boat sales, but safety on the water has been at an all time high.

Even though state troopers are still operating with a shortage of officers, it’s been a good year.

“So far this summer on Lake Martin we’ve had very few accidents. The only major boat to boat collision we had was early on. It two personal water craft colliding with one another which did cause a couple of injuries,” said Lt. Mark Fuller.

The new drawdown level for lake martin will also be different this year.

You can count on the lake staying three feet higher than usual during the winter.