Guess we are in a rut. Noticed that all my reports have been from the Pines for several weeks now. Think we might need to visit a few of our other local water holes...but...we keep scratching out a few fish every trip, so it keeps us coming back.

Nice day Friday. We were only boat early. Saw 4 trailers at the ramp when we left around 2pm. Only saw 2 boats anywhere near us all day and they were just passing by. Air temps started out moderate from the heavy overcast, humidity was sky high though. Very light breeze early that built to a moderate 10-15 by early afternoon. Water had a greenish brown hue to it, depending on exactly where you were. Water temps were 79-84 depending on time of day and location.

Had a good topwater bite all day. Kinda limited in what we could present as all the fish we found were right on and in hydrilla mat in 1-4 ft of water. Only thing they would take was a weedless frog. Had several dozen blow-ups, and boated about half the hits. Tossed couple other topwaters, no dice. Tried some of our other usual tactics as well, no dice. Topwater frog was the ticket until about 11:30am. All fish were in hydrilla, lilly pads or not didn't seem to matter.

Has it gotten any rain with the storms over in LA? Has the water level dropped any more?

Cat, the lake is still dropping... The lake has dropped over 1/2 foot over the course of August. Several places will soon be very dicey to run even at idle unless you are very familiar with the area. Last year's low was 223.9 in November, and the lake is at 225.2 now. So only 1.3 feet above last year's lowest. Several ramps are closed around the lake.

Hope it doesn't drop any more. Scary navigating top to bottom. Got a BFL over there in a month and only fished it a few times. It's gonna be hairy.

I fished it yesterday for the first time. We fished only on the south end we didn't go past the creek with the big rock piles at the mouth of it i think it's alley creek. The ramp we are gonna use for the BFL was closed to i would not b suprised if they moved the tourney

On the lower end I know Brushy day use ramp and Lakeside (Sandy Beach) day use ramps are closed on the south end. Overlook is open, but can get crazy crowded. Not sure about Johnson or Hurricane Ramps, imagine they are still open, they were last year when it was this low.

Mid lake I do not know current condition of any ramps personally, but based on last year can assume. At Alley, it was open last year and should still be open. BUT you gotta be careful heading out into the main lake. Just look at the google images from November 2011 to see what I mean! The lake was only 1 foot lower when those were shot. I know Mims Chapel and Pine Hill are closed, per the corps website. I imagine Copeland is closed, or at least should be by now. It is not listed on the corps site. Don't have a clue about Oak Valley.

On the upper end, Cedar Springs is open and plenty usable for a couple more feet. It never closed last year and the lake was lower then. You have to be aware that some places south from there in the lake are silted in and will soon be un-runnable, even in the boat lane. Headed north, just be aware that there are a few obstructions on the edges of the boat runs. If you don't know it, idle. Lone Star is listed as open by the corps, but I can't imagine taking our bass boat up there now. The cut is VERY narrow out from the ramp to the creek, about 1 boat trailer wide.

I was there this weekend with my pal practicing for the BFL as well. The park ranger guys were going around to alot of the ramps and actually walking out on them with waders and a pole to check and see how far till the ramps fell off. They said some of the other ramps are in danger of closing (didn't say which ones) If they decide to cancel the BFL, I wish they would hurry and let us know.....How about move it to Red River and give some of us some practice?

Cat how did yall do ? I think our best five might have went 12 lbs or so we caught 16 or so total next time we gonna check out the north end . The ramp we were gonna use lakeside seems like it would b a cluster for the tourney

My travel pal said he talked with the tourny director, and they may move the launch to Johnson Creek, which is that middle creek on the opposite side of the lake. It should be deep enough, not sure about parking and such, but I know we were in there Sunday and that is the local jet ski, tubing, ride around in the pontoon creek, so the afternoon weigh in and take out is probably gonna be a trip... 12# on sunday and 17# on Monday, but had a 4 and a 6.20 that day. Caught a dozen each day, about half each day were weighers. Alot of those markers don't mark the channel, just what they cut out for a boat lane, so some places are danger, danger.

Cat nailed it on the channel. In many places the channel marker is a cleared boat lane only. The creek may be only a couple 2-3 boats wide inside that marked run. In a few areas the run is not even the creek, but was dredged/cleared. With the lake approaching 5ft low many of those areas are getting real skinny. Last year when it got low there were places in the marked run that were not safely passible. Can't provide locations, because we avoided the area once I saw reports on here. There are guys on here that know where though.

How hard, dangerous, or even possible is going to be to get to the area around Cedar Springs/creek (can't remember which) ramp from main lake?

You are talking about ~9 miles of water that you don't know that can be a challenge the 1st time out even at normal levels. The lake is only ~10 inches higher than its lowest from last year. Ain't no way I would take it on for a tournament. That is just too far for me to idle.

Take a look at some of the posts from last year when the lake got low:
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/6707409/1

If that discussion doesn't help, just take a look at Google Maps. The images are from Nov 2011 when the lake was at its lowest. Just not worth it...

If I wanna fish above 155, I am putting in at Cedar Springs...and idle after Hijack right now.

Here is another discussion about maps and running the upper end (when there is water):
http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5963928/LOP_map

Thanks for the info. Probably going to change my game plan a little bit. My main goal is to make the Red River Regional (with my boat intact).

any info to share im coming up this week hows the water an baits to throw . Top r bottom