I was up by Medina Lake this morning and wanted to share some pictures that I have taken..

Can you even go under that bridge when lake is full?

Olefisher - that's the dam.

the weather in those pics do make it look like a bridge though.. those are water stains that streak down.

here's a pic from several years ago on a sunny day (lake was about 75ft down in this pic)....

Yes that is the dam.. I tried to get closer to take better pictures..hopefully I will be able to get out on the water and take some soon

Anyone know at what level the boat ramps are usable again?

Are there any fish in Medina?

Are there any fish left in the lake? With all the new water it may take all day to get one bite.

Back in the day (mid-1970s), it frequently took all day to get one bite, and there were usually only a few 8+ bass caught every year....but Medina held the Texas state record for Largemouth Bass from 1943 for at least 30 years, and maybe even 40. I believe it weighed 13-08, long before Florida bass were first stocked in Texas. Will it recover? I certainly don't know, but I surely do hope so. I still love that lake, and I was a founding member of the Medina Bassmasters, a club that held monthly tournaments there in the mid-'70s.

I remember the club. It was smaller than most the other clubs at that time, but you guys were die hard loyal to the lake. That was around the time most of the other local lakes were on fire with the exception of Canyon maybe.

Lake Medina held the state largemouth bass record from 1943 until 1980 when the record was surpassed by the first Florida strain on Lake Monticello.......the rest is history.

The 80's was a fun time to be a bass fisherman! The florida strain bass had taken hold in a number of lakes especially Monticello and Calaveras and Braunig.
There was somewhat of a competition between Monticello and Calaveras to see who produced the states biggest largemouth and dethrone Monticello. It ended up going to a small private lake called Echo lake.
It's hard for someone to grasp, but Calaveras was rated at one time the number one bass lake in the state, and maybe even the U.S. at one time.

What's sad is Calaveras has become a put and take lake for freshwater redfish and Hybrid Stripers. Catfish hold their own, but the bass fishing is nowhere near what it once was, and in fact trying to catch a bass is only for someone who has great determination, and not afraid to admit defeat.
On the other hand Monticello is still a pretty good bass fishery as well as the other species.

And that's sad, Jim.

I would have loved to see Calaveras in its hay day!..

I loved Medina lake. My friend's dad had a house out there and we'd spend all day every day on that lake. Used to catch a lot of big bluegill on the bluffs by free falling jigs to deeper water.

That is one AWESOME sight. Hopefully some good lake management will help keep Medina full for a while.

As of 3:00 a.m. today, it looks like the old girl has come up about 60 feet in a week! That's just plain old wonderful!