Does anyone know how much water Lake Amistad has caught with all of the recent rains?

As of 9/10/08 it is at 1103+, it is going up very slowly....

The flood gates at precidio have been open all day and will continue for about a week.Ike will dump some rain as well. Will it get back to full pool or at least conservation level? the lake is up 4 feet, last i checked it was 1103 and rising.

Today it is at 1103.42, yesterday it was 1103.15

8/13/08 it was at 1099.05, so it is up about 3.37 feet in 30 days.

Full pool is 1117 so she is about 13.5' below full pool.

Hopefully she won't catch too much more water as she is mighty big already!!!!

Is the rule of thumb that fish will rise with the rising of water work on AMISTAD as well....

Just curious....

Thanks for looking....

hey "nut" you need to get a calculator..
1103.42 - 1099.05 =4.37 feet.

I heard that one of levees broke at Presidio and they are filling and stacking sand bags as we speak. Is that having any impact on the Big Blue for the weekend?

Here's the latest from the NWS

weather.gov
National Weather Service

Watches, Warnings & Advisories
Local weather forecast by "City, St" or zip code
7 products issued by NWS for: 8 Miles ESE Terlingua TX
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Flood Warning
FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
1150 AM CDT SAT SEP 13 2008

...THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN TEXAS..
RIO GRANDE BELOW PRESIDIO 5SE AFFECTING PRESIDIO COUNTY
RIO GRANDE AT PRESIDIO INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE AFFECTING PRESIDIO
COUNTY
RIO GRANDE AT LAJITAS AFFECTING BREWSTER AND PRESIDIO COUNTIES
RIO GRANDE AT CASTOLON AFFECTING BREWSTER COUNTY
RIO GRANDE AT JOHNSON RANCH AFFECTING BREWSTER COUNTY

RELEASES OUT OF LUIS LEON RESERVOIR IN MEXICO HAVE BEEN INCREASED
TO JUST OVER 31373 CFS (888 CMS). AS A RESULT...FORECASTERS EXPECT
THE RIVER LEVELS TO CONTINUE TO INCREASE FOR ANOTHER 24 HOURS OR SO
THEN HOLD STEADY DEPENDING UPON AMOUNT OF WATER THAT CONTINUES TO BE
RELEASED OUT OF LUIS LEON. ADDITIONAL INCREASES IN RELEASED
WATER...OR RAINFALL OVER THE AREA WILL AFFECT CURRENT RIVER
FORECASTS.

I have been watching this all week..

Amistad is releasing some water in advance of this inflow.. But how much, we'll see..

Amistad has risen appx 1.81 feet in the last 48 hours.. But a LOT more water is in the pipeline..

Falcon is rising about 1.75 inches per day. plus or minus..

Maybe both lakes will be in good shape come spring.. we can use the water down here.. Amistad could be close to full very soon if they hold all the water.. But I don't see them doing that.. They need to be able to hold any aditional flood waters that might show up..

We'r keeping an eye on it all at FalconLakeTackle.com

See you on the water!

James

Current level 1105.44

The difference was very noticeable between Saturday and Sunday. The fish are scattered out all over creation.

Math problem:

6 feet of vertical gain of water x 60,000 acres of lake = a whole lot of water.

As of today it is at 1106.75 just short of 10' of being full pool.

The lake is definitely getting bigger......

How's the water color up the lake around mile marker 18? is there any debris coming in with this new water? Here's an interesting article regarding where the water is coming from.

http://www.swtexaslive.com/node/7572

I was there this weekend. The water was still clear around 18 but started to get off color (slightly) just above 28 and became more stained as you went higher. There was very little debris up river this weekend but I did see one floater (past the Mexican hotel with the red roof) that would have ruined my day if I had not seen it. It was pretty clear and you could run hard the entire time.

The lake came up almost 1 1/2 feet this weekend alone.

1107.32 as of this morning.

Carl thanks for keeping us posted on this. Seems like depending on which internet site you check you get a different reading. Im pretty confident that your info is correct.

They had a lil segment on the evening news here in san antonio on ksat12 about amistad about the rising water and interviweing the water guys at the dam... Also said if the lake where to rise 12ft or higher they would release alot more waster then what they are doing now. People down stream where informed about the flooding as well.

Anyone got any suggestions on the best way to fish it now?

shallow

Amistad as of 7:30 am was at 1108.03 and still rising. According to the NWS and AHPS, it should continue to rise for the next week or longer.

Hey Carl what do you think the odds are of the "powers at be" letting Amistad reach full pool?

Very Good.

Don't hold your breath , but this time they may not have a choice. The international bridge at Presidio is pretty much underwater plus their levee was breeched. Nice article in San Antonio Express about it today. If you ever have been across that bridge, you know how deep that is . That is a ton of water, hence the "historic flood" talk they have been rumbling about. They had a nice pic of the water going over the bridge. It was all the way up to the guard house where they take your money when you cross. With the level raising here pretty much 3/4 of a foot a day, by next week we should be full capacity. That should make James down at Falcon Tackle VERY happy. That is , if that sorry watermaster down there doesn't let it all out again. Keep your fingers crossed. Current level 1108.30 7PM today. 8.70 ft. low conservation pool of 1117.00 . Last report today was that all 7 resevoirs on the Conchas river in Mexico were going over the spillway thanks to those two tropical storms. So this is going to go on for a while. They got dumped on rain wise in Mexico pretty bad from the pacific storms.

sounds like i'll have to figure big blue out again on my next trip

James just might be cracking a smile..

I, like many other Amistad and Falcon fans, have been watching the river above Big Bend for weeks. If you read my site, you know that I am always on the lookout for anything that even resembles a river rise.. In the food chain of Rio Grande water, Falcon is the "shad" so to speak... As in the bottom of the food chain.

But the way I see it, this all started out with Greed.. The unwillingness to release any water before hand, because we just might need it this spring.. All these lakes were supposedly built for Flood Control..

In defense of the water masters, if there is any, is the fact that they are trying to juggle the needs of a lot of people, with no info on what is to come.. And I don't know if I could do any better.. But I know I couldn't do much worse..

But I could sure do better on methods to irrigate the valley below Falcon.. It's about as wasteful as it gets..

But Amistad should have started releasing water TWO WEEKS ago.. And maybe could have prevented some of this flooding along the Rio Grande between Amistad and Falcon..

I hear from the American folks with the IBWC, and I have spoken with them several times since we have bought the store, that they talk to their Mexican counterparts all the time.. Wasn't it obvious as to what was about to happen?

And correct me if I am wrong but I believe that Mexicos ownership of water In Amistad and Falcon was below 20%.. I guess this is their way of putting their water back in the lakes..

In any case, we will be glad to take any water we get, with thanks to you folks at the Big Friendly for passing it along.. But next time, don't wait so long..

And don't worry about the Amistad bass that come down the river.. Our bass will eat em'... :-)

See you on the water..

James

Both heads of the U.S/Mexico IBWC offices were killed in a plane crash recently after checking out the rising waters in Presidio and Ojinaga.

Who can remember the last time both lakes were full???

I can remember Falcon being slightly above full pool,Amistad was full as well.I think it was the late 80s or early 90s.The water in Falcon was crystal clear from the salanius at the dam to the hedonia up the river,and all the way past the old town in the salado as well.Falcon at full pool again? I didnt think it would happen.If it does fill up and hold for a couple years I think it will almost be scary how good the fishing will be.Falcon had hydrilla in it back then especially in the lower end of the lake.Not just a few patches here and there either.It was every where and matted up pretty much year round.

Are the fish moving shallow with the rising water on Amistad as well? We haven't heard how the fishing has been with all of the rising water.

The San Antonio newspaper reported today that a presideo county official stated that the rio concho must shed 30 trillion gallons of water before the dams and flood control systems can return to normal...I dont know where he got the number 30 trillion but if he is anywhere close i dont see how both Lakes will not fill up and remain that way for quite sometime.According to my math which is highly suspect I admit....I think that 30 trillion gallons of water = 92,066,619.4 acre feet.(92 million).I dont how much that is but it sounds like a lot.

Here is a website for lake levels if interested.

http://wiid.twdb.state.tx.us/ims/resinfo/BushButton/lakeStatus.asp

For easy figuring Falcon at 20 low at 86,000 acres thats 1,720,000 acre ft of water needed. Amistad at 10 ft 69,000 acres 690,000 acre ft needed. Total of 2,410,000 acre ft to fill both that still alot left. Amazing.

Going to Amistad in 3 weeks and can't wait.

I wish I could figure out where Mr.Ponton(the presideo county attorney) came up with the 30 trillion gallan figure,Thats a lot of water.

More rain in the Leon watershed last week. Go to the bass fishing section and look at that video. THAT is what is coming to us. We have no choice but to fill up BOTH lakes. I agree James. If Mexico was so worried about their lakes (they knew after the first tropical storm) why didn't they start releasing when they saw the second one coming. Unbelievable. Falcon should be full right now and us catching the water. Par for the course.

The fishing was really tough thish weekend. There were two or three big tournaments there, and my partner and I talked to dozens of anglers that were packing up and going home. A lot of them didn't even weigh in a single fish. Don't let that stop anyone from going down though because there were still some big fish to be caught. One of the buys in our tournament caught an 11 pounder, and she sure did look healthy!

Go and enjoy the water. A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work.

There is a story in a newspaper called southwest texas Live, which suggest that the powers that be will flood parts of lower Del Rio instead of letting the lake level at Amistad exceed 1117.Im still trying to figure out how to post a link on here.http://swtexaslive.com/node/7629

So hows the bite on amistad right now? Fishing a 2 day tournament there in 2 weeks.

Check out this article..

http://swtexaslive.com/node/7629

James

joshua,Id call the bite slow...with the lake rising they seem scattered a bit.

I can remember "back in the day" when both were full !!! That was back in the early to mid 90's. Falcon had a ton of grass in it on the south end and Amistad had NONE.

Placed 2nd in a regional money tournament at Amistad with barely over 9 LBS back then !!!

Bill@S.O.B
www.soblures.com

Uhhuh ! I knew that dadgum treaty would screw things up. So much for wishful thinking. I guess Mexico will owe us water forever the way that reads. I told that politician I first heard that from that they should enforce it. Now the water comes and they STILL don't want to. Figures. Guess I should tell IWBC what I did the politician. It wasn't very nice either. Oh well.

Does anyone know how much water mexico "owes' the united states?according the treaty two thirds of the water filling the lakes belongs to mexico no matter where it goes.

The fish are pretty scatered right now, however were catching good 4 and 5 pound fish in the shallow water

Mudline is at marker 28 as of yesterday morning.

wow...what's your official level as of this am, Carl?

1114.78 looks like it going up almost a foot a day... A little over 2 feet to full pool!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are headed there this weekend and have never seen it at this level, I'll bet it is beautiful; however, I like it when it is 25-35' low....

what do you think the lake will be like October 6-8? planning a fishing trip then.

hows the fishing now? is there a lot of dangerous debris in the water?

There is no debris at this time, there might be in the river

Last weekend we went past marker 28 into the muddy water and left quickly because of the debris in the water.

1116.51 current level.

It appears that a big increase in water outlet from Amistad will be averted.. And in a couple of days the inlet will match or be less than the outlet.. Of course there is no telling what the powers that be will do with the water.. You guys are right at full and Falcon is 13.5 feet low.. And we thank you for passing along the water.. With any luck we can get up to about 10' or higher..

If the management is on the ball they should probably drop Amistad to about 6 or 8 feet from full just in case.. You never know what Mother Nature has in store..

That is a bald faced recommendation.. Besides.. We have plenty of room for the water.. And I want to be standing on a lot of Huisache blooms in the bottom of the boat when I am fishing this spring.. I love thorns..

But no matter the case, it has been quite a ride this summer watching the water rise on both lakes.. It will make fishing a little tough for a while but it will be worth the wait..

Falcon is looking great and I am sure Amistad loks Awesome! That's a lot of water!

See you on the lake!

James

1117.02ft as of 9:45pm, local news said it was in 1992 since the lake has been this full...

Yessir. Now I don't have to go up to the second floor to see water anymore. LOL Now we will see what will transpire over the next month while the releases from up above keep coming.

Today it has reached 1,117.17.......... WOW....

If it continues some of the boat ramps will be 20-30' off shore, I think Diablo is safe, I don't know about the others????

Wonder how high it will get before it starts to fall?

luvin it. I hope it stays this way through spawn.

anybody catching any? heard it's tuff

That article is dated 2005. They borrowed more since then.

Munchu, the answer is yes. The tough you heard about was the bluebird skies and no wind encountered during the SIT. When that occurs, fishing is really slow here. It happened both days. However, by looking at the weights, which were for six fish, there were still folks who got on them. You have two distinct ways right now. Going shallow in the newly flooded stuff, which I personally saw them up to 5 lbs. yesterday, or you can fish the late summer pattern which the majority of fish are still in. I personally caught fish on humps in 42 ft. of water yesterday. The only bite that really has not come on yet for the majority of the lake is the deep grass/punching bite. In some areas it works, but has been really slow. Otherwise, get you late summer game face on, hit the shallows early, then back off to the existing grass line which is around 20-25 ft. right now and use your normal late summer tactics. Don't be scared of a full lake. It has a lot of people fooled.

I am not very good at math,but Im betting the releases from Luis Leon will settle any debt that the mexicans could have acrued since 2005.So the way I see it it they might as well let both lakes fill up..Since the debt will be gone anyway.Isnt that the water masters job? catch and retain as much water as safely possible?

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/comm_exec/communication/media/10-07Mexicowater.html I found this it says 2007

That was a year ago.. They have built plenty water debt since then.. And they aren't paying it back cause they feel obligated..Trust me..

If the notion takes them they'll drain Falcon like dirty bath water.. See how much they are "Paying Back" this Jan and Feb..

Sorry to be such a pessimist..

But I don't think this old dog will learn any new tricks..

Have a great Day!

James

Hey Id just as soon dog a ditch 50 miles south of the rio grande and say "there ya go thats the new border".But I dont see that happening.. so I will choose to give them them benifit of the doubt and conclude that its possible that they are sincere about changeing their water theiving ways.But I am a glass is half full kind of guy...The next big drought will tell us a lot and Im certain thats not far off.

So like the other contradicting reads we have found, who do we believe ? Perry says 2005 and now this says 2007 is when the debt was eliminated. Then you read the IBWC stuff and they think they still owe. I give up. Don't know what to believe anymore.
1117.51 is current stage.

Current level 1118.08 .

beautiful

Ya'll keep your fingers crossed that we don't get hammered by that hurricane coming across the Baja. And there is a tropical storm just below it. All in the pacific. Their track is kinda aimed toward us. Current level 1118.14 .

Not looking good for the Home team!
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/ep200815.html

Norbert is headed dead center to El Paso.We are starting to see clouds and wind in Southern N.M.The Rio Grande watershed should catch a lot of rain.Can you say Falcon and Amistad both full.The fishing for the next few years should be fantastic if we can hold this new water for the spawn.Just like having 2 new lakes.

Maybe Elephant Butte will catch some. That would be nice too.

I was looking at the current lake levels and saw that Amistad is letting water out. Last I looked it was full pool and now it is 13 feet low? Is this right?

If I was a betting Man I would say that the gauge has a splinter in its... finger.. Cause if the lake was 13 feet low I would be under water.. :-)

I saw that earlier.. I will go out on a limb and say that the lake is 1.2 feet over pool..

James

thanks. I was wondering what was going on.

None of these gauges are right. It is still above 1118. And still coming up.

Did "Norbert" add any water to the lake?

hope not...amistad is fuller than i've seen it in 10 yrs and the bass are all over the place from 1 to 40 ft

Man, I love the sounds of that....."fuller than I've ever seen it". Guess you'd have to see the lake at 60ft low to appreciate it...I know it makes the fishing a little tougher, but I'm glad to see it this full.

Now if only falcon could catch about 8 more feet...

Chad,

Falcon lake only needs about 5.32 feet more to be at full pool which will probably happen within the next 2 weeks as it is still coming up at 1/3 to 1/2 foot per day...

Current level is 295.88, full pool is 301.20.

Nope. The rain didn't come like they thought.

It looks like Amistad is finally starting to go the other way.I wonder how far they will draw it down before slowing the release?According to my calculations Falcon needs another ten days at this rate.I was hoping there would be a big "They're both full party" somewhere.Its going to be close.

tug of war at its best...head south? or west? hahaha

Dang...tough decision!

They are going to release at 500 cms until it gets back to 1117.00 (conservation level) before things slow down. Straight from IWBC. They were going to release faster, but finally realized people's homes were more important. I know other than on the lake, the Border patrol has been REALLY BORED the last month or so. LOL.

1117.45 . Going back down a bit.

By the looks of it, we are going to stay at this level for a while. Been 1117.40ish for over a week now.

How stained is the water right now? Can we still call it the "Big Blue," or do we need to call it the "Big Brown?"

Only stained upriver on the Rio now.

Holding steady 1117.50.

Coming up again. 1118.05 . Zueberbueler Bend is still stained, less than 2 ft. visibility. Also, the cane has packed itself in every cut and creek just about up there. So thick, a 2 oz. jig doesn't even go through. Need cane poles ? No problem. LOL. Anyway, Marker 24 has around 3-4 ft. visibility. Get to 21 on south it clears up nicely with the water having a greenish tint at times. Big fish are still deep. Regards.

so what happens to that cane, Carl? Will it eventually sink, or end up on the banks when the lake drops?

I don't know how long it takes to rot. LOL. I still have some of my grandfathers cane poles and they are 40 years old. Really don't know if dry cane gets waterlogged either. But I do know it's not going anywhere. LOL. Some of the locals up the Pecos even burned some of the clogs to open things back up again. Guess if I break my rods, I can always go get some of those. LOL

Thanks to the folks that burned what they did. New cane will develop in areas that it may not have been before.

Yes, I saw that. New shoots were actually coming out of the cane laying over the water.