if its private property it makes sense

That's a long walk!

It doesn't make any sense what so ever. But it's a rule, closed is closed I guess.

Per the Nails Creek FB page on Tues. 1/19, "Newman's Bottom will be closed for a while. Irwin Bridge is open though! Feel Free to try your line there while in the area!"

From what the office told me, no hiking in from the Newman entrance, but you CAN hike in from Irwin down to the bridge at Newman. They said you cannot go further than the bridge b/c the trail is closed.

So that's quite a walk but depends on how bad you want it.

That's my understanding as well. When Irwin Bridge was closed I was told I could not walk in through the gate and parking area but I could follow the creek down.

What part of nails creek isn't closed off? Is the creek accessible from the state park. I've never been there and would like to go on a recon mission to see if I can catch any whites. I've got a small 10 foot bass boat however I don't want to put in just yet. Any help would be appreciated. My wife is eager to take the trip with me so any info would be helpful my friends.

To the veteran yegua fisherman...

Whats the difficulty level putting a 16' alum into the creek coming off main lake?

With the current water level it will be easy. A few years ago in the drought I had to get out and pull the boat where the Yegua meets the lake. You will not make it to the bridge in Newmans Bottom, to much debris, unless the floods have change the creek since last year. The mouth of Cedar Creek is the best spot for whites in a boat right now. Good Luck

The creek is accessible from the state park. Your boat will be able to make it to the horse trail on Nails Creek, which is as far as you will be able to go in a boat.

I'm new to this forum. Only a couple of years ago I learned about these creeks and started fishing them. I've learned that hiking these creeks can be way more fun than fishing from a boat. While I've spent most of my time exploring the creeks within the park boundaries I have a question about the smaller creeks. How does someone like me go about trekking these creeks (Cedar, Birch, etc.) without getting shot? Aren't these creeks surrounded by private property?

Crossing the lake from nails boat ramp to the yegua can get rough sometimes. Not sure how far up you could go with an outboard. Depends on log jams. There was a pretty big tree down before wolf pond. You could make it over when it was 4-5' high. Not sure at the current level.

From nails creek state park area do you drive the trail and park on the side of the road to get to the creek.

Too bad the rules have to be so difficult to follow and even harder to find out exactly what the rules even are because it is a great resource and a beautiful place.

Sometimes the rules only make sense when you see the big picture or look to the long term. The trailway will be closed a while longer as the flood damage can be assessed from both the summer flooding and again in October. Repairs to the state park have been delayed for a variety of reasons but mostly due to the nature of the damage and safety issues. Since the Birch creek unit is still closed I suspect getting the state and federal agencies together and the resources to do repairs has been the issue. The lake is federal property which the state leases so issues with infrastructure are likely to involve federal, state and local government, not to mention volunteers to do much of the work..

I ran into a TFFer today, Kirby 12. Nice to meet you Brian, congrats on your limit of fish. I ended my day with 14. It was slow on my end, but I still had a fun day scouting out the creek in areas I haven't fished in a long long time. I always have fun on this creek, nice quiet place.