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Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend #11534065 04/11/16 01:55 PM
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Lloyd5 Offline OP
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Saturday and Sunday the river was low, no flow coming from the Lake Whitney Dam. No telling how long that might last but it made for great fishing this weekend. I fish about a mile below the FM 2114 bridge, for reference. The river was as low as I've seen it in months. The water is still cool but not too terribly bad for bare wading. Once in the water it only takes a few minutes to feel comfortable. The water is clear with visibility to about 5 feet, depending on sun angle.

I've seen three snakes, two of them moccasins, in the past two weeks. The two moccasins were yesterday. So beware, the spring snake season is upon us. When the water gets a bit warmer they'll be breeding I expect. When that happens they congregate in numbers - creek mouths are especially attractive to them. The water snake I saw was in a creek mouth, the moccasins were in the river.

I tested my new 7' 2wt for about 5 hours Saturday. I didn't much care for it although I caught about 50 bluegills in my favorite bluegill hole. It's too short making long casts difficult at best. The light line really gets whipped by the slightest wind, and it's generally windy in the river. Surprisingly - at least to me - it didn't make catching the smaller fish any more enjoyable than my 9' 4wt. In fact my 4wt seems more responsive to me - and I can cast long with it. So, back in the closet goes the 2wt. Maybe the one I got was too stiff, it didn't seem to load very well. I normally don't look back at my backcast, feeling the rod load instead. With this one I was constantly having to look back. Or I could just be doing it wrong. Operator error, especially this operator, is a strong possibility.

Sunday I fished about 4 hours and caught 3 nice bluegill, a dozen or so large crappie, a striper about 4lbs, and a channel cat about 5 pounds. They were all a blast on the 4 wt. Mostly I used a black woolybooger, they were all over it until they shut down and then they wouldn't bite anything. They shut down about 2:30pm, and the wind did seem to shift about then. The cat put up a decent fight, as did the crappie and blue gills.

The striper was a bonus. Don't normally see striper that far down the river, I've caught maybe five of them in ten years. This one put up one great fight, and fought hard all the way in to me. I'd catch them all day long if possible. When I was a kid we lived in Maryland and I worked at a Marina off Chesapeake Bay. I'd see the sport fishing boats come in with stripers that weighed in the 50 lbs region every day. I'd love to get one of those on the line. Not on my 4 wt though.

Last edited by Lloyd5; 04/11/16 01:58 PM.

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Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11534964 04/11/16 07:33 PM
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Great to hear. I've been trying to fish the low water when possible, but they refuse to release a schedule. I can only assume they plan on keeping the same schedule, M-F around 10am.

I've tried to fish the high water a couple times, it's definitely a challenge. I wouldn't want to be doing that wading or with a kayak. It does make it super easy to run back up the river though at the end of the fishing day.

A couple of weeks ago, we were at the dam about to launch when they hit the horn. Right at 10am, we motored down below to beat the new water, but it obviously eventually caught up to us. It hits your area around 4 hours later.

Last edited by fwkid; 04/11/16 07:36 PM.
Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: fwkid] #11535137 04/11/16 08:38 PM
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I believe what I read was that the releases are now automated based on power generation needs. Basically the hotter it is, the more demand on the grid, the more likely they will be releasing. The Corp put out this press release. Be Careful.

http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/whitney/News%20Articles%202011/NR13-039%20Whitney%20Lake%20Releases%20PAO%20Version%20(2).pdf

Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11535225 04/11/16 09:16 PM
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Lloyd5 Offline OP
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When they release now the river comes up much faster than it used to. Down where I fish you still have time to get out if you're paying attention. If you're not you might have to get out on the wrong side of the river and have a big walk ahead of you.


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http://www.amazon.com/River-Proceeds-Wou...ds=on+the+river

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Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11536066 04/12/16 03:07 AM
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FORT WORTH, Texas U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives at Whitney Lake want to remind
visitors to be cautious when recreating in the waters below Whitney Dam. Visitors should stay away from
restricted areas, pay attention to sirens, and posted warnings.

Riverside East Park, located on the Hill county side of the dam has long been a popular location for river
access. Daily, visitors come to wade in the river, fly fish, and launch boats. It is paramount that visitors do not
venture beyond the posted signage. This is due to the danger associated with the release of water from the
dams hydropower plant.

Although with each release or change in flow a warning siren is sounded, there is no delay between the siren
and the release or change in flow of the water
. Therefore, not only is activity beyond the posted signage
forbidden and considered a violation of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, it is a huge safety risk. In
addition, water recreation in the riverbed outside the restricted area will also experience increased flow and
potentially dangerous conditions during water releases. As in any undesignated swimming area, caution should
be used in these areas as well.

Park rangers have reported submerged vehicles and loss of other personal property by visitors that ignored the
warning signs and chose to recreate in restricted areas. These losses could have been easily avoided.

An average release of 2,300 cubic feet per second, per unit, should be expected when the warning siren
sounds for a total of 4,600 CFS
. A cubic foot can be described as a box of water measuring one foot by one
foot by one foot or roughly the size of a basketball. Imagine 4,600 basketballs coming at you per second from
the gates of the dam. 4,600 CFS is an average release and occurs frequently. When flooding occurs, larger
release amounts should be expected.

For more information about Whitney Lake or Dam, call (254) 622-3332 or visit the Whitney Lake website at
http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/whitney/.


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If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.”
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Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11536095 04/12/16 03:23 AM
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Originally Posted By: Lloyd5
When they release now the river comes up much faster than it used to. Down where I fish you still have time to get out if you're paying attention. If you're not you might have to get out on the wrong side of the river and have a big walk ahead of you.

Yes that happened to us we were in a chute fishing for sandies and I started noticing that it was harder to stay in place and my bud hollers and says hey wasn't your backpack on dry land...needless to say we scrambled and didn't make it back across so had to go for a thorny hike.

Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11541252 04/14/16 02:38 AM
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I took my kayak out below the dam for the first time since last fall. I can't believe how much water they're releasing. It makes it a real pain to paddle and fish. However, once I figured out how the fish were dealing with the current I started catching quite a few. Lost a real monster right in front of me when she wrapped around a tree...

Last edited by icthys15; 04/14/16 02:39 AM.
Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11541843 04/14/16 01:36 PM
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Lloyd5 Offline OP
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icthys15 - how did you manage to deal with that current and fish at the same time?

I've always wondered where the fish go when the current is fast, thinking they must seek out the slowest water up near the banks on the inside of bends. Is that where you found them?


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http://www.amazon.com/River-Proceeds-Wou...ds=on+the+river

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Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11542939 04/14/16 08:59 PM
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Your exactly right. Hiding behind current breaks on the inside bends. It was also where I was most able to fish without constantly paddling haha. I lost a lot more fish than usual because I would have to paddle near low hanging branches to get bites, then as soon as I hooked up with a fish the current pulled me into the trees. Dodging sweepers makes it difficult to keep a fish on the line!

Last edited by icthys15; 04/14/16 09:00 PM.
Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11546205 04/16/16 02:34 PM
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Lloyd5 Offline OP
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Always good to have a theory confirmed. I can't imagine juggling a fly rod, paddling, fast current, and tree limbs too.


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http://www.amazon.com/River-Proceeds-Wou...ds=on+the+river

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Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11553426 04/20/16 01:40 AM
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Lloyd5, sounds like your looking for a way to make bluegill a little more exciting by using a lighter rod... have you tried a Tenkara rod?


"Why let the truth stand in the way of a good fish story?"
Re: Brazos Below Whitney This Weekend [Re: Lloyd5] #11553912 04/20/16 10:07 AM
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Lloyd5 Offline OP
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Not yet, but they do look interesting. Do they make the bluegills even more fun?


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http://www.amazon.com/River-Proceeds-Wou...ds=on+the+river

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