i wanna start fishing here this summer but idk if the fish are ok to eat out of here. what do yall think?

JackH,

Here's couple of pieces of local knowledge information in reply to your question, but this info is not intended here to start a debate.... just presented so you can be your own judge what you want to consume from these waters if the info even concerns you...


1) That flat topped looking mountain on the side of the lake by the plant is not a mountain and is not natural. It is manmade. It is burned lignite "ash residues" from the days lignite was mined near the plant, hauled under the highway 30 bridge via the now abandoned railway just to the side of Carlos, Tx and it was all burned at the lake to power the gens. The mines and tracks are pretty much gone now because lignite was so toxic and mercury laden and damaging to the environment, the plant abandoned lignite entirely and now gets cleaner burning coal via a railway running from the north brought in from out of Texas mines.

2) As discussed previously somewhere a while back on this forum, the lake would if left alone, normally have an abundant healthy supply of mass fields of floating water hycyinths. The bass loved them as they helped shade and cool the hot oxygen depleted power generator exhaust waters. These floating plants though give the power plant fits going through and clogging their pipes and systems, so they have had for a few recent years, a progam of spraying tankfuls upon tankfuls of vegetation killer pesticide especially on the upper ends of the lake to kill back the plants. The chemical used, the sprayers have said is similar to the same chemical formala we all know as 'Roundup'....a common household weedkiller. They distribute it a hundred feet or so from a pressureized fire-hose nozzle thing at the back of a boat laden with the tank spraying system.

JackH,

Here's couple of pieces of local knowledge information in reply to your question, but this info is not intended here to start a debate.... just presented so you can be your own judge what you want to consume from these waters if the info even concerns you...


1) That flat topped looking mountain on the side of the lake by the plant is not a mountain and is not natural. It is manmade. It is burned lignite "ash residues" from the days lignite was mined near the plant, hauled under the highway 30 bridge via the now abandoned railway just to the side of Carlos, Tx and it was all burned at the lake to power the gens. The mines and tracks are pretty much gone now because lignite was so toxic and mercury laden and damaging to the environment, the plant abandoned lignite entirely and now gets cleaner burning coal via a railway running from the north brought in from out of Texas mines.

2) As discussed previously somewhere a while back on this forum, the lake would if left alone, normally have an abundant healthy supply of mass fields of floating water hycyinths. The bass loved them as they helped shade and cool the hot oxygen depleted power generator exhaust waters. These floating plants though give the power plant fits going through and clogging their pipes and systems, so they have had for a few recent years, a progam of spraying tankfuls upon tankfuls of vegetation killer pesticide especially on the upper ends of the lake to kill back the plants. The chemical used, the sprayers have said is similar to the same chemical formala we all know as 'Roundup'....a common household weedkiller. They distribute it a hundred feet or so from a pressureized fire-hose nozzle thing at the back of a boat laden with the tank spraying system.

Yep the lignite was replaced by anthracite from wyoming, they bring it down and take the burned stuff back via rail nowadays. I remember when those huge draglines would run 24-7 at navasota mining back in the day.