I was quite surprised to see the type of replies to my last post. I believe that some of you need to get your facts straight.

Lake Manassas is an 810 acre municipal water supply lake, built in 1968 by the City of Manassas. The lake is totally owned by the City of Manassas, therefore it is not "Public".

The lake was open for public fishing until 1999, when renewal negotiations with the concessionaire failed. This resulted in no access to the lake. The city tried to build their own ramp, but were denied a permit by the County of Prince William.

The latest attempt, is different in that the city will contract with VDGIF to construct and maintain a public marina on 25 acres of land donated by Saranac Development. VDGIF would construct an access road, parking lot and boat ramp, using Dingel Johnson and Virginia Fishing License funds. A concessionaire would be contracted by VDGIF to build and maintain a marina, rent boats and motors and collect ramp fees. A separate annual lake permit would also be required. VDGIF would also patrol the lake, enforce regulations and maintain fish biomass.

This arrangement would leave the city with a neutral cost and assurance that water quality would be maintained.

The timeline is estimated at two years, although a Saranac representative stated that they would like to get it taken care of as quickly as possible.

At last night's work session, ALL city council members in attendance voted to instruct their staff and the Utilities Commission to explore the possibilities of opening the lake to boats and fishing. This was after an extended period of questions and answers from the Utilities Commission personnel and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Stay tuned for future developments.

Charlie.......

Good. There are lots of lakes around the state that are run like that; owned by a City which allows access with special fishing permits. I think that is a good solution. Glad to see the public will be allowed to fish it again. Public funds built it, why should the golf course and residents be the only ones to enjoy it?

I had heard that Manassas was made off limits due to a golf course that didn't want boats to ruin the "view", they used terrorism fears to enforce the closing of the ramp (Saying that the water could be contaminated by a terrorist on a bass boat).  Maybe I was misinformed.  Either way I would love to finally fish that lake!!!!!

Thanks alot for the update Charlie. Two more years...love it.