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Post by golferjeff on Feb 17, 2016 8:48:37 GMT -6
No repairs to EH or bluffs...... that's not good. At least until they have their first serious injury.
I see why they want to wait - why repair something that can be destroyed in a minute by the Corps. Some may not agree with me on this, but parts of the new river are quite dangerous. It is nothing like the peaceful walk in the (State) park it used to be. That might be good news for serious anglers, but it will definitely make it hard on less mobile people. Interesting to see if there is a shift in river usage over the spring/summer.
Admission - I am pissed because it is no longer canine friendly. Magick and I may have to try bass fishing....... or just spend summer weekends in Colorado.
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Post by Fenwick on Feb 17, 2016 12:53:36 GMT -6
We're lamenting the present state of affairs up there, particularly access, be it for people or their dogs. The fishing is fun, getting to the water isn't depending on where you go. Plenty of hazards lie in getting to the waters edge and it sure as heck ain't ADA compliant. There are no paths along the Spillway, Cold Hole, Bluffs or Evening Hole. The new rocky rubble has not be tread upon enough to reveal any sort of handy path. You pretty much find your own way through to the water from wherever you park. The Evening Hole bridge parking areas offer the easiest access involving the least amount of hazard. Park there, wade in and stay to the shallow left bank as you walk-wade upstream as you always have. You'll be able to fish the entire length of the Evening Hole that way hassle free. The wade is easy. Once you finally arrive at the upper end of the Evening Hole you have choices. You are facing the Bluffs rock pile and the attractive trouty runs along either side of it. You can wade on to the rock pile there where the lower end of the rock pile meets the upper end of the Evening Hole. On the right you can fish the series of shallow riffles and runs against the Bluffs. You have to be very wary of the loose rocks giving way under foot as you step along the bank. Orrr...you can wade on to the rock pile and fish the deep cut on the left along the Cypress trees side. The Cypress trees run calls for high sticking in the narrow but deep cut that has a strong flow. Again you have to be very wary of the loose rocks giving way under foot as you step along the steeply sloped bank of the rock pile. Actually you have to be nuts to walk on the sloping banks on the Cypress side. The Cypress trees run along the rock pile is deeper and swifter than the photos make it appear and you must not fall in. Should you wish to fish that Cypress trees run along the rock pile...and you should...it is safer that you find your way into the Cypress trees from the head end of the Evening Hole or instead walk through the woods from the Cold Hole and fish that run from the Cypress woods side, not from the sloping bank of the rock pile. That's up to your ability / agility / personal sense of safety. Moving along to the "even wider than it was" Spillway which presents all the same access hassles and safety hazards that came about from the May flood, no footpaths that once paralleled the run, plenty of watery hazards too. The upper and lower ends of the Spillway will get the most fishing pressure and only those in good physical condition and with a sense of adventure for finding their way through the woods and among fallen trees and rocks will get to enjoy the mid section. The woods along the Spillway slopes are dormant now and easy to traverse but once spring arrives and new shoots and sticker vines spring up and and low slung branches leaf out I imagine there'll be some colorful language heard from the hills as gear laden fishermen get tangled up in trying to make their way along. Once you are on the water at the Spillway you'll see a million and one very obvious ways of being injured or worse. Thing is, there's always the "Hey everybody! Watch this!" type to take that risk with the inevitable result sure to come. What with so many new opportunities to wreck yourself there the staff of The Darwin Awards could open a satellite office in the park. Common sense and safety first as usual. Spillway or rock pile, why become featured in a newspaper article that everyone except yourself will be reading?
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Post by texanfisherman on Feb 17, 2016 13:58:29 GMT -6
We're lamenting the present state of affairs up there, particularly access, be it for people or their dogs. The fishing is fun, getting to the water isn't depending on where you go. Plenty of hazards lie in getting to the waters edge and it sure as heck ain't ADA compliant. There are no paths along the Spillway, Cold Hole, Bluffs or Evening Hole. The new rocky rubble has not be tread upon enough to reveal any sort of handy path. You pretty much find your own way through to the water from wherever you park. The Evening Hole bridge parking areas offer the easiest access involving the least amount of hazard. Park there, wade in and stay to the shallow left bank as you walk-wade upstream as you always have. You'll be able to fish the entire length of the Evening Hole that way hassle free. The wade is easy. Once you finally arrive at the upper end of the Evening Hole you have choices. You are facing the Bluffs rock pile and the attractive trouty runs along either side of it. You can wade on to the rock pile there where the lower end of the rock pile meets the upper end of the Evening Hole. On the right you can fish the series of shallow riffles and runs against the Bluffs. You have to be very wary of the loose rocks giving way under foot as you step along the bank. Orrr...you can wade on to the rock pile and fish the deep cut on the left along the Cypress trees side. The Cypress trees run calls for high sticking in the narrow but deep cut that has a strong flow. Again you have to be very wary of the loose rocks giving way under foot as you step along the steeply sloped bank of the rock pile. Actually you have to be nuts to walk on the sloping banks on the Cypress side. The Cypress trees run along the rock pile is deeper and swifter than the photos make it appear and you must not fall in. Should you wish to fish that Cypress trees run along the rock pile...and you should...it is safer that you find your way into the Cypress trees from the head end of the Evening Hole or instead walk through the woods from the Cold Hole and fish that run from the Cypress woods side, not from the sloping bank of the rock pile. That's up to your ability / agility / personal sense of safety. Moving along to the "even wider than it was" Spillway which presents all the same access hassles and safety hazards that came about from the May flood, no footpaths that once paralleled the run, plenty of watery hazards too. The upper and lower ends of the Spillway will get the most fishing pressure and only those in good physical condition and with a sense of adventure for finding their way through the woods and among fallen trees and rocks will get to enjoy the mid section. The woods along the Spillway slopes are dormant now and easy to traverse but once spring arrives and new shoots and sticker vines spring up and and low slung branches leaf out I imagine there'll be some colorful language heard from the hills as gear laden fishermen get tangled up in trying to make their way along. Once you are on the water at the Spillway you'll see a million and one very obvious ways of being injured or worse. Thing is, there's always the "Hey everybody! Watch this!" type to take that risk with the inevitable result sure to come. What with so many new opportunities to wreck yourself there the staff of The Darwin Awards could open a satellite office in the park. Common sense and safety first as usual. Spillway or rock pile, why become featured in a newspaper article that everyone except yourself will be reading? I disagree with you about Spillway being difficult to navigate. When you are on the rocks moving about is very easy. The thing is that the rocks are completely solid so you don't have any shifting or slipping. I slipped or stumbled a grand total of 0 times last weekend. When hiking up over the hills to get to the middle sections, there are indeed some lightly trodden trails that are easy to navigate. Sure, summer growth may add a small bit of frustration, but it still won't be bad. I didn't go over to the red zone side so I can't comment on that.
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Post by golferjeff on Feb 17, 2016 14:18:11 GMT -6
Texan - did you try and walk on the rocks with algae and muck? The bedrock out of the water is OK, but once in the water it became slippery and not at all easy, even with studded boots. There just weren't any footholds to stop from sliding. We only fished the middle sections below horseshoe falls.... Also, it was about 55 degrees when we were there, I can't imagine doing it at 90 degrees. I know everyone has their preferences, mine is the colder the better
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Post by Fenwick on Feb 17, 2016 15:05:54 GMT -6
Yeah, we can all clamber up and down the Spillway but we are addressing a saner form of access for everyone, young and old, the able and the injured, the fisherman, the bird watcher and the casual hiker. It'll be great if or when the park administration is able to implement a new "real" footpath that parallels the length of the Spillway. Yeah, we can wade the Evening Hole but it'll be great if or when something approximating that of a genuine path appears along the length of the Evening Hole since a simple three foot wide bed of gravel is all that'd take. Just like the gravel path put in Oct. 2014. Gee, where would they find the gravel to use? It'd be great if or when a Cat D11 is driven back n' forth n' back n' forth over and over again atop the rock pile to crush and flatten out something approximating a path up there. Same for the west bank of the Cold Hole. All in due time I suppose but it's awkward at the moment.
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Post by jonbo on Feb 17, 2016 18:28:38 GMT -6
Yes, right now I'd say that "patience" and "caution" are the watchwords for us LMF fly-fishing nuts. Patience, as in we need to give the ODWC (Is that who's responsible?) some time to sort out their plan of action for fixing back up the access routes to our favorite fishing areas. They have to be somewhat gun-shy at this point about jumping right back in with earth moving equipment and such. They had just gotten a lot of the Red Zone access fixed up really nicely when the first flood wiped everything out. Then when they had just made it somewhat accessible again, Wham! Back to square one, again! The whole experience must be terribly frustrating for them as well as for us. I imagine that after some more communication with the Corp (Does the Corps communicate its intentions with anyone?) they'll come up with a good plan to create some better access again. Meanwhile, we all know why we need to be cautious.
Jeff, can you walk with Magick down in Zone II? It seems to me he could get around down there pretty well in the several shoally areas. My wife can, and she can't hike anywhere that's the least bit difficult. I plan to spend some time down there when I visit in a couple of weeks if the generation schedule allows. Fenwick, thanks for the great scouting report!
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Post by golferjeff on Feb 18, 2016 8:32:15 GMT -6
You know, Magick would love Zone II. I had overlooked that as an option. Good call. JUst need to find some time with no generation. Now that the lake is at Conservation pool, maybe they will take a break. Maybe we will see some of you down there.
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Post by texanfisherman on Feb 18, 2016 9:22:45 GMT -6
Texan - did you try and walk on the rocks with algae and muck? The bedrock out of the water is OK, but once in the water it became slippery and not at all easy, even with studded boots. There just weren't any footholds to stop from sliding. We only fished the middle sections below horseshoe falls.... Also, it was about 55 degrees when we were there, I can't imagine doing it at 90 degrees. I know everyone has their preferences, mine is the colder the better I did, but I'm also an avid user of my trusty wading staff. Truthfully, I had a tougher time dealing with the flat sheets of rock in middle spillway in years past than I had with this newer stuff. Although, I must say that some of that stuff looks really sharp. In the event that I would fall, I think the results might be a little bit more sever than a bruise, cussing, and embarrassment.
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Post by schrederman on Feb 21, 2016 20:09:54 GMT -6
I'm an old guy with a bad back. I had trouble getting to some places. We were there Sunday through Wednesday, and my sons were interviewed, and made the news on TV. I thought that was funny. We caught a few fish but I was kind of expecting there to be more fish in the river than we saw. Our biggest was about 18". I did catch 5 out of the hole at the end of the tall gravel in Evening Hole. We did enjoy it, but I had to lie down a few times on the rocks up Spillway Creek to let my back unkork... not fun. We didn't look at zone 2 or Presbyterian Falls. I wish we had. We'll be back once more before school lets out, I hope, then it's off until about October or so. I'll be spending 2 weeks up there in November. I retire the first day of that month.
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Post by schrederman on Mar 9, 2016 11:52:56 GMT -6
So, what's happening with the recent rains? Is the Corps letting water out? I hope we don't have even more damage and a closed park again.
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Post by Fenwick on Mar 9, 2016 16:36:59 GMT -6
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Post by okieman71 on Mar 9, 2016 21:04:31 GMT -6
It appears they are taking the same approach as they have in the past year. Let it fill completely up and then dump it all at once. It seems these major rain events are becoming the rule and not the acception. I assume they are holding based on whats going on in TX & LA but that is just an assumption. With inflow at 27000 and no releases, that lake is gonna jump up the next several days. Fingers crossed....
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Post by guitarcombs on Mar 17, 2016 15:01:20 GMT -6
Any idea on when the river flow will come back down? I'm scheduled to come up next Thursday but don't want to make the 7 hour drive if I can't wade.
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Post by jonbo on Mar 17, 2016 19:29:42 GMT -6
As far as I can know or can tell from the charts we have to look at, all the "releasing" is occurring at the Powerhouse. The tainter gates at the Spillway have not been opened again. That means that fishing in the Park (Zone I) is normal. You can wade. You just can't go down to Zone II and, I guess, III (I've never gone there).
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Post by jcw355 on Mar 19, 2016 6:40:22 GMT -6
Any idea on when the river flow will come back down? I'm scheduled to come up next Thursday but don't want to make the 7 hour drive if I can't wade. Fish spillway
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Post by Fenwick on Mar 22, 2016 14:16:57 GMT -6
At long last it appears the Corps has closed the faucets at the power generation station so maybe, just maybe Zone 2 will be in a "normal" state of flow and fishable for a few days. Maybe. It seemed that every time I checked the online reports below, day or night, that it was running at 6,000 cfs there for the past week or more. www.swt-wc.usace.army.mil/power/hydropower.html#BROKwww.swt-wc.usace.army.mil/BROK.lakepage.htmlI think they stock this week and so perhaps Zone 2 will be a worthwhile hike. Maybe.
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Post by Fenwick on Mar 23, 2016 11:36:59 GMT -6
Dang! Power generation station gates were wide open again this morning from 6 am to 8:30 am. Reservoir release is 6800 cubic feet per second on Wednesday 23Mar16 Time: 0800 hours.
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Post by Fenwick on Jul 1, 2016 16:25:15 GMT -6
Pat Waters of the LMFRF sent this informative e-mail out to members on July 1:
To Everyone Who Does Not Go To The Web Site,
Below is a brief update of ODWC 's current status regarding the Lower Mountain Fork Trout Stream.
Regulation & Signage update
New regulations go into effect July 1, 2016. Kiosk Signage has been updated. Attached is a sneak peak. Staff will begin replacing all the current Kiosk signage and replacing/installing the updated signs/banners in other various locations in next week. Staff will be moving/adding the red/blue zone signs at the cold hole bridge to reflect the new boundary changes next week.
Stocking access update
We met with the COE on Tuesday 28th on site to discuss our requests for the following. I hope to have approvals for these items within two weeks. Work would begin as soon as we get the go-ahead.
Improve area next to pump house below Spillway to better facilitate vehicle & and new stocking trailer access. Trim canopy, rework drainage, create vehicle turn-around and acquire gravel from Lost Creek sediment deposit to improve the upper foot bridge path/road to better accommodate the vehicle & new stocking trailer. Create a vehicle stocking access road that enters near the old Lost Creek diversion stocking gate and follows the old Lost Creek channel then to the bluff and upper Evening hole area. This would eliminate the need for having to use a 4-wheeler, etc. to stock this area. Staff will still be exploring the benefit of using the old road behind the S.P. Admin office. Stockings and stocking site selection will be contigent on the previous weeks stocking locations and in consideration of water temperatures.
Water monitoring and flow update
Region staff continues to monitor the stream temperatures weekly to help us plan for current needs as well as helping us indentify areas of long-term concern following last years floods.
Afternoon water temperatures as of June 28th Coming out of the spillway-61.12F Cold Hole surface-66.63F Cold Hole bottom-66.03F Evening Hole Bridge-67.13F Fly shop bridge upstream surface 66.61-F Fly shop bridge upstream bottom-64.72F Swim beach bridge upstream bottom- 69.62 F Swim beach bridge upstream surface-70.12 F Broken Bow Lake above spillway surface-88.28 F Broken Bow Lake above spillway 30ft-67.85 F Broken Bow Lake above spillway 45ft-57.72 F
As of Wed 29th the flows have been increased to 200cfs (will vary slightly based on water elevation). We will sustain this flow for the foreseeable future. We are however, watching the lake temperatures closely to identify potential cold water limitations that may exist in the next couple of months as a result of the increased flows.
Staff will check the temperature profiles of the lake and river again next week to monitor the effects of the increased flow.
Staff is exploring options for re-installing a continuous remote water temperature logger to replace the damaged one from the Dec flood. (This was the unit on the swim beach bridge)
Evening Hole repairs
While meeting with the COE on the 28th, we discussed last years approvals for repair work and how they would/wouldn't apply going forward. We hope to have official clarification in a couple of weeks along with the stocking access improvement requests. Some may remember last year I was also required to get FWS approval and this held things up substantially. These approvals are still valid.
Order of Priorities at this time
Please keep in mind in addition to the trout stream staff have other regional responsibilities. The trout stream is only a small part of Region Management. Our main priorities at this time are to update and install the new signage, monitor/ manage the water temperatures through flow requests to facilitate stocking within the Park, improve current stocking access, and establish Evening Hole stocking access. Secondary priorities include: reworking evening hole channel to promote better water quality and removing the old lost creek diversion structure. ODWC is aware that the Foundation collected a substantial amount of donations dedicated for the sole purpose of funding projects that ensure cold water for the trout stream and seek to cooperate with ODWC to do so. The ODWC appreciates the Foundations patience as we explore such options that are feasible, reasonable, provide long-term solutions, and would have support from all stakeholders to ensure success.
I would like to thank the Foundation for its donation support towards the new stocking tank/trailer and also to those members who have supported OSU Graduate Student Tyler Farling has he helps us all gain a better understanding of trout reproduction habitats and growth of juvenile trout in the lower Mountain Fork trout stream. Your knowledge and support of the trout stream is valuable and appreciated.
Sincerely,
Don Groom
ODWC Region Fisheries Supervisor
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Post by jonbo on Jul 5, 2016 18:49:40 GMT -6
Thank you Grant for posting that. I'm wondering what they're planning on with this entry: "... reworking evening hole channel to promote better water quality..." What kind of better water quality are they seeking? I'd like to see more diverse structure in the habitat, more very large boulders or something to create holding spots for trout, but I don't know how that relates to "water quality". I wish they would take the giant gravel pile and spread it down the north side to recreate the old walk path.
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Post by golferjeff on Jul 6, 2016 8:15:54 GMT -6
Think like this..... making deep holes shallower and faster and making shallow areas deeper and structured...... the whole idea needs a basis to get the work done. The basis is that water needs to flow more (and faster) to be more oxygenated and colder. Not much can be done with Spillway. The EH Don Groom refers to is really the entire red zone between the bridges.
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Post by Aaron on Jul 6, 2016 22:34:27 GMT -6
Quick update: We took a water temp today at the evening hole bridge now that the flows are up. It was noon and the Evening hole bridge temp was 63 degrees. So far from that single temp reading, it looks like a 4 degree temp lowering with the higher flows. It was brutal hot today so it was nice to see the low temps that far down. Hope to see that trend continues in the official reading taken later by the park and state.
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Post by texanfisherman on Sept 22, 2016 8:36:29 GMT -6
lmfrfoundation.org/latest-news-and-updates/Per Me – 9/20/2016 The Hex hatch has been surprisingly good this year with excellent fishing towards sundown. The ODWC has improved stocking areas and the fishing is slowly improving all over. Good fishing has been found from the old Pillar Hole area all the way up to Spillway Dam and from the Bluff down to the 40′ Hole. From Don Groom, ODWC: As many of you already now, in the past couple of months we have removed the Lost Creek Diversion, re-worked the cold hole/bluff channels, and have been making improvements to stocking roads/locations. Last week we completed all of the stocking access areas rehabilitation and removed the upper Lost Creek gate. In an effort to help us mitigate against any negative impacts to naturally occurring reproduction in the work area, I asked Tyler Farling to walk the Evening Hole area with us last Thursday to discuss his recent findings . We will be taking his information into consideration as we contemplate redistribution of the sediment pile at the upper end of evening hole. At this time we are planning on leaving the braided channels intact and modifying the area at the base of the sediment pile to create a better confluence of the the multiple channels. We have also identified areas that we can improve/place in-stream structure down to the Evening Hole bridge. Any work to be done on the pile and to the area channel will likely not begin until at least the second week of Oct, I have expressed to the COE and State Park that I will provide a work plan and anticipated schedule in the next couple of weeks prior to any work. If there are no objections to what we propose we will proceed as equipment and staff allow. Thank you for your patience and cooperation, Don ^LMFR news update^
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Post by dainw on Sept 22, 2016 8:42:50 GMT -6
Well that's good news. Thanks for the update.
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Post by jonbo on Sept 22, 2016 20:04:13 GMT -6
I can't wait to see the work they do. I'm sure it will be a great improvement. Thanks, Grant!
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Post by greenman on Sept 22, 2016 22:40:35 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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