Rain brings relief to lakes across Central Texas
Posted On: Friday, Sep. 18 2009 05:18 AM
By Rick Smith
Special to the HeraldFinally rain.
In Texas, we go from drought to flooding in a matter of hours.
Some Central Texas communities received over 13 inches of rain within a couple of hours causing severe flooding of low lying areas and roadways. Multiple days of rain have saturated the ground and the resulting runoff has area lakes collecting needed water.
After months of continuous loss of water, lakes are coming up.
Stillhouse Hollow is only one-foot below normal conservation. Lake Belton is still a little over 7-feet low, but has come up almost two feet.
Lake Waco is less than 1/2 - foot below its normal conservation.
All of this is good news for communities that rely on water from these lakes for their very survival, for the businesses that count on the recreational use of these lakes and for all of the boaters, fishermen, campers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Congratulations to Gatesville fisherman Eric Wendeborn and his fishing partner, Jody Haywood of Lubbock, who just got back from fishing the West Texas Team Trail Championship on Lake Amistad.
They pre-fished the tournament on Thursday and Friday catching 20-40 keepers per day.
Their best baits were artificial frogs fished from the water's edge to about one foot of water primarily behind duckweed.
On the first day of the tournament, they lost two 5 pounders early on braided line using 4-inch Ribbets in watermelon with chartreuse belly.
They had a five fish limit by 8 a.m., but continued to get short strikes as they culled for larger fish.
Eric lost another 5-6 pound hog on a fluke that shook off as he was reeling it in.
Total weight was 10.24 pounds.
They culled about four limits of keepers.
On Sunday, on their third cast, they started with a 5 pounder and then another nice fish and again had five fish by 8 a.m.
They were able to cull up to 15.64 pounds putting them in 10th place overall.
The first open TuffMan Bass tournament qualifier is on Lake Waco this Saturday.
Tournament headquarters is on the north end of the lake at Airport Beach Pavilion.
Pre-registration is $200 per two person team.
On the ramp registration is $250.
Payouts will start at $2,500 and one place will be paid for every 10 teams.
There will also be a big bass category.
The top 12 teams will automatically qualify for the January championship to be held during the 36th Annual Central Texas boat show.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife online auction started Sept. 14 and runs through Sept. 25.
The auction will include vehicles, marine equipment and miscellaneous surplus items no longer needed by the Department.
For inventory listings and to bid, go to Lone Star Auctions at
www.lonestaronline.com.