Golden Alge Bloom On Lake Granbury

If anyone has any info or pics on this, please post them here. Thanks.

I went down there today and since I was not in a boat, I could only walk around the docks, etc. I checked out the bridge areas on 377 and busines 377. The main 377 bridge/docks had the most dead fish. But there wasn't any major pile, just alot of scattered fish. You would find 3 here, 5 there, 10 there, etc, etc. Probably hundreds of fish or more. Sunfish, crappie, catfish, drum, etc. I think I noticed some bass, stripers as well. Some folks working on the marina said they have seen some large cats trying to stay alive near the marina.

There's been some reports of large catfish, gar, carp, buffalo, etc, showing up dead in fairly large numbers. If anyone has pictures post them.

I hope this doesn't end up being a major fish kill. It was really on the rebound, especially for striper fishing.

It is a major kill. What you saw has been going on for a few weeks. The birds have been cleaning them up and some more, including blacks, sink.

Damn so that's why I've seen the birds all over the lake every morning. Man that's a huge disappointment. That's the closest place for me to fish.

Very sad. Do you know how much of the striper population has been hit? Do you have any links to newpaper, etc, stories, that confirm it is a major fish kill? Thanks for anything else you can provide.

I'm going today.I'm putting in at Rough Creek and going all the way to Tin Top..I'm pretty sure I read yesterday on the parks website that they are considering it a major fish kill and I don't see how you can't when there are hundreds of dead crappie and other fish in every cove in the midlake area.

This is all I could find. It is a week old but sounds like it may be getting better?

"On Monday, February 14, TPWD and BRA visited Lake Granbury to assess the ongoing golden alga fish kill event. A very small number of long-dead fish (4-5 days) were found near Hunter Park, the FM 51 bridge, The Peninsula, and City Beach. The kill continues to move downstream; actively dying and dead fish were found from City Beach to Port Ridglea East. Although a few game fish (white bass, largemouth, white crappie) continue to be affected, the vast majority of affected fish are still non-game species. Overall, less fish were seen this week than last.

On Tuesday, TPWD received a fish kill report from someone who lives in a cove along Lake Granbury just east of the FM 51 bridge. The caller reported seeing a number of small fish (possibly shad) and a few larger fish dead and dying in his cove. It is possible that the “active kill” may stretch as far north as the FM 51 bridge and that the biologists just did not see any dying fish in those areas on Monday."

I live close to damn, today for the first time i am seeing dead shade (smaLL ones) here. The birds have been coming down each morning for a few hours then leaving. Currently they are still out here. Have not seen any other fish, and belive me if they are dead and floating they would be in front of my place, everything else seeems to float in here!

If and when do see other large game fish, Ill post picture.

The bloom should be close to over as the water temps begin to rise. An early Spring is the best antidote for the golden algae.

Yea but will it be over before it kills all the bass.

Raccoons and birds are the only winners here.

Like with what has happened on the rest of the lake the shad die first and then you start seeing the game fish..I am setting at the dam right now and there are thousands and thousands of dead shad..They weren't here yesterday.There were dead game fish from rough creek to the 51 bridge..I really hate that it has hit again..

How does this impact water release into the Brazos? What affect is expected if any on the sand bass running up that way?

Man this really sucks!

Sounds like a case of here we go again.

Golden Algae actually hits Granbury every year, just in varying degrees. Last year's early spring helped keep it from getting out of control but since we had a long period of winter weather this year, it has run rampant on the lake.

As far as the fishing goes, they are still there,they just wont be where you may usually find them. Usually bass and other fish will find sources of freshwater and stack up on it. If you can find waterfalls, springs, drainage pipes, and runoff spots, then you will probably find fish. I remember last time we had a big kill, the reported that the Decordova area was a prime spot for bass. I would attribute that to the creek that flows into the lake there.

As far as the rest of the Brazos river, if one lake gets hit, then the others down the river will get hit as well. The best we can hope for is that the weather keeps warming up(not to summer temps please) to kill off the GA to prevent a kill in Whitney.

I don't remember it at all last year.

Granbury got skipped last year. Both Possum Kingdom and Whitney had kills, but Granbury didnt. I think I read that it was attributed to the fact that Granbury caught a lot of rain during this time of year that muddied the water up pretty good and that kept it from hitting the lake.

Damn the luck this year. Is fishing still possible right now?

coo0l weather the past 24 hours has given the GA a comeback.warm weater last week has slowed it down. that is what I have observed sitting on porch and looking atthe lake.Still mostly shad and drum dead washing up but one or two LMB.

Well here is one pic of a large cat down by Comanche Harbor have seen several large flathead cats dead and i cant tell you how many baby channel cats in the hundres

sorry to report but this morning here at rough creek there are many LMB of good size belly up. Bring on the rain and a heat wave.

Went down by rough creek again, got some pictures of about 8 bass along the bank. 3 were every bit of 4-6 pounds. Also 2-3 large carp and 2 large yellow cats along the bank. Saw more crappie bodies than last time.

Went down by rough creek again, got some pictures of about 8 bass along the bank. 3 were every bit of 4-6 pounds. Also 2-3 large carp and 2 large yellow cats along the bank. Saw more crappie bodies than last time.

Boy it dosent look good.....Hope warm weather catches up to us quick....Lots of dead shad,drum, catfish everywhere, and now bass..lets keep our fingers crossed...Fish was really good before this...

Water was being released at about 500 cfs until around noon today and with the winds from the NW I observed alot of surface foam being pushed down the lake, I am at rough creek. hope the foamy wayer was GA on its way downstream.

@#$%^& Thanks for the post, any pics?

Was out sat feb 19th and sun feb 20th went towards dam and the birds at that time were at the discharge... caught 11 stripers sat and 5 small bass on crankbaits...on sun caught 5 stripers and 5 bass from 4 to 6lbs and their tails were bloody... We out sat 26th dead fish down where I was fishing along with birds not crankbait fish caught 3 nice bass all on worms very shallow... I'm afraid the kill is doing the lake in

I also walked the banks at Rough Creek and it made me throw up.As CBoswell stated there are some very nice bass dead but I counted 8 that would have went 4 to 6lbs.I did have a chance to talk with a BRA employee for a few minutes and they are opening the gates at times but are not leaving them open.

Anyone want to buy a lakefront lot on Granbury? I'm moving to a lake with fish!

Rough Creek ramp is about two miles from my house and I have zero interest in putting my boat in the lake..It will be years before the lake is back to what it was last year and I myself have no interest in waiting..I am looking to transfer to around Hubbard Creek or somewhere around Wichita Falls..

Keeps getting worse.

Walked around the Groggy Dawg place next to the 377 bridge yesterday. There was a ton more dead fish. I saw lots of bass, most of which would have gone 16" and a ton of sandbass/stripers. Found a couple huge catfish that washed up on the bank. One spot right next to the bridge where the water got shallow and protected from the wind was loaded with dead fish of kinds. Rough creek doesn't smell like rotting fish yet, but the place around the Groggy Dawg stinks really bad, which probably isn't good for business.

Today `145
Ga Foam rolling by at rough creek.Wind is 15 and up.Some new fish on shore.yesterday the surface temp was 61 in middle of lake.North shore was a bit warmer. Checked this morninf and there was around 500cfs being released.sur will be nice when the lake settllesinto a nice spring pattern

Fish are still being caught..Yes its a shame that any fish had to die from the ga outbreak.But look at it this way, if most of the shad population has died like the tpwd thinks then the surviving fish should be easier to catch.