Jimbo
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Bruce is right, the primary function, and the reason for it’s construction, was to control flooding downstream and throughout the basin to the coast.
The 909’msl pool level was determined during the design phase of the dam. It is also true that the dam was constructed to withstand the worse case scenario and we are talking holding back water well past the 943’msl for an extended period of time. Now that being said GBRA has repeated their policy of holding the extra foot to 910’msl when possible for recreation. And the recreation they are talking about has traditionally meant tubing and rafting in the warmer months. They have under the recent administration talked about fulfilling our Flow Agreement by talking about holding after the first of the year. In their announcement before this one they talked about lowering the lake to 910’msl and then releasing what the inflows were. This latest announcement can only be taken as an effort to further lower the lake. Let’s give them some time and see how they control the releases as the inflows continue to fall.
Jimbo
Canyon Lake Release Advisory January 29, 2019 3 p.m.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin reducing the water flow from Canyon Reservoir at 8 a.m. Wednesday, January 30. The process to close the gate will take approximately three hours. GBRA will then take over the management of the water release and decrease the flow to 700 cubic feet per second (cfs). Property owners, recreationalists and other stakeholders should take notice of the changing river flows. Additional information about Canyon releases and other stream flow data may be found at https://bit.ly/2NI2HTz.
I am surprised they picked 700cfs with inflows at 524cfs. That will continue to drop the lake below 910msl which their last announcement suggested they would hold. If they are 700cfs waders should use extreme caution. I am hoping they will bring down the flows to 500cfs or below soon and wading safely will again be possible. I sure want to wade fish, but at 700cfs, I will wait or hire a guide for a float.
Jimbo
I am ready for the flows to drop, so I can add to this story…..
Jimbo
OK,… Time to drop the releases,….
Still waiting for the GBRA announcement.
Jimbo
The bad news it is my experience that rods submerged under water for extended periods of time, like 30+ days, usually won’t hold up very long. The resins would weaken and the rod blank would fail. I must say that all my experience is with older resins and rod constructions (Fenwick HMG, a friend borrowed and left it in the bottom of a aluminum boat covered in water for some time). They are always talked about their new advanced resins being so much better. Maybe the newer resins hold up better underwater. Good Luck!
Jimbo
January
I was again away from the water too long. On the 10th I went to meet Ron McAlpin, GRTU’s “Trout in the Classroom” coordinator, to pick up the leftover Brown Trout eggs.
We didn’t get to stock them till Saturday the 12th. I had a good crew…..
Harvesting gravel at Ingram’s Ranch….
Setting up at Maricopa…..
We had an especially high mortality with these late season Brown Trout eggs…..
Filling the Whitlock/Vibert Boxes…..
Planting the boxes in the milk crates and then filling them full of gravel…..
Try not to disturb these crates and their eggs. They will need to be in the river a couple of months. After they have hatched out I will again return and remove the crates and the W/V boxes myself.
After we were finished we had some BBQ at Real Pit. Oh so Good !!!! From there I still had a few hours of sunlight left. I hopped around checking out the leases…..
I ended up down at CVC and pulled out my rod and slipped into my waders…..
Not much was happening and I worked my way downstream. I did find a few little guys working the run down to Gilligan’s Island…..
Not much light left,… but what little there was cast a beautiful hue not really captured in these pictures…..
Most of the fish were taking the soft hackle again…..
It was getting cold fast. I was done for the day.
The Last Stocking of Rainbows was during Dakus’ Youth Camp. He had 35 kids and their parents helping with this stocking. This last load of fish were the perfect size, most 15-16″, and 2600 fish in the 4000lb load. Zero floaters were seen !
It is so predictable when they are helping. Normally my volunteers move much faster and we get down river fairly quickly. When the kids are involved it takes significantly longer. Not because they take more time getting them down to and in the water. It’s that time when we are really finished and trying to move to the next site that takes so longer. They are all Oohing and Aahing, and really laughing with delight at the sight of so many trout swimming around their feet. I totally understand of course.
The kids helped us down to #5 and from there my veteran volunteers picked up the pace and we stocked the remaining sites which totaled 15 today.
Now the river was fully stocked. GBRA also did something which is unprecedented and needs noting. They were talking about raising flows to 1200cfs right before the Youth Camp. That would mean the kids were not going to be able to get in the river to do their insect surveys and actually fish. Well Dakus talked to his superior’s and they talked to GBRA’s new Chairman and they actually listened. And not only did they not raise the flows, they actually lowered the flows to 330cfs for the holiday weekend. I can not remember a single time in the past where GBRA has given such consideration to anglers on the river and this special youth camp. It says a ton about the new administration and our relationship going forward.
Now I am a BIG NFL fan and I am not missing championship weekend. So I stayed at home only to watch the officials mess up the outcomes of these pivotal games. I was still mad Monday and had a touch of Bourbon flu. I looked at the flows around 12:30 and they were still 330cfs. Turns out GBRA was holding back the flow increases through the MLK holiday and waiting till Tuesday. So I started packing up the truck and headed to the river. First stop was to pick up some of Matt Bennet’s Bruch Money streamers and of course a few more patterns that I just had to have. That also turned into a question and answer session in the Fly Shop and it was about 2:30 before I started looking for a place to fish. I’ve been trying to get into Pott’s all year and once again I arrived about 5 minutes too late to get the last parking spot. On the way out Little Ponderosa looked good, but I drove back upriver to get into the Kanz reach.
I’m never alone at Kanz anymore unless it’s especially late. There were another 6 anglers working the water, but I was able to fit in just below the lower weir.
It didn’t take long to get the first bite.
Being late and just a couple of hours left before sundown I stuck with a wooly bugger and soft hackle trailer. It was working !
This third one was especially nice. A 18″ male that was showing a bunch of color. Soon the other anglers were headed for Rio or Whitewater and I had the place to myself. As the others left and the shadows fell across the river, the catching really heated up. The Trout were attacking both flys.
I ended up catching 22 Rainbows and 3 Browns. Some more Brown Trout love…..
It was getting too dark for me to see anything with my sunglasses on. They came off and the last Rainbows came to hand.
A few last looks before I needed to head back to the truck.
Finally back at the truck I shucked my waders, put away the fly rod, and pulled on a jacket. Driving down the River Road, I pulled in to Action Angler and had a little pow-wow with the boys on the front poach. We told our fishing stories and sipped on our beers. By the way Hop-A-Dillo is a pretty good IPA !!! The river went up again on Tuesday and it will be a week or so before flows drop and I can wade the river again…..
I’ll be waiting impatiently !!!
Jimbo
3 Days,… Maybe 4, and the flows will come down,….
I will endeavor to persevere…..
Jimbo
My name is Jimbo,… I am a flyfishing addict, I have not fished in 3 days and it feels like months ! I must admit it helps when I go to Fly Shops and buy flys and then make room for them in my vest.
I expect the flows to drop in about 5 days. I sure wish I could fish before then, but it is what it is…..
Tic,… Tic,… Tic,…
Jimbo
Canyon Lake Release Advisory January 22, 2019 8:30 a.m. The water level in Canyon Reservoir is currently at 910.92 ft. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is increasing the water release rate to 1200 cubic feet per second (cfs) Tuesday morning, January 22, to lower the water to 910.0 ft. Property owners, recreationalists and other stakeholders should take notice of the changing river flows. Additional information about Canyon releases and other stream flow data may be found at https://bit.ly/2NI2HTz.
They need to close it down when it’s coming through the generators first. They can not handle 1000cfs+(Max around 750cfs I think). So they shut it down, change the flow to straight through the dam and then open it up for higher flows. I think these higher flows will last only about 6 or 7 days to bring the lake down to 910msl’. Then they should cut back flows to whatever the inflows are, and they should be around 500cfs.
Jimbo
Thanks again who came out and spent the time in the wind to get this stocking accomplished. Dakus’ kids certainly enjoyed the morning. They helped at JDL, Kanz, #5 and S Turn Rapids. It was easy to get them to carry the buckets of Trout to the water. It was hard to get them out of the water and on to the next site. Our volunteers took over and completed stocking the other 11 sites. These are the places we stocked: Maricopa, JDL(not a LAP site, but reached from Whitewater), Kanz(not a LAP site but reached from Whitewater or Rio), Rio, #5, S Turn Rapids(Not a LAP site but reached from #5 or Pott’s), Pott’s, Little Ponderosa, Lazy L&L Office, Devil’s Playground, Rocky Beach, Action Angler, CVC, River Bank, River Bluff. This load of Trout (4000lbs) contained 2600 fish averaging 14-15″ and 1.54lb and not a single floater was seen.
In other news, GBRA’s latest announcement held some very good news for our Trout and recreation in general. In that announcement they talked about increasing flows to lower the lake,… BUT they said they will lower the lake to 910’msl and hold it there. That is fantastic news !!! They seem to be willing to hold the lake with the extra recreational foot above pool. That could mean we will be getting our Flow Agreement to kick in this summer and cold sustained summer flows for our Trout. Cold flows, flyfishing for Trout this summer on the Guadalupe, and maybe a significant holdover to next season !!!!! I must be dreaming, but don’t wake me up !!!
Jimbo
Thanks everyone for volunteering!!! It’s supposed to be cold and windy in the morning, so bundle up, dress in layers. I see everybody there!
Jimbo
I am told the January meeting is TroutFest this year. Sounds weird to me.
Jimbo
We really need about 24 people tp do this right. The Kids from youth camp will be there for the first couple of sties, but after that we will need those extra hands to stock all the other downstream sites. The third Rainbow stocking we will hit 15 spots to stock. If you have the day off, we need you this time. Thanks….
Jimbo
I know what an exciting weekend that is instore for all these kids. They will be given the key that unlocks the magnificent world of Flyfishing for Trout. Dakus put’s together a comprehensive program and leaves no topics untouched. It is truly amazing the transformation these kids are about to go through. Soon they will be asking their parents to take them to local fly shops and then the Guadalupe River instead of Game Stop. And they will great ambassadors among their pier groups, recruiting more kids into the world we all know, which helps secure the future for the sport and conservation.
Jimbo
