Anybody heading to the Nueces River this week? Either at hwy 59 or the airport launch? Maybe with all the rain they got the last couple of days maybe there will be enough water to launch a boat from hwy 59 or airport & be able travel up & down the river without having to drag it across any shallow spots. Hopefully there will be enough water so that I can get my 18 ft bay boat in there if not I will get myself a 12 to 14 foot jon boat. I just want to go fishing. If anybody goes please keep us posted.

Going on tuesday morning. Forecast calls for rain monday. Gonna take my jon boat to the airport banking on a small rise in river level. If not, 59 will do.

From Hwy 59 to Mathis Lake got several inches of rain. 59 North not so much. Will be some flow increase but not much and I imagine it's going to be a chocolate mess as well. Rains in the forecast for that area later this week. We need a turd floater to turn this thing on!

The Nueces has a very long watershed, and if it rains up around Frio, and Uvalde counties it can take several days to reach the river down around George West, and remember the Atascosa, the Frio (Choke) and the Nueces all feed into the river so any rains above and the feeder creeks can put a pretty good but muddy flow into that river even several days after a good rain.

We'll see tomorrow. I'll let yall know.

Guys please stop wishcasting and just look it up!

USGS River Gauges

Nueces at Three Rivers still at 30 cfs which all 90% of that flow is coming from Choke Canyon.

Considering this is one of the worst droughts we have ever been in, it's going to take a lot more than one rain event to get the river flowing again. The ground was NOT saturated before this event, so it just soaked it up with no run off.

The water will probably be off color from local runoff, but no real rise.

unfortunately this ^^ The ground is gonna soak up these hit and miss storms like a sponge. Gonna take a train of storms to roll in to get a perceivable rise. Hope I'm wrong, but I don't think the Nueces is gonna be right for years to come.

think positive

Way to be RL

I believe, I believe, I believe. see it, believe it, and enjoy it. Let yall know soon, going tomorrow.

"The Nueces has a very long watershed, and if it rains up around Frio, and Uvalde counties it can take several days to reach the river down around George West, and remember the Atascosa, the Frio (Choke) and the Nueces all feed into the river so any rains above and the feeder creeks can put a pretty good but muddy flow into that river even"

Well aware of that. Thanks.

...and if that river has come up even a little, those fish that were piling up further downstream will move up, and if the water is somewhat muddy, they will gather in the deeper spots and await clearer water. Its been MY experience that they will move within 48 hours of a good rain. I like to think I know what I am saying since I've been fishing there since the mid to late eighties, and have seen the river in just about every condition.

My son and I took a drive down to the 59 and airport ramps yesterday (Sunday) just to check and see what the water situation was. Ours was the only vehicle at either boat ramp. This was our first time going there this year, so I don't know what it was like a week or two ago, but there is water at both areas. It appears to be a few feet deep around both ramps. It was really muddy yesterday. We have a 14 ft. Lone Star aluminum boat with a 15 hp motor, and when we go (if the water doesn't come up any further) we plan to back our trailer down to the water's edge and lift the boat off and on the trailer. I'd be hesitant to try to back a trailer down into the water. Looks like there may be dropoffs at both airport and 59.

Years to come?

Having fished that river for over 35 years, it's had it's ups and downs and I've seen a lot of them, but she always bounces back pretty quick.

Here is a recent example....In the spring of 2010 the river was down pretty close to what it is now and you couldn't go upstream of the Airport launch in anything but a small jon boat, and then only but a few hundred yards without having to portage your boat across the shallow riffles, and it pretty much was limited to kayaks and canoes if you wanted to venture further up river.

Last spring one year later in 2011 the river was at it's highest level and I went by boat all the way up several miles to my old regular honey holes, and the fishing was fantastic.

This year it's down as we all know.

I've fished that river for over 35 years and it's had it's ups and downs, so it all depends on how long this drought will last, but the recent rains are hopefully a sign that the old river will bounce back sooner rather than later.

If it's as low as it was year before last, and it sounds like it is, then you have to be very careful launching a boat off the ramp at the airport launch.

The launch has a very nasty dropoff on the downriver side or if you are facing the ramp, it would be on your right side.

Your wheel and axle will fall off the ramp, and the only way to get out is to get into the water and lift the trailer while your partner drives the trailer forward.

Don't ask how I know this!

I hope you're right Jimbo. The problem is the "experts" (folks in the Meteorology & Climatology fields) say that the drought is gonna go on until at least this winter. I don't hardly believe the weather man, but a lot of folks I do respect are saying the same thing. Problem is we haven't had a drought like this in 30 years and an event like this tends to have long term effects on all of our waters and their ecosystems. I'm not just talking about water level, I'm talking about everything from fish and prey population to ph balance. Like I said, I WANT to be wrong. I hope I put a jinx on this drought and it's the best spring/summer ever. Just a few observations is all.