# They are beginning to fall



## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

The gates at Lake Livingston dam.
The upper river is dropping fast. The flow at Crockett is below 14,000 cfs and falling 2000 cfs a day.
TRA is watching the Crockett to Riverside flow and matching it at the dam.
Down to 16000 cfs yesterday. Probably down to 12,000 cfs by Friday if not sooner.
We are expecting some rain in OK and N.Texas in the next few days but only the cotton shower type so the river will continue to fall. As it empties the fast the water moves down south. 
With out additional rain it is easy to predict two to three gates open by 3rd August and one gate by August 8th.


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## Chunknwind (Jul 28, 2015)

Well,hate to hear that .I went out this morning . Limited out in a couple hours.Itseemed to me the current was a little slow up from the 59 bridge. I guess we better get while we can. Easy Pickens now.


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

Was thinking of going down there saturday. Was gonna take the big boat but now i might just take the bass boat. Is it really shollow now ? At the cable/fence i mean.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

All right !!! The stripers will be jumping in the boat and when it gets down to 2 gates "the special" fish will bite. With the level down some you will need to watch out for the big stump just out from the pilings on the east side.


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## Bass-Tracker (Dec 23, 2013)

I planned to go Fri. morning.
If anyone else going has a boat & wants company, I'll gladly pay for gas & lunch at Browders. 



.


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## rustyhook1973 (Aug 25, 2014)

I am sure the fish will still bite after they lower the gates,,,,i mean ,,, they still have to eat right,,lol


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Lots of fish and their space us getting smaller, going to be a real bad time to be a little fish soon back there.


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

Mattsfishin said:


> All right !!! The stripers will be jumping in the boat and when it gets down to 2 gates "the special" fish will bite. With the level down some you will need to watch out for the big stump just out from the pilings on the east side.


I will hijack my own thread.
Matt did you know that those pilings are the remains of the old steamboat fueling dock. The locals cut hardwood to sell to the steamboats operating on the river. The town was founded in 1838 and named Swartwout.
It was the ferry crossing from Goodrich to Cold Springs until 1930.
The landing had been long covered by a sand bar the was washed away during the first big rise after the lake was filled.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Heck them fish gonna be so thick and over crowded with the water receeding y'all be snagging them with treble hooks. Every single deep hole and the channel gonna be packed with whites. Then they're be heading down river to LA LA land when there's no water left.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Sunbeam I did know about the river crossing and steamboats. It is amazing how long the pilings and that stump have been there.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Ok Sunbeam, help us down the home stretch, what do you see as the fall rate for the gates from here.
And do you know when construction will stop the flow through the gates and divert to the spillway?
With my limited knowledge looking at the gauges the Riverside gauge is still 132 and small change, above that is a gentle slope of water coming from Crockett. Above Crockett there aint much.
So I'm thinking that as soon as Riverside hits 131.75 they will get serious about cutting back the flow to one or two gates. Say a week from today it will be at 8000 then quickly hit 1800 by 10 days.
of course the wild card is when they cut back the gate flow and divert to spillway to start serious construction on the hydro plant.
Am I close?


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Muneypit when they close them gates a lot of props gonna either hit a stump closer to the east side boat ramp or wacking the hard clay on the west bank. Theres also a large concrete pipe laying on the west bank. Hit that and you will kiss your prop good bye. I advise you to install an old crappy prop for this weekend expedition down the dam. If I have time tonight I'll post some pics of spots to avoid.


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

brucevannguyen said:


> Muneypit when they close them gates a lot of props gonna either hit a stump closer to the east side boat ramp or wacking the hard clay on the west bank. Theres also a large concrete pipe laying on the west bank. Hit that and you will kiss your prop good bye. I advise you to install an old crappy prop for this weekend expedition down the dam. If I have time tonight I'll post some pics of spots to avoid.


Thanks for the info bruce. I dont have a spare for either boat. A buddy is working a barge down there so hopefully i can follow him. He said id be ok but i dont think he knows the gates are closeing.


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

Double tap


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## Bankin' On It (Feb 14, 2013)

How do you set up to fish stripers down there when the flow gets low? Are you still pitching towards the dam or backing out to fish currents and holes?


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

12 or 15 ft surf rod main line 60lb braid 20lb leader 1/8 screw lock jig head with white curly tail gulps swimming mullet with a browders cork chunk toward the dam. Them cats and striper absolutely love that gulps. You will do a grand slam with that set up I promise. The floaty cork they heavier the better it cuts thru the wind and go further.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

132.9 at Riverside, and the gates are discharging 1200, so the end is much nearer than I expected. 
If there are no arrests and some kind of public common sense suddenly takes hold in the river, a contagion of sorts I guess, then the week end crowd may be fighting for the best shot at good stripers as the flow slows down here real fast.
They were driving big sheets of piling down and continuing with with big time excavation at the new project site.

BBJim, trapperjon and I had a grand time catching schooling white bass this morning. We kept about 35, a few for me and a sack for Jim.
Who takes them to gal he knows,....for a fish fry :brew2:
Jon and I kept a look out for striped bass schooling, but missed it by moving up to cable too late.
We caught a kazillion white bass on everything you can imagine.
The 1/16oz rattle trap in chrome to black was by far the best.
You could not reel it in with a white bass nailing it. I fished it and caught a white bass nearly every cast until the tiny hooks started giving away.
Pet spoons under corks, and slabs both worked well too. A top water with a trailing crappie jig was a big fish getter.
I will be busy and out of town this week end, but bet on great reports.
:walkingsm


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

TRA will close to 8000 cfs by Monday if not tomorrow. They do not like to pay overtime so they do not normally lower gates on the weekend.
Crockett is at 11,000 cfs and dropped 4000 in 24 hours so TRA will match that flow quickly.
The lake is 6" over conservation but I'll bet they will try to keep that water since is so hot and they lose about 1/2 " a day due to evaporation.
The contractor is anxiously awaiting minimum flow to get started on the power plant foundation structure on the east bank of the basin. So I am confident when it gets to 3000 cfs (three gates) they will begin moving equipment onto the site.
I could be wrong but I still believe they will stop boat traffic in the basin around their construction site. Still no word from my inside man about flow through the tube. That will be the contractors call.

So here is my forecast....... This will be the last weekend to get the big stripers at the cable. By Saturday the 8th it should be one gate flow.
So lets set a Ripley's record of the number of boats jammed into the cable this weekend. Also we might sit records for the number of crossed lines, names called and even small boat naval battles.
Y'all have fun. Ya hear?


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## rustyhook1973 (Aug 25, 2014)

I think if I go out I will mount a cannon on each side of the boat ,,,, FIIIIRE ATTT WILLLL


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## kellisag (Feb 18, 2010)

Mattsfishin said:


> All right !!! The stripers will be jumping in the boat and when it gets down to 2 gates* "the special" fish will bite*. With the level down some you will need to watch out for the big stump just out from the pilings on the east side.


That's almost enough to make we want to go down there and fight the crowds. When the water gets right you can catch them every drop of the line.


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## brucevannguyen (Oct 21, 2012)

Ha ha y'all can have that dam place. Get it dam/ place :grin: I nearly lost it last week. Was gonna beat this guy on a pontoon silly with my thumping stick if it wasn't for his kids around.


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## Beaux (Oct 11, 2012)

Last Sunday there were 2 guys in a pontoon boat that almost hit 3 boats including mine while he was playing with their trolling motor. I was just about to tell them where to take that boat when they left.


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## Ducktracker (Aug 1, 2011)

That's why this old boy stays on the big water. Good luck to all


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## muney pit (Mar 24, 2014)

You guys are makeing me rethink below the dam trip. Might just go hang out up top and putt around up there. Cant stand stupid, i get enough of that at the boat ramp.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

What do you been by old guys. Mr Ed is 83 and he told one boat if they came by him again he was going to put that lure and fish where the sun don't shine. He was a little more colorful with his words than I can put on here. 3 guys in a boat were trolling a cork and lure behind there boat. Yes trolling around all those boats below the dam. That 83 year old man will still bow up to them if needed. LOL !!!!! You ain't seen nothin yet until you see what happens when they close the dam and open the shoot aka tube aka overflow aka small dam.


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## cwhitney (Sep 9, 2014)

I was at the dam last Sunday in my boat with friends in 2 other boats. One of my friends was anchored (with his trolling motor) at the 'cable', when a guy in another boat goes upstream of him (beyond the cable), kills his motor, drifts back, and hit my friend's boat. I think there were several 'colorful metaphors' exchanged and the guy moved on. This was the exception rather than the rule. Other than that, most of the people I encountered were courteous and friendly.


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

I think a live feed camera at the chute when its opened could be a pay per view event!!


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

The chute coming to a theatre near you!


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

fishinganimal said:


> The chute coming to a theatre near you!


That pic looks like Roll Over Pass before Rita and Ike. I think there might be some chute action later this fall as the contractor gets real busy in the bottom of the basin.


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

TRA did not drop the gates today. Crockett (lock n dam) is now around 8000 cfs and falling fast. 
TRA normally does not lower gates on the weekend but they have not followed the rules much lately so the flow might reduce to 8000 cfs or even LOWER before Monday.
But for sure barring any heavy rain the flow by next weekend will be two gates at the most.
Or no gates and the chute flowing 1000 cfs. Now that will be a circus for sure.


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## Gator gar (Sep 21, 2007)

I've got two homemade anchors down there from a few weeks back if anyone finds them. One had a new blue and white nylon rope attached to it. Help yourself to them. lol


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

Update to original prediction of future LLD water flow. The powers to be are discharging water from Dallas are lakes. Most from Lewisville.
The gauge at Rosser was down to 5000 cfs but is rising again. It is at 8000 cfs and still climbing. The Trinidads flow is also showing an increasing.
What does this mean? Good news for the striper guys at the cable.
TRA will still cut back to approx. 8000 cfs very soon but will delay dropping much lower that that until the Dallas discharge stops.
The Aug 8th weekend now looks much better since it will take the Dallas slug at least a week to reach Livingston.


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