Anyone been fishing Gibbons lately if so how is the fishing? Has the plant been generating? I'm planning on making a trip there this weekend and would appreciate any advise. I have read where the ramp is somewhat hazardous. Is it safe to launch 20' boat?

BassColonel posted in the other thread that it looked like it was up slightly last Saturday and was able to use the ramp.

I'm interested in any other opinions or insight too, since I'm on the fence about heading out there Saturday morning.

I'm looking for a backseat on Saturday to Gibbons, Fayette or Bastrop. I had a new driveway poured yesterday and I cant drive on it until later next week so my boat is stuck in the garage. I was out there last Sat and was able to get in and out ok with my 18ft boat. There were several other big boats out there so I assume they got in/out ok. The fishing was definitely slow but you never know, they might be biting tomorrow!

Sending you a PM now.

Thanks! I'll be fishing tomorrow with fcag. Hope they are biting.

Thanks to fcag for the fishing trip today. We fished hard for about 6 hrs and only caught 1 gar. Didnt get a single bite?? Luckily the weather was great.

It was great having you in the boat. I learned a lot, even if we didn't get any bites.

Went to Gibbons today. Our bass club had a tourney. Some guys didn't catch anything or even get a bite. Then others had a limit. We mark any fish on a board over 14" and limit is 5. No problems getting boats in or out of the ramp. I caught 1 fish over 14.

The Gibbons plant folks have been helping the launch ramp out by clearing the sand accumulations so we don't have to back so far out to get into the deeper water.

Went out yesterday. Ramp was fine. I saw all that sand off to the side. Hopefully we keep getting rain.

I was there from about 1 to 4pm. Caught 2 bass, one was about 3 pounds. Both were near stumps in water 2-3 feet but close to deeper water. Caught both on a brush-hog. Water was 62-63 degrees.

Went yesterday afternoon. No fish. Tried multiple spots, baits, and depths. Water was 60 degrees.

I got 6 bites this morning but only got two in the boat before the wind starting howling. Biggest was 3 lbs but lost one that was probably closer to 4. All were in less than 2 feet of water. Water temp was 58-60 this morning.

Went this afternoon from 2:30 to 5:30. Not one bite. Wind was tough. Fished Plum Creek, trees on the right approaching the discharge from the lake, north & east side of island in front of ramp, trees on east shore in front of ramp, rock shoal in front of spillway, rocky point west of spillway and east bank of cold water intake. Temp ranged from 58 to 64. Very little activity. Only fish I saw caought were a couple of 8" catfish by some bank fishermen. Tough day, but it still beats working.

After only catching three this morning on Conroe, I decided to try Gibbons this afternoon with a good friend. Sure glad he said yes, because I was blessed with an 8.4 on carolina rig and 4.4 on crankbait. The bite for us was better than what it has been here recently, but still few and far between. Dave

Sounds like Sunday was better than Saturday. I think they're moving up in the shallow water when during the warmest part of the day.

I will be visiting college station (family) from 10-16 feb so I have been lurking the gibbons thread since its the closest lake to the city. Its seem the ramp is fine to launch, i have a small 16 foot boat. Is the lake easy to navigate and not hit stumps

Yep, the ramp should be fine for you. It's easy to see the areas with stumps so just go slow anytime you are around those areas and you will be ok. Good luck.

Fished Gibbons on Sunday from 6:45 to noon. Water level was up about 6" from the recent rain but I was surprised it wasnt more. It's going to take a lot of rain to fill it up at this rate. Water was muddy and temp was about 55-57 when I started but got up to almost 59 by the time I left. Here is a video of my only bite:

Great video

Thanks for the video. Blue cat or flathead? About how big?

Colonel, maybe you should invest in a fighting belt. Dave

I really couldnt tell what kind of catfish he was because I only saw him for a split second. He was definitely big...my arms were smoked after I got done with him.

THE BASS ARE BACK...
AND THEY ARE HUNGRY!

Fished 10am-3pm today through the rain showers. '7'(yes-'7') of the bigger girls today weighed in the 4 & 5 lb range.

They are fat, healthy and bellies look ready to spawn before long.



I do need a wider angle camera lens or either a longer arm. (The lab is quite trainable but he takes lousy pics having no thumbs to snap the shutter.)

How low is the lake currently? Guessing it got even higher after tonights big storm. I live in the college station area and would like to get out and try gibbons this spring. Yall seem to be doing pretty well out there.

Yesterday, it was up only a foot after being down perhaps nearly 4 feet in mid January. Gibbons watershed being on the east side of the Navasota, missed most all of Fridays runoffs from the heavy showers that flooded Bryan/College Station.

But I got up at 4am (Saturday)to watch Radar and Gibbons watershed directly was being hit as the actual cool front passed and Gibbons surely collected a lot of heavy rain. I hope, it will be enough to nearly re-fill it. Surely some weekend anglers today/tomorrow can give us an update.

UPDATE:
From the Eagle newspaper blog by an Iola resident at 1pm Sat:
Its flooding a bit by what the locals call "Hog Creek", a Gibbon's run off... a few of the homes in the country are fishin out their porch...

Hope it came up at least a couple feet.

Anyone go out after the rain to see how much, if any, it came up?

I talked to Don at the gate on Sunday and he said it was up another foot or so and the plant is still offline.

Fishing for me has always been tough when the plant is idle...

I was out Saturday, the 4th and fishing from the bank and my wife caught one about 5#, I caught one that was 21" long, probally around 10# or better (scale was too far back to the truck to get weight). Total of four caught from about 1-4 p.m. Still a good day from the bank.

Get pics?

Lake is up 2 to 3 foot.Went drift fishing today caught a whole bunch of dinks and lost a really big one... Not alot of peolpe out today and water temp was around 55 to 59 degrees.Shad where really hard to find early this morning until the sun came out.Hardly any wind untill 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

Could you tell if the plant was back online yet?

Plant is still offline.. Went to the hot water discharge and Hardly any water coming over .. Water temp was the same around the whole lake..

Have the fished moved into shallow water?

If they are, this cold front tonight is going to push them back out for a few more days??

Hey Colonel,

Until the plant comes back online maybe you can order them to bite !

Bent Rods and Tight Lines !

BBB

I tried and they pretty much ignored me the entire month of December and January! Can't wait for Spring!

If the plant shutdown continues, we may get cold enough water to have another Tilapia and shad die off with this weekends nitetime low temps.

I didn't see it, but old posts on TFF talk about such a major Tilapia die off on Gibbons several years ago when the plant was also briefly shut down.

The deepest water (now only 20-25 or so feet) on Gibbons is presently very similar to the same temperature as the surface water. We have had winds at night when the lows occur and without the plant's heating effect, we may see lake temps this weekend at the discharge and deeper lake areas not seen in years.

I've heard that the plant will not come back on til the beginning of May.

Heading out tommorrow to drift fish of cats..I'll let y'all know what the lake looks like.. I'll try and take pics too.. Y'all have a great weekend!

Post a pic of the height from the dock down to the boat. Wondering if it's possible to use the dock yet.

I think the crazy water temperature is really screwing with the fish. The water should be warmer than it is now but instead it's getting cooler. These fish have been on a power plant schedule for their whole lives. Until the plant comes back, the water temps with be more like a regular lake. The spawn may be later or drawn out. Who knows. It's been tough for months.

I went out thurs and u can get on top of the dock alot easier than what it was before the rain but u have to still crawl ontop cant just hop on it.

Had my first trip and likely only trip out there today 2/14. Fished 0800-1500, water temps 55F, water overall stained. Caught 4 bass, 1lb, 2lb,3lb and a 4.5lb. Caught the first up sulpher creek with a small spinnerbait. The other three came after noon. Two were caught on the concrete wall on the oppsite end of the boat ramp on 4" chart senkos, t-rigged. The 4.5lb came off the dam on same bait. All fish caught in 4 feet or less.

Thanks for the report. The weather was beautiful today and I was dying to get out there. We have 10 days of warmer weather coming so hopefully the water temps will get up above 60 degrees.

I'm a newbie, so sorry for a dumb question. Why is the plant offline and how long is that expected to continue?

No such thing as a dumb question and welcome aboard the TFF !

They take the power plant offline for maintenance typically, which stops the normal current flow and allows the lake to cool this time of year. Luckily, we haven't had a really cold winter this year so the water has remained above 50 so I'm hopeful it won't cause a big shad die off this year. As the Colonel stated above, warmer weather is coming and will help raise the temps naturally.

I won't be getting on the lake this weekend but will shoot for later next week. I'll try and post up the temps, lake level and a report when I do !

Tight Lines and Bent Rods !

BBB

Just got another 1/4 inch of rain this morning!

Gibbons Creek is within about a foot of being totally full. You can now step out of your boat and right out on the dock....havent done that in months!! Fished from 6:30 this morning until about noon today and didnt get a single bite?? Water is muddy and temps ranged from 55-57 degrees. Winds were out of the North at 9-12 mph.

That sounds great. I was out there a few weeks before most of the rain and the dock was about chest high when standing on the boat. So, it's come at least 3-4 feet. That's going to be much better when loading and unloading.

Hopefully the new water will improve the fishing. But, without the plant running it may take a while to warm up. Sounds like it's actually getting cooler. I'm counting on a wierd spawn.

Awesome, I figured it came way up. I'm just south of it and we got 3-4 inches here, had roads closed Saturday around here. Did it look like the plant is still offline?

Yaa for the rain !!!

Yep, the plant is still offline??

Rats.......Thank Colonel !!

Hopefully I will try it on Thursday. Are the lilly pads trying to come in yet?

I couldnt stand it today so I took the afternoon off for some fishing. Weather was beautiful! Unfortunately I only caught one fish. Water temps were 58 back up in the creeks and up to 61 out on the main lake. Water clarity was good near the ramp but really muddy back up in the creeks. The power plant is still offline and the guy entrance told me it would be offline 21-35 more days. I think the lack of power generation and low water temps have slowed down the growth of the lily pads compared with what I've seen in the past. I dont think they've started coming up at all. Hopefully this warming trend will get them going??

Thanks colonel

Yep Colonel,

In the 20 Yrs I have fished GCR, it's been my experience that the lake fishes totally different when the plant is offline. I think the current is as big a factor as the temp......

I'm gonna try and get up there in the next week or so to see how full it is and maybe the water will start to settle some....

Will report back when I do......

I heard its only 9 inches low. Lets getem. Go colonel

I'll be out there all weekend in my camper so I hope get in a ton of fishing. It's been a beautiful week. Unfortunately, there is a little cold front coming thru on Friday night??

Friday cold fronts are getting old. At least the third one in a month.

Aviation forecast has the front blowing through some time between midnight and 6am Saturday morning.

Mother Nature is killing me??

Anybody fight the wind at gibbons today?

You okay Colonel?

How was your stay at Gibbons ?

Went out to Gibbons yesterday. The wind was brutal at times. We were unable to get any bass but did pull in a few blues, channels and a freshwater drum (didn't even know they were in there).

Our stay was great. We were in RV space number 1 and had a great view of everyone coming and going from the lake. I got there on Friday and had a couple of hours to fish. I had one very large fish take my Strike King Series 3 in relatively shallow water. Unfortunately he came up and shook his big head and the crankbait flew out. The wind was howling on Saturday so I didnt fish long. I only managed one fish on a spinner bait. Sunday was short as well because we had to leave early for a show on campus but i did manage a few. They were all in 4-6 feet on timber. They were all about 2 lbs but healthy. Lily pads still havent started coming up and the fishing sure seems to be slow for this time of year?? I was invited to fish Fayette County tomorrow and cant wait to catch a bunch of fish!!

So, is it full now Colonel ?

Next week Im gonna get up there and check some spots.....

Was the plant back online ?

Thanks !!

Gibbons is just about full now but the plant is still offline. The water was real muddy from all the wind on Saturday. More rain forecast for later this week so it should be totally full in 10 days or so.

This thread has been real quiet. Anyone been to Gibbons lately? I want to get on the water this week and can't decide if a trip to Gibbons is the way to go right now.

I was there today and it was high and muddy !! They had the gates open wide enough to flood 244 just south of Carlos and there was water on both sides of Hwy 30 at the bridge. The water was better looking on the south end of the lake but it was all 60-62 degrees and the only bite I got was from a big gar, felt good for a second !!

Plant is still offline....

Its Gonna be awhile before the water settles out at GCR !!

TODAY
Temps: 66-70
Lake level: a bit above full pool level, but ramp dock pier is just above water.
Gates: closed
Clarity: upper lake arms very dingy, lower lake normal
Wake Boarders: yes, lower lake high waves at times
Power Plant: off-line until nat.gas prices rise/coal prices drop or summer demand kicks in.
Bass bite is:


s

l

o

w

.

Thanks for update.

I just got back from 9 days at Bastrop. It was fun to catch lots of bass again! I'm making a video now and will post a separate report when I've got it done. I should be back at Gibbons Creek next Sunday. Hopefully they are biting by then??

I was so put off by the muddy water at Gibbons, I loaded up and went to Belton for Spring Break and had a blast in that pretty clear(er) water. Caught some nice LMB and one nice Smallmouth.

The water there is awesome, gin clear down south and stained ( not muddy ) up north. Any clarity you desire to fish ! Will be going back soon.

From what I saw, it could be Easter before Gibbons is worth a [censored] again....

I've fished Gibbons for over 20 years now and this is absolutely the most pathetic fishing I've ever experienced there, bar none. I'll take Conroe any day, and that's saying something.

Fished 3/25/12 from 6.30 to 12.30 and caught 2 fish on a crawfish color bandit. One was about 8 inches long and the other one went 6.5 lbs only 2 bites of the day. Nothing up shallow the carp are spawning so I figure that is keeping the bass backed off. Try again this weekend. Was wondering if the Bass Colonel did any good I seen him out on the lake.

Slow for me as well on Sunday. I caught 3 fish. 1 was 4.50, second was 4.12, and the third was a dink. Had a couple of other bites that I missed. Lily pad are just starting to come up in some parts of the lake. Lake is totally full which has made it a little hard to fish where all the brush has grown up when the lake was lower. I keep hoping the bite is going to pick up but it's been an extremely slow Winter and Spring for me so far?? I'll be back out on Saturday to give it another try.

I was there last Thursday. Not a single bite, water high but very dinghy. Yall can start counting me out on Gibbons, one less person on the water going forward, more lake to you guys.

I was there today caught 33. We did it with bows. Tilapia are hot.

I know folks do catch fish at Gibbons...however it appears that the lake conditions change rapidly from day to day and week to week. I don't know if it is lack oxygen in certain parts of the lake or what....but something turns the fish off......and you will not get a bite.

There's an Idea...

I am on the fence about going tomorrow. Lake is fishing super-slow, not sure I want to waste a day and some gas and may head to Fayette instead.

Is it still slow at Gibbons? Anybody fish ahead of this front?

Sunday was decent. I caught 9 and had at least 10 other bites. Fish were in in the brush that grew up when the water was low. I caught almost all the fish pitching into the the bushes. Biggest was only 3.69 but I missed one that seemed a lot bigger. Some were still very fat and definitely had not spawned yet.

Good report BassColonel, Glad the hear the bite is coming back and Gibbons girls are still pre-spawn. I had given up on Gibbons this week and instead drove over Wednesday to fish Thursday on Athens for some other pre-spawns.
From Lake Athens....

Fished Gibbons this afternoon 5-8, first time since Nov. Wow the lake has changed! Caught a couple, largest going close 4#, trying to feel out the lake. Definitely pre-spawn still, caught them like BassColonel said, in the brush. Things starting to look up!

@ Lou R Pitcher- Great Fish! She looks really long!

Great looking fish Lou R Pitcher. I fished Bastop all weekend. Arrived Friday and got on the water about 4:00. Ended up with 12 plus a couple of good size catfish that picked up by Baby Rattlesnake fishing along the dam. The spent the afternoon hopping around just to see what the fish were doing. Couldnt find any deep fish but I seemed to pick up a fish on almost all my other stops. I had a buddy fish with me Sat morning (catslayer on TFF). We picked up a couple early shallow and then he caught two more catfish along the dam on a jig?? We had a slow morning but he did pick up a couple more fish deep on a jig not far from the discharge. We ended up with around 10 for the morning. I went back out later in the day but it was real slow, windy, and there were a ton of ski boats on the lake so I called it a day. Sunday morning was great for me. The weather was perfect and there were very few boats on the lake. I picked up three early in about 12 ft on a Grandebass Megatail worm and then got one more on the dam. I then found a ton of fish on a grassline in about 8 ft. I had a light c-rig with a baby rattlesnake and picked up 16 more until I had to pack up at 10:30 and head home to Aggieland. I'll be back in late April and hopefully the deep bite is better then.

I fished Gibbons 4/06/12 it was slow I went looking for bed fish and all I found was old used beds no fish setting on them must have looked at 30+ and all of them looked like they were used a couple of weeks ago.

Fishing has been getting better every time I go. Had less than 3 hours to fish Sunday afternoon and caught several on a c-rig in 3-10ft. The GW was out there as well. Glad to see him on the water but he ran wide open in 2ft of water to get to me. Drove right over my spot and almost over my line.

^^^ this. Fished there a couple times in the last month and this is how we were catching them

Guys,
I was listening to Brian Hughes(Texas fishing and outdoors show) on the radio last weekend. There was a discussion about planting eel grass in Prutis Creek. It seems that fisherman in other areas are getting state & federal agencies to let them plant eel grass. It got me thinking, has anyone on the forum tried to get vegetation reestablished at Gibbons. Eel grass is not really invasive, it does grow to the surface in shallow areas, but for the most part doesn't hinder boat traffic in open water. One problem is the blades off grass get pulled off and float around. Since Gibbons has the power plant that would be a problem. Any way I was wondering if anyone was interested in checking into the possibility of getting a project started at Gibbons.

Seems other power plant plants like Bastrop for example somehow handle the eel grass along with power generation. How, I don't know.
As to any interest in proposing Gibbons eel grass introduction.... no thank you. I had the chance a couple years ago to attend an event sitting along with a Sr BTU board member. As a regular Gibbon's angler I tried bringing up Gibbons fishing and thank him and the board for the good facilities and the current fishing opportunities. Instead, when I told him I was an angler, I was told that if the plant was not forced to allow fishing , they would love to close all fishing and close all rec activities and kill every single fish out there. "The $%@ fish (and we anglers ) were just a nusiance and an added cost to power generation".

Anyway, Good luck.

Fishing is starting to turn on, went out last Sunday and finding fish in about 4-6ft of water on soft plastics but had to change colors from normal, went to a light brown/pearl combination and started having luck. Guess because the water is so murky. I think things are going to be good in about a week or two.

I would love to get the chance to meet and say thanks to someone who was in the Gibbons boattrailer parking lot and visited my pickup today while I fished. They must have completely cleaned up about 1/2 tank of spilled gas and even repaired a gas tank fuel leak since I was near completely on Empty when I returned to the dock at sunset.

Fished from 630-930. Caught a couple of dinks around brush, lost a really good fish, 7,8# didnt know it was caught until it saw the yak, took off and broke the line around a tree.

That stinks!

Fished two days this week. Friday morning, the bite was on! mostly on spinnerbaits and lizards around any type of brush or pads. Talked to one guy who caught 26'' 10.5 pound fish friday morning.
Sat was almost too windy for me, found fish on shallow traps and lizards 4-9 ft of water.

Thanks for report.....any idea if the 10.5 was catch/release? If my memory is correct, seems about that weight of a Gibbons bass keeps reappearing in the reports and one has to wonder if it could be the same small reservoir big bass than just keeps being recaught and released.

CPR'd I was hoping he was a TFFer and we would see a pic!

BassColonel is the Man on Gibbons! Wish I had his knowledge last year when we fished it during the Summer! His YouTube videos are awesome!

+1 When I first moved here his videos helped gain some confidence in Gibbons!

Fishing was slower than normal, couldnt find a single fish until almost dark then 5 for 6 out of a row of brush in a foot of shallow water. <4#

HAPPY SENKO DE MAYO!

Launched a little before sunrise on Thursday morning with welcome light winds and mostly good cloud cover staying all morning. Managed six bass in 3 and 4 lb range before feeling the heat start to build and headed home. No pattern as bass were wide spread from shallow pads to stumps to off deep points.

I am not complaining, but this year, I only have caught Gibbons bass in this "over 3 lb." size. In past years, I used to regularly catch many barely 2 lbers and little dinks most everywhere on the lake. The young bass either are not surviving very well out there this year, or I have just somehow not been not catching dinks like I used to.

Anyone else notice the reduced juvenile bass numbers out there?

I fished Thur evening and only caught 1 fish and it had a full body rash?? Another fisherman on the lake showed me a 3-4lb fish that had the same thing.

That sounds nasty Colonel !

May be a protozoan parasite. I can find descriptions, but no great pictures online.

I have noticed some fish having those spots, some more than others. Fish have all been around or over 3#. It seems I did better numbers wise last fall, I am still new to the lake and trying to figure it out.
Went out with the wife last sat. landed my only fish off the old road bed, then as soon the sun went down and the "supermoon" came up found about a dozen fish or so shallow around structure until we left.

Sores and lesions are pretty common in bass a month or two after the spawn. They rub on each other during the spawn and it makes sores on their bodies. A lot of them get a secondary infection which is usually some type of fungus, so it may be a red sore with white cotton like tufts on it or green slime. There are bacterial infections that make red sores as well. When there are lots of small red sores all over the body it can sometimes be anchor worms. You can physically see the worms if you look close enough. There are so many things(bacterial,parasitic or fungal) its hard to pin point it to one thing with out seeing the fish.

..kinda like spring break back in college days.

Caught 10 this morning. Biggest was 3.67 lbs. 2 of the fish had significant sores. Here's a picture of one of them.

Have seen Gibbons bass that have those red sores that bad a few years ago. Especially those caught up way back in the creek arms used to look that. Haven't seen it lately but these days, I find very few bass back there at all. I always thought it was a parasite and sure sign the bass were getting in poor health.

I once sent in pics and a report to TP&W and never heard back anything from them. Was told by others that if the thickness of the tail flesh just in front of the bass'es tailfin is still thick, it is is not related to starvation and the fish may survive.

Ugh. That's ugly.

Today fishing GC, tons of fish in the shallows, a couple of different places it seemed to me that there were some males still on beds, or are they just protecting fry? Anyways caught 6 on liz and jigs.

10 Bass this morning.... most were from 3 to 4.5 lbs.

All caught on "4 Paws" pattern.. .. see where the swimming lab is causing fish to spook and then throw most any lure behind him a minute later. It works.

Not fair getting to fish on Thursday morning!

10 fish for me this morning. Caught 1 on a jerkbait and 1 in the pads but all the others came on stumps in 2-4 ft of water. No bites after about 10:30. Still very slow fishing for May. Biggest was 5.26 lbs. Headed to Caddo lake next weekend!

Nice fish colonel. And good to see that Gibbons is picking up a bit.