Colorado River report/question

[shackleford,rusty]

Fished Colorado river below austin today. tough go of it...short strikes, very few to the boat. mainly throwing jigs and spinner baits. flow was about 1300 cfs. water was off-color, 1 ft vis, which seems to be the new normal.

I'll try to keep from rambling- My question revolves around the absence of grass these days. When I first started fishing this area during the drought in 2011 it was bahamas clear, with good grass and vegetation growing everywhere. Could catch 30-40 bass every float almost. Granted I haven't been out there as often as we used to go, but it has just seemed a little off compared to 5 years ago(every other weekend to every other month now). So I'm thinking the sustained low flow from minimal releases from the highland lakes and not nearly as much major flooding led to a situation conducive for the grass during the drought. The past few years it seems like we have had more major flooding events that would tear up grass and keep it from growing. Another factor, which I have no idea if it is even in play here, are the grass carp getting washed downstream that have ruined lake austin and town lake. They made their way into town lake after decimating austin, so would think they can get into the river just as easily. I would assume they could do just as much damage there, but haven't read anything either way. Would hope they would at least move along a little faster than in a lake.

Just interested in anyone else's perspective/experience with this situation. Maybe its just a cyclical thing? Maybe it will bounce back this summer?

Thanks for any input!
Rusty

[Cuervo Jones]

Down at Columbus, it's the same story. The past several years' floods have really done a number on the river. Now it's mostly muddy and fish-deprived. Used to be clear all fall and winter and I could pound on the spots and guads. I've given up since putting in an honest effort the past couple of years. Maybe in another year or two, but until then, it's lakes and the bays for me.


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[TexasAg'13]

Just gotta know when and where to find them!

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[Cigarsnjeeps]

Probably a combination of the flooding and the carp. We fished from 969 to Bastrop yesterday and saw alot of carp. Found a couple pretty good spots that I think would be good for fly fishing where you can stand and hit some nice area where water is calm and a couple guys there that were wade fishing showed us a pretty good drum and aome bass they had caught.

Flow was pretty good until the 14mph headwind hit us. That was a brutal 17 mile paddle, lol

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[Cuervo Jones]

17 miles in 14 mph wind?! Man. That's not a pleasant thought.


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[Cigarsnjeeps]

Well, I exaggerated a little. It wasn't the whole 17 miles, but I would guess it was near half of it. Only when we were heading south and the wind wasn't constant. It would lure you into thinking it was gone, wait for you to relax a little, then start blowing again. It wasn't pleasant when the wind was blowing. We all assumed someone had checked and it was all good to go....but nope. Live and learn. Was a good workout.

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[Welderdude]

We fished Sunday from 973 upstream and back. 15 fish between two of us is NOT how it should be this time of year. Doesn't help that LCRA is releasing 2200+ acre feet of water every day out of Lake Travis, and we all know what comes out of Travis has to come out of Town Lake as well. Speaking of coming out of Town Lake, the rumors are true about the grass carp in our beloved river. I had an encounter with one about 1 1/2 years ago at the 183 bridge, and we floated from 183 to River School about 6 weeks ago and when we went past the water discharge there were hundreds of the big bastards on the flat that is past the discharge. SO, between the river Authority emptying Lake Travis, and the scourge of grass carp, our river will have no grass for awhile. Now if we could just get some Liberals in the water to get rid of them too.