The lake is as low as I ever remember it. A word of warning on launching&loading, be very careful as the rocks can be somewhat bad on props and keels as well. I'm scraping bottom at the ramp in lots of places.

Jackieblue haven't they been getting the rain at Fairfield? I have lake lot at RC and we got 6 inches in Aug. and I think they got a good rain from Ike. I want to fish there but my boat takes alot of water to float.

Fairfield gets very little run off. The rain was six inches but that was between drops not inches. They need rain very bad, if the current conditions continue the ramp will soon be high and dry, carry in jon boats, and bank fishing only. I'm not kidding.

T.U has a pipeline to the trinity, they used to pump water in when the bas were spawning every year in the early 80's.
They can due it now?

Bigdog, the pipeline is still there, just not pumping any water right now.
It's been an month or two since they have pumped any water from the Trinity.

I fished with Jackie Sunday morning and we saw a guy have to get out of his bass boat and walk it to his trailer. He kept getting hung up on the botton with his weight in the boat. So if you go make sure you don't bring your new bass rig or big center console, or you may have to get very wet like this poor guy did.
Hire a guide with the right kind of boat for the situation and don't tear yours up.

A man launched his boat yesterday afternoon but had to get out of the boat to get it off the rocks. His weight had the boat sitting on the bottom. He finally pushed the boat back on the trailer and left, somewhat unhappy. I started to warn him but have found out experience is the best teacher.
I also saw some men tryng to load a 17' vee Tracker last night, took over 30 minutes and lots of less than soft language in some unknown tongue.

I run a 20' Charger (heavier than most boats), with a 200 hp old model Merc. With my draft I scrapped bottom both going in and coming out.

I had to make 2 or 3 runs to get to the trailer Sunday and Monday evening. Ended up trolling up to the trailer bunks then used the big engine to push onto the trailer. Having my weight in the front of the boat helped get past those scraps, (or I just couldn't hear the scraping from the front of the boat). With the lake evaporating water, no rain fall, and no pumping I doubt if I can get in this weekend without moving some rocks around.

If I had had some boots or crocks or diver boots I would have dared to move some rocks last weekend, but with folks throwing "stuff" off the dock there could easily be some glass among it.

What I see is the top of the berm is obstructing access to a still serviceable concrete ramp. That rock studded berm crest is about 6 foot wide and 20 feet long. That crest needs to be lowered at least 18". The worst of the rock is nearest the dock side. Behind that berm (down slope) is some silt and mud buildup. The berm top needs to get moved aside, with the biggest rocks pitched back into the hole at the bottom of the concrete edge, and then probably some silt west of the berm has to be moved further west or aside.

How about if we (Jackie, Vaughan, Parker, myself, may be Chuck) use some of this weekend or next for a rock and mud moving half day and fish the rest? As I see it with enough guys working on this we will need may be 4 hours of work to get these ramps back in serviceable condition. As I see it we throw the biggest rocks back into the hole at the end of the concrete, pitch the rocks our props are likely to be lifting aside under the dock or to the north side, and blow silt mud back or to either side using a prop wash from a twin anchored boat. Tools I think we would need are:

[*]feet and hand protection from glass among the rocks and mud (fish cleaning glooves should be sufficient),
[*]a shovel or two,
[*]pitch forks with tongs narrow enough to dredge up the smaller rocks so they can be pitched aside.
[*] if TWPD had a fire hose and water pressure source we could blow the silt aside without risking a boat engine overheating or prop damage. or
[*]a long garden hose and motor cuff so we can bring fishing station clear cooling water to the engine producing the prop wash to push the mud aside,
[*]two anchors with good ropes to hold the boat in place making the prop wash to get the loose mud out of the way. (I have two 16 or 20# river anchors, one with a hemp rope that should be plenty thick enough, the other rope might prove to thin for a hard prop pull.
[*}a dip stick to do depth measurements with
[*]one good camera to record the how to of all this.
[*]If TWPD joins in their supervisors require them to be wearing PFDs even in shallow water, so if they join in we might need them also.

Reply with names please for your first second and third choices:
How many could work Friday afternoon/evening?
How many could work Saturday Morning?
How many want to work Saturday Afternoon?
Is sometime the weekend of Oct 10 better for everybody?

Mike is checking with the company formerly known as TXU to see if its possible to borrow a backhoe, and try to dredge the burm down some. I haven't talked to him in a few days and unsure of the outcome. Something has to happen to the high spot or no one can launch soon.

You know come to think of it, the very machine we needs was setting on a hill side South East above the Riprap cove rock wall. But the other side of their upper basin. It was holding up something while it was being worked on.

It is bigger than a backhoe, has a longer reach and than a backhoe has, and a ones I have seen have a scoop about 3-4X wider.

If nothing changes I will be there Saturday morning fishin.

Cory and I are also working with mike to get a machine in there to knock out the burm.

How do we keep the next 250hp rig that comes along after we fix it from blowing it all back out again?

40 caliber round through the engine ought to do it!!!!

With the evaporation and what you and I experienced Monday I doubt if anybody but Jon boats and Kayakers will be able to launch by this weekend.

Turns out CDE is a professional/quailifed Tack and Back hoe operator, and volunteering to operate whatever Mike can locate. I have CDE calling Mike to inform Mike he could operate whatever TXU might be able to lend us.

Some TXU folks also know CDE, and hoping he can work a back channel there also.

We will only put rocks back in the hole that we think are not likely to blow back out. I suspect there will only be a few of them. When the water gets clear I see may be one or two on top that I would even consider putting back in the blowout hole.

I do not see this as an attempt to pull the berm back into the blow hole. The berm already existance proves that would be a monmentary fix and therefore pointless.

Those big engines are going to come to the lake, there is no way to prevent it. Rocks the big engines can move have to get moved aside.

Bust out the kayak! Attach yourself to a big red and go for a ride!

I can't remember if it was Cedar Creek or Lewisville, but one of the ramps I used to use had a ban against using the engine to load the boat while the water was very low one year. You could only crank the boat up on the trailer.

If FF had concrete ramps going far enough into the lake to float a boat above the trailer the berm won't be a there.

I went last weekend it was bad getting on and off trailer. I swore I would not go back until ff caught some water. If you guys go to do this and need some help let me know when, I will do my very best to try and help out. I have to go to a wedding sat at 1;00

Mike Kleinart the Park Manager just got back in touch with me.

There is some free volunteer equipment and operator lined up to dredge the south ramp (old store ramp), and possibly the north ramp if enough volunteer time and diesel fuel can be found to do the work. The south ramp work sounds like it is privately fully funded already, all TWPD home office has to say is "OK".

If these volunteers are willing to also do the north (camp ground) ramp Mike might need some cash contributions to afford the extra diesel fuel required, without waiting for a home office ok for that. This is no small effort at either ramp they will be trucking off whatever they dredge from the lake bottom. The north ramp has much more shallow water than the south ramp does.

Mike hopes to get an OK out of his head office as early as tomorrow. If he gets the go ahead tomorrow, depending upon volunteer availability the work could start as early as Monday.

Cory Vincent, and Lex Hayes have set up this volunteer equipment and operators. We all need to show them our appreciation when we see them running trips again starting about Nov 1. I am sure Cory and Lex could be favored with some cash contribution when we see them.

Depending on the reach of the equipment and the underwater soil stability they might not be able to clear the outer shallow silt rim.

If not Mike believes the park was a portable pump and some 1.5" or 3" fire hose we can use to blow that shallow silt rim further back into the deeper water. If that fails we can use some anchored prop wash. We will have to wait to see what this volunteer equipment can accomplish.

My Special Thanks Cory, Lex and Mike

Well done guys!

hay guys i fish ff a lot but i have to work and no way can i get off. i would be willing to put out a little long green for the process that yall are talking about. i am sure there are others that would donate as well. get me a number and i will help with some funds. i have seen a lot of the names on here talking about fishing this lake on here a lot. if this happens and you spend your time i would be willing to buy some disel at the least. i will start the help with 50 dollars who else is game.

Mike called mid-day Friday, He had to wait until Monday to get a green light for the volunteer effort.

Dobbin send Diesel fuel contribution to the attention of Mike Kleinert, Fairfield Lake State State Park, 123 State Park Road 64, Fairfield, Texas 75649. call him at 903-390-4763 for the payee he would like to use.

I'm in for some cash!

Im up for cash as well. Any update on getting the effort approved and moving forward. I called Mike K but no answer.