Question about Decker Lake

I would like to try Decker Lake. The Austin website says the “park” opens at 8AM. Can you launch your boat before this or do you have to wait until 8AM ?

thanks kindly, Chris

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Gates open at 6am unless something has changed since last Sunday.

Sehr gut ! Danke !!

Gates open at 5am. There's a parking meter at the gate shack for the daily pass. Both ramps were open Wednesday.

Is this what they call Walter Long lake? How is the fishing there?

Walter E. Long is Decker Lake

Bass are good, haven't really fished for anything else. I believe its a good place for hybrid. They have a kayak only tournament on occasion. Tons of reeds line the shores and there's an old quarry area on the north side of the lake with a rocky bottom that feeds into a grassy area. I do know 2 people who have pulled 8+ pounders from there (with picture evidence ).

Just heard that they've now found zebra mussels so that's a downer. There were also discussions on the future of the lake as I believe the City owns it and it no longer turns power. Fisherman were not happy with the potential plans.

Thanks Bobcat, may have a chance to go fish it so looking for any pointers.

Zebra Mussels in Long? Don’t they pump water from the Colorado River to compensate for evaporation? Back when the plant ran 24/7 the water level never dropped. Water was up in the reeds all summer & winter and you could night fish. Night fishing on Long up
in the reeds for big ol’ bass with weightless PorkO’s for bait........sorry, I drifted off down memory lane!

I have done well this time of year with frogs, spinnerbaits, trig, crank baits and throwing swimbaits around the damn. Let me know if you need a +1

The lake isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The power plant is used in reserve capacity by Austin Energy. During peek energy demands it can crank up and generate power. That will be the case for several years at least.

I don't believe the lake is going anywhere but I'm pretty sure that the power plant is to be decommissioned next year and they will tear it down. I have heard this from an Austin Energy employee and also read an article on it. Stupid City of Austin thinks they can power everything on solar and cow manure. It will be interesting to see how the fishing changes.

They open the gates *usually* early at like 5am or 6am, but on occasion nobody will get there until later. It's a very small lake. Tons of hydrilla, reeds, and some lily pads. It's a slot lake and on average the bass you catch there will be good size.