I fished Somerville Spillway this morning (Tuesday, 8/10/2021) from ~6:30-11am. I caught probably 15 fish most 8”-9” plus a 4' dink. 1 WB keeper came off at rocks/shore. I fished North side. Caught a few ~8” Goo also. About 12 people fishing but never saw anybody catch anything of size. A few guys on the railing of the spillway with cast net for bait & throw in spillway but did not see them catch anything of size either.

Monday evening I made the drive to fish the spillway again to find no one working the north side rocks. I started at the chute and worked all the way to where the rocks end. Only caught goo and could have caught a bunch if I'd have stayed on them. I noticed the whitebass surfacing just a couple of times at the mouth of the chute and could see one guy (Jason) picking them off the wall up inside the chute. The flow at 179cfps allows the bass to chase the shad up into the chute and force the shad into and up the wall where they can pin them down... Apparently the bass were doing this the whole time I was down on the rocks catching goo...
I joined Jason on the dock at about 7:30 and quickly started catching... I stayed until sunset and caught maybe ten nice size whitebass.. Jason caught more than a limit but kept 25 good ones.. I didn't keep count but the four of us on the dock reeled in 50 plus by dark... Jason number II showed up as we were leaving and reported catching lots of bass a couple of nights ago after dark and left them biting.. One thing is certain these bass are hard to pin down as to location. They move around every time the flow changes and Monday evening was no different... You had to bounce the jig off the wall to catch a bass..

FYI - Somerville Spillway release rate info, J-Moe and Hook-Line&Sinker may know correlation to release rates (CFS) and "catching" as I am "newbie" to fishing Somerville Spillway (1st time since 1975/1976 Aggie Freshman year)
General info - https://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/somerville/
Historical daily release rates https://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/c...ATA&page=Hydrologic&report=query

Generally speaking under a constant flow rate the fish will stick to a regular pattern of feeding and movement in the channel.. When the flow goes up or down significantly the fish often move and re-establish a new pattern. The trick is knowing the what, when and where to fish under the changing flow rate.. To get dialed-in on the fish takes time, some luck and is often helped by watching other fisherman who have found the trick..

I started fishing Lake Somerville shortly after moving to Bryan in 1971 so that makes 2021 my 50th anniversary. I've experienced a few things over those years that really pay off now.. Sometimes there is no replacement for time on the water or dumb luck..

Took a rare lunchtime run over to the spillway Thursday to find the flow reduced to 94 cfps and the fish stacked up in the chute. JMoe and I caught mostly goo, a couple of very nice whitebass, a few small crappie and sunfish. I suspect if given the time we could have located the better fish but it was nice to be fishing and catching.

I went out to the dam this morning. I walked down from the crowd and waded out into knee deep water. I really couldn't find any white bass staged. They just continue to move around chasing the shad with a straggler here and there. I ended up catching 12 keeper size WB, 6 small white bass, plus a bunch of goo and undersized crappie. I've seen very few hybrids caught. None today by anyone. I've actually caught 5 stripped bass, but only one hybrid since the COE opened the dam this time. I kept 8 white bass for a friend.

The COE closed the gates, as expected, 1/4 foot above normal lake level. Unfortunately everything is setting up for another massive fish kill in the very near future is we don't get a large amount of rain in the next several days.

I fished below the dam this morning. It was full of gar. Everyone, including myself, was catching gar. I was also catching lots of undersized crappie. The white bass or hybrids weren't to be seen but I left by 8 AM. I'm hoping they will crowd into the deeper channel below the dam in the next couple of days, but only time will tell.

I fished below the dam yesterday evening. Just caught gar and small crappie. I tried this morning and the whole area was nothing but gar and buffalo. I didn't catch even small crappie.

I jumped over to the lake side and found lots of bluegill biting. I also picked up a nice bass. All caught on a size 10 crawfish briminator fly.

After I finished fishing I went back over to the dam and picked up garbage in the near side rocks. I picked up a total of 3 bags and not sure I made a real dent.

It was very interesting. Most people wouldn't even look at me. I wonder if they thought I was a criminal doing public service, or maybe just embarrassed for me or of themselves that an old man was stumbling around the rocks picking up their water bottles, beer cans and bait containers.

This is a symbol of where America is at right now. The sick false narratives are all meant for us to hate America. It is time for us to take back America, if it isn't too late. We start by loving this great country. It is amazing to me that when I travel to Austria for work it's like a picture in a story book without a piece of trash in sight. Then I look at America that has been around for hundreds of years less and it is being trashed out by it's citizens and even more so by it's non citizens.

It's time to take the small steps and stop being politically correct. Education and shaming if needed. It doesn't hurt to tuck a couple trash bags in your belt loop and hand them to a family group or other beer drinking group. If we show we care then maybe others will follow suit.

Thank J-Moe for picking up trash behind the dam. You are the role-model for all fishmen! I will bring trash bags every time fishing there, and help clear up trash.

Thanks SomervilleFishing, That's the Spirit!! Welcome to the Forum

Is the spillway generally full of gar when not releasing? Or do they just show up in large numbers right after the gates close to mop up? I want to try fishing for gar with a "rope lure" and was wondering if they'll still be there next weekend.

Gars should be there at least for a few weeks after the spillway is closed

It's one of those things i've never understood. Why in the world do fisherman leave the banks for the lake or spillway in such awful condition?!!? Thanks J-Moe for leading by example. I'd be honored to work with you next time to clean up a little.

Most fishermen leave no trash behind - 1-2 empty water bottles are easy to carry away. But there are some bad apples. Early this year under a bridge along the bank of a creek, I saw a 6-pack beer box with 2 unopened beer bottles. They must drink too much LOL!