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FLT Flash! Fishing Report

November 21, 2008: Parte Tres: It is a whole nother game out there today, as conditions basically stink.. High winds.. Temps still in the basement.. Light Rain.. Oh Boy.. Now I remember why I quit tournament fishing..

We have decided to make a big pot of Chicken Noodle Soup.. A big pot.. Stop by the store this evening if you are in town and get you some.. Like Mama used to make..

November 21, 2008: Part Two! I my excitement I forgot to tell you that the Co-Anglers had a decent day too.. There were five stringers over twenty pounds, and leading it was Ron Fabizak, with 28-02. In second was Robert Wood with 25-06, and in third was Chuck Thurlow with 20-14. That's pretty good fishin considering these guys are casting behind some Vacuum Cleaners..

And I am sorry I forgot to include them in the previous report. But there hasn't been this much excitement around here since they replayed the Green Acres episode where Arnold Ziffel had an accident on the Douglas's' Parlor Floor. Mr. Haney... That's one bad Pig!

November 21, 2008: Day one of the FLW East-West Fishoff is in the books and like I said the fishing here at Falcon is in the tank. David Fritts, the legendary crankbait master, brought 37-02 to the scales early on in the competition, and never relinquished the lead. Terry Bolton had 36-13 for a day one second place finish, and Greg Hackney had an even 32 pounds for third after day one. Mark Rose caught the last of the thirty pound stringers, as he brought 30-01 to the stage. There were six more bags over 25 pounds, so I am gonna have to admit that these guys can catch fish.. Even when it is tough..

David Fritts

It is not exactly a Chamber of Commerce type of day here on Falcon this morning. As a matter of fact, it is one of those days where you might think of peeling the "I'd Rather Be Fishing" sticker off your truck. It is windy, Light Rain, and temperature at present is about 52 degrees. And we're not supposed to make it to 60.. Duck Hunters rejoice.. By the way.. The ducks are pretty thick up the river.... But more on that later..

As expected, local turnout was light at yesterdays weigh in. Should be more folks around on Saturday I would presume.. The Pros are very accessible and they been great with the fans. Truly a bunch of gentleman..

Look for more later..

November 20, 2008: The pre fish meeting at the Community Center last night was a pretty cut and dried event, but there was some Carne Guisada and some Mariachi Music.. Welcome to Zapata. There was a lot of fishing's Royalty there, and most all of them are very nice fellows. If you or your kids are autograph seekers, then this was the place to be. I would call the local turnout light.

I was kind of expecting a fog delay this morning, as the last few days you have not been able to see the end of your rod. But the air was much lighter this morning and a beautiful day is in store. But tomorrow and Saturday are supposed to turn to ugly.. High north winds and and much cooler temps are predicted for the last two days of the event. Those guys fishing in open water better get them today. Three flights of twenty left the ramp around 7:00 and they will weigh in at three this afternoon at the County Ramp. You can watch it live on your computer at this site: FLW LIVE

We will of course post results from today and we'll have some snapshots of anything relative..

It is just a shame that these guys, who were just about as excited as any fishermen I have ever seen, are going to have to fish under double tough conditions. But like my Daddy always says.. The cream floats to the top.. We'll see what happens shortly.

November 19, 2008: The first fish of the FLT Fishoff was weighed today, and there is a good chance that it will hold up for big bass of the entire week. It was caught by Lawson Fuller, and it was 48 1/2 inches long, and weighed 2.73 pounds. The angler did not share too much info on how the fish was caught.. There is still a lot of fishing to go..

The FLW boys have been busy getting ready for the for the event.. Here's a few pics of what has transpired so far..

I'm headed to to the Meet and Greet this evening and I'll report on it later..

November 18, 2008: To say the fishing is a little tough right now might be a bit of an understatement. And while there is an exception to every rule, and a few folks are finding fish, the vast majority of fishermen here are having a hard time of it. Including me.. I escaped the shop for a few hours yesterday afternoon, to explore a few of the creeks above the Salado on the Rio Grande. Because I know when it happens the fish will spawn up the river first. My biggest problem was to find some water shallow enough for the fish to even consider spawning there, and still allow access to a boat. And while I found some, the fish hadn't.. Or at least if they had they didn't stay. I know it's early.. So while I was on a exploratory I was still trying to catch something.. But didn't..

Randy Hale caught this fish while fishing with Tommy Law a couple days ago. They also had several other good fish.

Hubert Louque caught this fish while fishing with Gary Harlan. It was an 8-15.. He says that's a nine pounder where he comes from.. I agree..

A lot of the guides are still doing quite well.. I am struggling.. I'm headed upstairs to find my piggy bank.. Guess I'm gonna have to hire a guide if I'm gonna catch some fish..

November 16, 2008: It's Sunday morning in Zapata, and things are pretty quiet around here since we got through the morning rush. It got down in the low forties last night, but the sun is out and the North wind is very light. We should have some beautiful weather for the rest of the week.

In all the excitement over the last few days, I forgot to mention that there are a bunch of bass clubs in town this weekend, Freedom, Heart of Texas, and a couple groups from the Austin Area are here. I am sorry I don't have a better handle on the names.

Here's a few pics from this AM around the Veleno.. And one my wife took off our deck yesterday evening of the sunset over the mountains in Mexico. You rarely see them this good, but the cool front swept all the humidity out of the area and there was no haze to obscure the view.

Looking West

Lakefront Water Tower

Looking South

East of bridge

County Ramp

We're about 1.5 feet over full, and just barely rising.

The lake looks awesome! Come and see us!

November 15, 2008: There is a secondary reason that I moved to Zapata.. I hate cold.. If I hear of a north wind I get nervous. When I was a kid I had to walk to school in the snow every day.. Uphill both ways. Some days we'd get to ride the mule if if his feet were not froze to the ground.. But on the days they were, we'd paint his nads Yellow and Orange.. He couldn't kick you while he was frozen in place.. It was the first time there was a Slow Moving Vehicle Emblem on a piece of Farm Equipment. And wouldn't you know it, someone patented our Idea and made millions with those triangle shaped signs.. But I digress..

Today the wind blew out of the north all day long, and there were three foot waves most anywhere on the lake... And bigger ones I would guess down in the big water. Most fishermen struggled, but some found fish, although maybe not the size or numbers they'd like to. But what fisherman ever did.

Spinner baits and crankbaits are still doing the best from what what we hear, and I have no inclination to get out there in these blizzard conditions and find out for myself.. I've got to go and put some antifreeze in the truck.. Supposed to get down to 40 tonight.

Winter should be over by by Friday Or Saturday, and the spawn should be starting next week.. :-)

November 14, 2008: Things are hopping around Zapata this week, in anticipation of the FLW tournament next week. Lots of fisherman started hitting town yesterday evening, and they were greeted by a Rain/Hail storm of some size. We were watching the radar, and what started as a little dot on the river just below Zapata turned into a Red Blob and camped out on Falcon Lake Tackle for and hour or so. We had some torrential rain and some hail the size of a dime or so.. Good thing I watered the grass for three hours earlier in the day.. I'd like to think I decided to give it a good soaking, but in my old age I just plain forgot about it.. That must have have aggravated the Rain Gods as they sent me a reminder that I am a dumb a.. Oh well.. The Lake IS overfull..

We have a store full of FLW fishermen as I am writing this, and and license sales are brisk.. Should make both governments happy..

The fishing is improving slowly, and we had some reports from a few folks that caught a lot of fish in 18 feet of water or so, on spinnerbaits. They said they would let it sink to the bottom, and crawl it back through the trees. Sounds like a pattern I hate, but if it works, what the hell.

Here's the picture of the 11.2 pounder that that Marc Mays caught the other day while fishing with Charlie Haralson. Finally got my server to talk to some network that allowed wireless transmission of digitized pixelization of of Micropterus Salmoides, and Boom! The picture finally appeared. I love modern technology. Who woulda ever thought that you could sit on the john, making dingleberrys while you can order spinner baits on your Blackberry. And I apologize to Marc for talking about this subject while in the process of posting a picture of his fish. This fish was part of a forty pound Sack.

Marc Mays 11.2 Lbs

I plan on covering the weigh-ins during the FLW event as much as I can and I will post anything of interest. I know that the weigh-ins are going to be web-cast live (here we go with this technology stuff again) and I will try and get a link up to their site when it comes available. But my computer is running a little slow and I may have to download a little RAMagra to get the link up..

This is getting pretty bad so I am going to close for now. But I will be bringing you all the news that's fit to print, and probably some that's not. Stay Tuned!

November 11, 2008: I got to take my parents fishing this morning, and I will have to say that the company was good, even if the fishing was fair at best. We managed to catch about eight fish, but not too much where I thought we would.

We fished in the creeks around the dam, and caught three or four in the brush. And if you are looking for a pattern I have one for you.. We caught two non keeper sized fish on a worm, and one on a spinner bait and one on a crankbait.. There you go.. Hope that helps.. We did finally catch four fish off the Rip Rap on the dam. One of them was about a six, one was about four, and two were about fifteen inches long.. I wish we would have started there.. We caught those fish between 11:30 and 12:00. And my folks don't fish much past 12:00. All these last four fish came on a deep diving crank bait paralleling the rocks. (DD-22 in Rootbeer)

Check the top of the flood gates in background.. Only about three feet to top!

Charlie Haralson's clients were in the store this afternoon. They had a 40 pound stringer today, and it was helped by a 11.2 pound whopper.. I have the pic but I am having network difficulties.. Will have it posted asap..

The Helotes Bass Club was in town over the last weekend, along with a few others, and their winning stringer was pretty impressive. . Ngarm Ball caught big stringers both days, and her two day ten fish total was 55.44 pounds. That's pretty much kickin butt these days..

Ngarm Ball

See full report in tourney section..

And here's a guy who is more seen with whisker fish..

Hammer.

There are a lot of folks headed our way for the FLW East-West Shootout this weekend.. And I think we have talked to half of the on the phone. And we have the store stocked to the hilt. Stop by and see all the new products we have. Everything from a culling system that records the weight of each fish on each ring, to some massive spinner baits with a Tora Tube for a skirt. These are made by Blade Runner and we have a good stock of their spinnerbaits as well.. Up to two and a half ounces.. Better tie these on to your jig rod.. Also a Plethora of new Rattle Traps, Rapalas, and Normans.. We also got in some special run colors in Zoom, Ol Monster and Brush Hogs.. SOOOOEEEEE..

In any case you can stop by anytime and pick up what you need.. Cause I don't think I can get the door to close!

November 9, 2008: It's Sunday morning here in Zapata and and things are pretty quiet. There was a big Sesquicentennial celebration in town last night, and I suppose the local traffic may be subdued due to some sort of temporary poisoning. Take two Tylenol and call me in the morning... Or afternoon, whichever comes first for you..

I have been working on the website and trying to clean up some broken links and the sort, and I was looking at the Species/Stocking page. And while reading some of it that was written by Larry Bridgeman, I will have to admit that things have gotten a lot better around here in the last five years.

And I think I have finally come to grips with my view of the Sharelunker Program. Of course I have a prejudice towards Falcon Lake.. But in a good way. And maybe we will have the same opinion.. Or not..

The TPWD entices you to submit your thirteen pound plus fish to their program, and in return you will get a replica of your fish, and recognition in multiple ceremonies and publications. And if you catch the biggest of the year you will get a lifetime fishing license. In return they get your fish, and do their experiments with it.

And while some of the fish survive, many do not. I cannot find exact numbers on the fish that die or live. And I am sure that any numbers reported would not include fish that were held for pickup that did not survive the wait.

So here's my theory. If you catch a thirteen pound fish, after weighing , measuring, and taking a few quick photos, and you kiss her if need be, and return her to the water she came out of, the odds are pretty good that she is going to spawn in the lake she lives in, and her fry will grow up in the same. The odds are that she will have a much better chance of survival if she is released right there and then. Removing her from the lake can only LESSEN the odds that she is going to leave her genes in your lake. And That's a FACT.

Does breeding big fish create big fish? Maybe so. Good Genetics can't hurt.

But did that fish get that big because it lived in a warm climate, had lots and lots of easy food, got lucky and was not caught and eaten, and just plain lived long enough to get that big? Just like growing a trophy buck, age is critical.

I am not a biologist.. I had to look up how to spell it.. But I believe that money spent on trying to grow a super bass would be better spent on education of the fisherman. The last time the State Record was broken was 1992.. That was almost seventeen years ago. And odds are that wasn't a Sharelunker Fry.. Seems like we should be catching lots of fifteen pounders from a lot of lakes by now.

So here's what I recommend.

I think that on any lake you fish, with the exception of Falcon, you should certainly turn in your 13 pounder to to the Sharelunker program. We get few fished stocked here at Falcon, but we'll take advantage of any benefits that may come with the engineered fish, when they decide to give us some.

But for me, the best thing that can be done with a Falcon Giant, is to slip her back into the water she came from. And then I'll give you a certificate, put your picture on the Web, throw in a hat and T shirt, and I'll be glad to sell you a lifetime license.. :-)

Scream at me if you disagree.. I can take it..

See you on the water..

November 6, 2008: We have been fielding calls from all across the country, from fishermen headed down here next week to fish the FLW Fish-Off, and these guys are jacked up.. A few of them have been here before, but most will be newbies to Falcon. And if past events are any indicator, there should be some awesome stringers weighed in.

I am sure there will be a learning curve for most of them, as it is not too likely that they have fished this kind of cover in the past. Huisache, Retama, Mesquite, and Prickly Pear are not that common in most parts.. I did catch a nice fish the other day while doodle-socking a cactus bush.. Honest.. And a little later my partner caught one that had a thorn sticking in him about an inch long... Folks, you can't make this stuff up..

And speaking of weird things on the lake, there has been a big increase of sightings of Rattlesnakes on the water here lately. Some of these critters have demonstrated some aggressiveness towards boats and fishermen. If you see one, pay attention to where he is headed.. I have a 7' Ugly Stick for personal defense.. I'll turn that water into a Frapuchino if one gets close to me. I don't like snakes.

There are also a few other critters to be on the lookout for down in this part of the country. We have a few little spiders that are on the water, as some of them got stranded when the water came up.

As my dad would say "That sucker will cover a dinner plate!" But these spiders are not aggressive and are really kind of fun to play with.. I knew this girl once that liked to get nak... Wait a minute.. I better not tell that one.

I have been telling you that we had a big summer spawn, and the evidence is showing up everywhere. We have been catching a lot of bass that are not six or seven inches long. But they are fat and aggressive and are eating machines. Be sure to have some heavy braid on for monsters like these.

Thanks Scott for the pics..

It is also likely while you are here that you will run into a restaurant that offers a plate of food that is described as "Large". Unless you haven't eaten in a week or so, I recommend the "Regular". El Parisio, and The Steakhouse have a Mexican Plate and a Chicken Fried Steak that they deliver to your table with a forklift. Don't plan on any late night TV after downing one of those. And if you do eat the whole thing, be sure and have certain toiletries in the boat the next morning. And watch out for those spiders..

As of this morning, Falcon is at 301.63, or .61 feet overfull. That has a nice ring to it.. Overfull.. The fishing remains a bit spotty, but some folks have cracked the code and are catching good numbers of fish... I am dying to get on the water and see if one of my patterns is still holding up, but have been stuck in the store since Sunday, as my brother has gone deer hunting.. I better get some Jerky out of the deal..

I am sure I will have a lot more to report over the weekend as there are a lot of folks hitting town today, and I will try to get some info out of the successful anglers.. But I reckon that finding out what's not working is just as important as knowing what is..

See you soon..

November 4, 2008: I have updated the Tourney page with info I stole from the website of the Mr and Mrs Bass Club of Austin. They had some pretty good results.. Considering the women had men as partners.. Those ladies can fish!

The lake is just at 6"over pool and boy does it look good. Biggest problem is picking a spot to fish. There are a few clubs coming to town this weekend, and we have been fielding calls from a lot of fishermen.. I'd have to say that most are pretty pumped up..

Shadnick had to be brought back to the to the hanger this week.. The dilithium crystals lost their charge and anybody who has ever seen Star Trek knows that even Scottie needs time to recharge them.. Good thing there are no Klingons staring us down. We do, however expect full regeneration by this weekend and launch is tentatively scheduled for Saturday. So if you hear a monster blast around Zapata this weekend, it is just Shadnick taking flight. And if we get this baby flying we're likely to break out the Romulin Ale.. Maybe we can get that green chick to come and party with us.. Ok.. So much for the Gene Roddenbury shtick..

See you when you get here... "Scottie.. One to beam up!"

November 3, 2008: Holy Cow... That's all I can say.. Falcon is at 301.36.. That's 35/100ths over full.. And you have no idea how long I have been wanting to type that.. I mean this lake is brobdingnagian..

It did drop an inch when Rosie and Wynona finished their swimming lesson, but other than that it has been on a constant rise since the fourth of July. We are currently catching only fractions a day, but but it is still on the rise.

The fishing is off some, according to most everybody I have spoken with. But every day somebody gets on em and everyday somebody catches a whopper.. There was a 12 something caught yesterday in the Mr and Mrs Bass club tournament, and I am trying to locate a pic of the fish.

Colin Killen and his dad were here for a few days, and this young feller caught him a 9.5 on Sunday.

The phone has been ringing off the hook for the last few days, with the approach of the East-West Shootout that The FLW organization is putting on.. I hope the chamber of commerce gets its site up soon.. Or I am gonna have to start drawing a salary..

Actually we love the attention and enjoy talking to folks from all over the country, hyping what we believe to be the best bass lake around. You might want to make a trip here to prove it to yourself too..

November 1, 2008: Rolando Loera caught this 10.2 pound Halloween Bass near the state park on the south end of the lake, on a spinnerbait. He said another fish even bigger tried to eat his spinner also, but he managed to keep it away from her. He was retrieving the bait through submerged Huisache trees.. Go Figgure..

October 31, 2008: I reckon that the best thing you can do on Halloween is to go to church.. So we did this morning.

Awesome..

October 31, 2008: Happy Halloween.. I guess. I'm not much for celebrating Halloween.. But I have thrown a pumpkin colored Lizard this week, just to commemorate the occasion..

And some of the fishing around here has been a little scary. Either scary good, or scary bad. So much seems to be depending on the specific spot. When you find these fish you can catch the heck out of them.. But the finding has been the hard thing here lately. But most everyone we talked with that has fished a few days has gotten on the fish somewhere in their travels

I heard from a couple of guys this morning that they caught a lot of fish in three feet of water.. I have not found any that shallow.

But I did catch a bunch of spinner bait fish yesterday. And most of them were in six to twelve feet. Chartreuse and white in in the Jo-Baby 1 1/8 oz was the best bait overall. But the Tilapia colored bait from SOB wasn't bad either.. That's a FLT exclusive bait and it is a good one. Pick one up and give it a try the next time you are down.

The TX Vs OK shootout is over, and it appears that the Red River Shootout was a precursor for the results here. But the only injuries were a couple of egos, and I am sure that they will heal in a short time. I went to the weigh in on Wednesday(cameraless) (AKA idiot) and there were a lot of Mid 20 pound stringers weighed in. The best was a 28 something, and that's a good sack of fish anywhere.

Yesterday I took a couple of of National Sportswriters fishing for a few hours, and gave then a tour of Old Guerrero, where they had a few photo opportunities at the old church. They also got a taste of some plenty mean Falcon Bass.. And one of them got treated to Rod Displacia.. But fortunately it got caught before hitting the water. Them fish are mean. They are here doing some photo shoots and stories on the lake and the Pros that are here for the TX-OK thing.

Hope to post some pics of the church later today.. Up Close and Personal..

October 29, 2008: Things have been real busy around here, and I have had limited time to do anything short of working and answering the phone. Of course I am still licking my wounds from fishing for four days in a row.. I'm too old for this stuff..

During the OPEC tourney a monster Gar was shot (bow and arrow) and they brought him to the state park Recreation Hall and we got some good pics of him.. What a whopper.. 220 pounds.. And these guys had another one in the boat over a hundred.. The Gar fishing is definitely hot right now.. Clear water and big fish in the shallows.. Now's the time if you are into whackin' some monsters.

220 LBS! 7' 6"

The Texas vs Oklahoma deal is going on this week down here.. Eight against eight in a few different formats. Texas is ahead 2 points to one after day one of the competition as I hear it.. Couldn't help but ask some of the guys from OK if they watch any college football.. I'm gonna try and get some pics of the action at the weigh ins one of these afternoons.

One of our good customers caught a whopper in the Veleno this weekend, and I am just now getting it to the site.

Mark with his 11 lb 7 oz Whopper!

Here's a pic of the ramp at the County Park yesterday evening. Well you can't really see the ramp.. But you don't see any trucks parked down there either , do you..

October has been so beautiful down here it is hard to describe.. Come see for yourself..

October 27, 2008: A cool front greeted us this morning here at Falcon, and a good quarter of an inch of rain fell, just enough to settle the dust. And man does it feel nice. I'm gonna have to get the jackets out of the mothballs.

Fishing continues to be good and bad, depending on where you are and what you are throwing. Some folks are struggling with locating some biting fish, and other boats are catching very good numbers. It seems that the fish are avoiding a lot of areas where the weeds are rotting and smell sour. It could have something to do with oxygen depletion or something of the sort, but I am just speculating.. It does seem however that more of the fish are in areas that have fewer weeds, or rocky bottoms, where the weeds were not growing. In any case the fish have been very spot specific, and why you can't find them in places that look just like spots that are loaded is still a mystery to me.. It is taking some looking to find some fish.. If someone figures it out, please let me know..

The water clarity on the lower end of the lake is about as good as I have ever seen it. You can see a spinner bait four feet down pretty easy, especially when the sun is out. I have been fishing for four days straight, and I have never seen the lake look any better. We are sitting at 9" from full as of this morning.. We should be full pool in a couple of days if they let it happen.

The final day of the OPEC tournament was yesterday, and there were about fifteen teams that realistically had a shot at winning the the thing.. And like many others, we were wondering if our fish would hold up or not. I was just hoping to finish decently and not weigh in three dinks.. And it didn't take too long to find out that there were still some decent fish on one of our spots, as Rick caught an 8.44 on his second or third cast on this monster tube/spinner bait thingy.. It was a sample bait someone had dropped off, and I have them coming.. Because in the next fifteen minutes he caught three more fish, two of them over six pounds. I finally managed to cull one of them a few minutes later so I did contribute a little.. We had our fish by 9:00 and it seemed like the morning lasted forever. The fishing slowed down for us when the sun came out about 10:30. But we were still catching fish, just not the quality or numbers of the earlier in the morning.

Most of our fish over the weekend came on crankbaits. We kept the boat in 12-14 feet of water and cast at the tree lines on windblown banks. The Norman DD-22 in Baby Bass, and the Deep Little N in Chart/Blue were our most productive baits. We caught a lot of fish when we ripped the baits out of the tops of the Huisache trees. Of course we had braided line on the cranks. I did catch the big fish on Saturday on a Ol Monster in Plum.. Go Figure..

So when we pulled the trolling motor up we said well at least the other guys are gonna to have to catch em..

And the other guys did catch em..

We won the tournament by 4/100ths of a pound..

We had a two day six fish stringer that weighed 41.27 pounds.

Roy Burger and M. Lancaster had a hell of a second day stringer also, and they finished with 41.23.

Reyes and Reyes finished in third with 38.75, and they also had big bass on Sunday with a 9.82 pound whopper.

Plocek and Plocek, who were in second place after day one, had 15.64 to finish in fourth.

They say that every dog has his day, and the Lord certainly smiled down on us this last weekend. And now I only have about a hundred grand to make up in entry fees..

TPWD had their live release tanks there and all the personnel in the weigh in process had their act together. I heard that there were only eight fish that did not survive to be released. That's pretty impressive.. Way to go guys! And the fishermen did a great job of baby sitting the fish also, getting them there in good shape. Of course it is a lot easier to keep three fish alive than five..(That could be construed as a subtle hint..) Cooler water temps did not hurt a thing either..

See you on the water!

October 25, 2008: Day one of the OPEC is in the books and there were a lot of good fish caught.. Burger and Lancaster are in the lead with 22.18. In second place is Plocek and Plocek with 20.58. In third is Romane and Bendele with 20.45.. Yes Bendele.. I lucked into a big fish at 1:00 this afternoon, and it turned out to be big bass of the day.. Thank you Lord.. I hate to do this.. But I don't catch a ten every day either. These weights are for three fish.

.10.72

October 24, 2008: Just a quick post as it is after 10:00 on Fri night.. We just got back from the captains meeting at OPEC headquarters.. There are 67 teams in the field, and there are a lot of good fishermen in it. I have fished for two days and have found a few fish but am not sure of what will happen in the next two. I guess that's why they call it fishing.. I will post an update tomorrow evening after day one.. And I promise I will get back on track with reports soon.

Shadnick is scheduled for liftoff in the next few days, and we expect telemetry by next weekend if all goes well. According to the Aquastick based here at Falcon we are exactly 1.25 feet low. It looks awesome and you need to get down here and see the lake.. You won't believe your eyes.. See you tomorrow!

October 22, 2008: There is a lot of buzz around town about the OPEC tournament coming up this weekend, and if half of the people who have inquired about it fish it, it should be a big field, at least by OPEC standards. Last year there were sixty one teams, and the year before I believe there were about eighty. But last year the Bass Champs Championship was here going at the same time. 121 is the all time record for OPEC entrys.

I am fishing the tournament, but I'll be the first to admit that I don't have a clue. I have a plethora of excuses already lined up, so when I come in dead last I'll be ready.. I believe in being prepared.

Fishing reports from locals have been a little hard to to come by, and I don't think they will be any more forthcoming till next week. But if you are fishing the OPEC here's what I think you should do.

A Carolina rigged Zorro Spook in about 65 feet of water should be good. I also recommend that you flatten all the barbs on your hooks. Four pound line is a must as these fish are very finicky.. And once you find this deep water it is imperative that you don't move.. There could be some monsters down there.. Oh and I think that weigh in is at 8:30 PM..

In any case the tougher fishing conditions should level the playing field at least a bit, and anyone might have a chance to drag six good fish to the scale. I understand that there will be a drive thru weigh in at the Rec Hall inside the Park. So prepare yourself to keep the fish ALIVE... Have some ice for your wells and some Catch and Release would be a good idea. We have plenty here at the store, and if you come in and tell me you read this on the site I will give you $2 off on a bottle. I'm willing to put my profit where my mouth is when it comes to keeping fish alive.. You can expect to see water temps in the mid to upper 70's this weekend so we have a good chance on keeping a very high percentage of the fish alive. TPWD will handle the treatment and live release of the fish. But let's all use common sense when handling the fish, and don't be afraid to put some water in those bags!

And let me share a bit of other useful Info with you.. If you are fishing a high wind day, and are running your trolling motor on high the entire time, and you decide to bypass the circuit breakers because they tripped a time or two, don't forget to undo what you have done.. We tarped the boat last week and somehow left the main power on.. And somehow the tarp depressed the foot pedal switch.. And somehow the tarp held the prop still... And somehow the all the wires in the motor head and pedal don't have any of that plastic stuff around them anymore.. Damn 29 series.. New trolling motor scheduled for delivery on Thursday..

Well in any case, maybe this year a Dark Horse has a chance at winning the OPEC.. I don't know about you, but I'm going out back to comb out my mane..

October 20, 2008 II: Just in case you thought the bigger fish have not bitten at all, I thought I'd post a couple of pics of fish caught over the weekend..

James Pilcher with a "third cast of the day" nine pounder.. Show off.. :-)

Bill Herrera 12.6 lbs Oct. 18, 2008

That's a good un! If I could just find some cover that looks like the stuff in the background..

October 20, 2008: This is what the county ramp looks like this morning..

The boat on the left in the picture is on top of the old rock point that was so prominent a few weeks ago.. You could still park two boats on the bottom if properly parked.. But that's about it.. There is still some room on the point to the West of the ramp.

We are 2.71 feet from full, and the watermasters have not pulled the plug on Falcon yet. I see that Amistad is dropping slightly as the flow into the lake has reduced. They are still letting about 12,000 CFS out of Amistad, so the river will still be running, but at a reduced rate. Good news for the folks along the river.. The rise here on Falcon has slowed just slightly, but look for the slowing trend to continue.

There are mixed reviews on the fishing here at Falcon, as some struggle, and some find good numbers and size of fish. But there is no doubt that the fishing has become tougher in the last two weeks. The same old patterns are still working, just not as well..

The OPEC tourney is this weekend, and it looks like there will be a good field again this year. You can still enter until Friday night at the Captains meeting at the State Park Rec Hall. Captains Meeting is at 6:30PM. No entrys will be permitted after Captains Meeting.

Atascosa Bass Club and Southwest Research Bass club were here last weekend. Best stringers we heard of on Saturday were about 24-25 pounds. And that is pretty darn good these days. But again, some folks found fish, and some didn't..

Lots of activity coming to Falcon this month and next.. And we're busy stocking up for it.. Gonna have to take that back wall out pretty soon.. Come See Us!

October 18, 2008: You just wouldn't believe the weather we are having here in the Bass Capital of the world.. Delicious temperatures have descended on Zapata, in usual October form. We are topping out at around eighty two degrees for the rest of this week, with lows in the sixties. It just don't get much better.

The lake level has risen to 297.43, or 3.59 feet low.. Whooda thunk it.. It came up .49 feet in the last 24 hours.. I would have never thought it could rise this fast at this surface size.. There's a lot of water coming in the lake, but Amistad has started a very slow decline in water level. We'll see what happens to releases from Amistad once it is back to pool level. But what a blessing we have received with all the new water in both lakes. Although getting used to it will be a little difficult for the fishermen and the fish..

We are still not sure what they are going to do with any excess water.. If there is any such thing.

Fishing remains a bit sporadic here on Falcon, and I won't lie to you, it has been a little tough on a lot of us here staying on the fish. Where you find a few one day, the next you are fishing the dead sea.. The fish are on the move and therefore the fishermen need to be also.

After about three weeks of being without a boat, due to high speed metal fatigue, we are back in the fishing business and I test drove our rig yesterday.. We put a new short block in it and it survived the initial torture I put it through. So hopefully I can have a little more first hand knowledge for you in the near future.

But some folks have had some good results in the last few days..

Zebulen Mcowan 10.2

Hal Moffit 8.5

Jarrett Kucera 8.75

We have a few bass clubs in town again this weekend, and I am behind on the tournament page updates. Send me your clubs results when possible if I haven't gotten to it.. I really appreciate the help!

October 17, 2008: To say it has been a little busy around here would be pretty accurate, but to say that it is nuts would be a closer to the truth. We have had a town full of Lousianians and more of them are arriving every day.. I do not know who is at home guarding the crawfish, cause most of the state is over here.. And they all tell me that Crawfish is not in season so I am really bummed out.. Guess it'll be hot dogs again..

The phone is ringing off the hook with lots of calls from folks in the western region of the FLW, all wanting to know what and where and when about the top 60 East versus West fish off coming up next month. I understand that the east division still has one tournament left before final qualifying spots are filled, but it is happening really quick. There will be four days of prefishing, and three actual tournament days. This will be a seeded tournament from what I understand, with the upper qualifiers fishing against their corresponding lower seeds. I am sure I will have more info on the tournament soon.

Fishing in the meantime remains a bit sporadic, with mixed results being reported. The big expanse of flooded trees in areas that have not seen water for years have the fish a bit scattered.

Best baits are still a middle depth crankbait, and a slow rolled Spinnerbait in water from eight to twelve feet deep. Fishing either of these through submerged trees and brush seem to be the most reliable pattern. There are still a few fish being caught on soft plastics, but they are not the top producer according to a lot of reports. I have not fished enough to comment on either.. But I'm fixin to..

I still have a bunch of pics to process and put up .. Look for them in the Morning!

October 16, 2008: OK, OK.. Don't pay the ransom.. I've escaped.. While it is true I have been out of pocket for a few days, I have been busy doing research on the lake and it's history and I have had my nose to the grindstone..

Did you know that we have not had this much water in Falcon since 1992-93? That's fifteen years of non pool level attainment... I think that the candidates for president should address this issue.. What ever happened to "No Lake Left Behind?"

We are up to 296.35, 4.67 feet from full, and up .56 in the last 24 hours. The brush, trees and grass that we are now covering has had fifteen years to grow. And let me tell you that it is a jungle out there.. While fishing this cover it is important to have good solid heavy equipment in your hands. If you are fishing light tackle in the midst of this menagerie then you are either one of two things.. A very skilled angler with all the knowledge, ways and means and methods for extracting a bass out of heavy cover with light equipment... Well.. Either it's that or you're crazy..

It has been said that this shallow fishing is akin to reaching into a badgers den and pulling out one of the cubs while Momma is home.. There is gonna be some bloodshed..

One of the most important things in your arsenal right now is patience. These fish are a little harder to find on some days, and persistence will pay off in the long run. But people who have never been here before are catching fish, and most of them are doing fairly well..

A lot of fish are being caught in the submerged dead Huisaches that used to be sticking out of the water. Humps and points with cover on them are yielding some good quality fish for those who are throwing a Carolina rig or a crankbait through the trees. You will loose some baits but you will catch some fish.

And yes.. It is a conspiracy.. While you are sleeping we are out there planting bait eating trees in your favorite spots.. Just trying to do our part to keep the economy moving.

I was in San Antonio yesterday morning and I saw that Gasoline was in the $2.67 range everywhere.. Don't fill up till you get to Laredo.. It was $2.26 on the south side of town.. It is around $2.32 here in Zapata.. Better come fishing while gas is cheap.. If you can call $2.26 cheap..

There was a 12 pounder caught two days ago by some folks from east Texas.. I have seen the Pic but do not have it yet. I also have some other pics to post and will later today..

Sugar lake is still producing a bunch of big fish, and some of our friends have tore them up two days in a row.. They went back again today..

We are T-Minus just a few days from the launch of Shadnick, and control center preparations are underway for the launch. The moon needs to fade a bit before the launch so tracking wont be adversely affected..

But anyway.. You need to get down here and see this lake.. It is huge.. Highs in the low eighties this weekend.. You can decorate for Halloween when you get back..

October 12, 2008: I was just down at the County Ramp this morning, and it looks like the parking lot is going to be utilized much more than it has in the past. Of course it has a good rubber coating on it as it seems to be a very popular late night place for kids to check the rev limiters on their cars and trucks. In the next few days there is not going to be a lot of room to park on the lower level below the asphalt lot on top of the hill. It would be nice if the new park was was built and the additional parking lot that is planned was a reality. There are sticks and flags everywhere, and it appears that the area has been surveyed more than JLo's south end.. But to date, no dirt has been relocated. Other than what the wind has moved anyway..

I hear the holdup is due to the existence of a weed called the "Bladder Weed." I hear it is called that because it smells like urine when crushed or rubbed.. I say lets crush and rub a whole bunch of it and get on with the show.. It's gonna happen sooner or later so lets get it done. Some of the things our system requires is quite ridiculous to me.. I am sure the EPA is concerned with the survival of the bladder weed. I think I saw a news conference where they were talking about the famous Zapata County bladder weed... Maybe CNN or MSNBC.. "We will not allow the devastation of the bladder weed .. Not on My Watch!" So far I have seen no protesters marching and chanting holding signs that say "The Bladder Weed is swell.. We love the smell!"

I say piss on the bladder weed.. Build my parking lot.. (Please excuse the bad and poorly chosen language)

The Shadnick 1 Satellite is rolling towards the launch pad as we speak, and we are anticipating launch capability in the next week. There are some technical calculations still being being worked out, as we have to anticipate an aborted second stage firing, which would allow us to recover the the Shadnick, hopefully in the midlake area after chute deployment and splashdown somewhere around the Tigers. NASA had the whole ocean to hit. We just have a lake.. We do not anticipate a problem with the launch, but we have to cover the bases when it comes to the possibility of a malfunction. Here is a picture of the prototype Shadnick..

As you can see, we spared no expense in the planning, development, and construction of the Shadnick..

October 12, 2008: Things have been absolutely crazy around here for the last few days.. We have four bass clubs in town, and things are hopping.. And I haven't had time to write much of a fishing update.. So here's a quick pictorial of what's been going on..

Pat Soto 10-8.. Awesome fish Pat! Is that a bridge??

Cesar Cuellar and Leo Garza.. Dove Hunting they said.. Funny looking dove.. 6'1" Rattles broke off at 14...

The big one weighed 205.. And they are thick in the shallows right now.. These fellers stopped by the store at 8:30 on Thursday morning.. They were back at 11:30.. Will post report later today about what happened at the tourneys.. Saturday saw some 24 lb stringers.. Sevens were the biggest fish we heard of..

October 9, 2008: I knew that there was just too fast a rise going on around here for the water coming into the lake to be just from the Rio Grande, and and in the last few days the Salado river has began running big time. And I think we have been getting some influx from it for a week or so. Cause the numbers just didn't add up. And I can't find any source of info for the Salado river on the Internet to try and keep up with its flow.

Lake Cuchillo which is on the San Juan river above Sugar Lake is at 135% of capacity. Sugar Lake is at 119% of capacity. And evidently the Mexicans have a way of getting that water into the Rio Grande below the city of Roma, when they cannot hold it. And the river below Roma is running at 4-5K CFS right now, and it is not coming out of Falcon. It normally is fed out of Sugar into a canal system that kind of parallels the Rio Grande, from what I understand. And normally the US does not have access to this water. But the more I try to figure out exactly how this water system works, the more my head starts to hurt. I could be wrong on some of these theories, so if you have some solid info on the water system below Sugar, please enlighten me.. I thirst for knowledge..

And usually when I ask a question on the site, I will get an answer from one of our readers. Like last week when I posted the picture of the Monster that ate Zapata, Tom Hungerford, of TPWD was Johnny on the spot with the name and description of this critter. Commonly called the Blue Spiny Lizard, Scientific name = Sceloporus Cyanogenys. And while I was taking his picture I kept thinking about Car Insurance.. Damn Gecko is getting into my brain.. Anyway, thanks Tom for the info.. There are a lot of these lizards around Falcon most anywhere there are some rocks.. And he didn't really eat the town.. Just a few rent houses in the flood plain

The lake came up .76 feet in the last 24, and I don't really have a clue as to where the lake will level off.. I admit that my theories to date have been solely predicated on the water from the Rio Grande. The water from the Salado throws a wrench in the equation. Because when you take cubic feet of water divided by flow rate multiplied by the backwater drainage area combined with the square root of Amistad divided by wrench, you come up with a number that cannot even be considered a possibility.. But let me tell you it is a lot of water.. But it is very possible that we could fill this thing up.. Kinda blows my mind.. But then I left a lot of it back there in the 70's..

One of our Buddies from Nuevo Laredo caught this 10lb 12oz whopper last Tuesday. He and his friends were fishing in the Tigers and they said they also caught some other nice fish.

Rupento Villarreal Jr.

This fish was caught with Tommy Law. But I went a little brain Dead on the Weight and Name..

Long story short, there are still a lot of good fish being caught, even with the rising water.. You may have to run around a bit to find fish, as they are running around some too.. Charlie Haralson was in the store this morning also, and he agrees that the fish are a bit scattered. But if you fish a lot of water you will find a lot of fish.

And I wanted to let you know that the FLT satellite is just about ready to roll out to the launch pad. We are tired of renting uplink time from NOAA.. It will be the first in a series of birds to help get our entire AquaStick network in real time. We have spared no expense in setting up this system, and it should give us more and more accurate readings of water in the Falcon Watershed in the near future. It will be good to have our own "Eye in the Sky" in the near future. Stay tuned for pics of the new asset, which should be declassified shortly.

October 7, 2008: Charlie Haralson and his clients were in the store yesterday evening, and according to the story they told, they had a fantastic day. Big numbers and big fish were the order of the day, and several of the fish they caught were over seven pounds, and one over nine I hear.

I also fished yesterday morning and had a much better day, fishing the south central part of the lake.. In some of these creeks the water is so clear, you can see four feet or more down. That doesn't happen real often around here.

I knew the water rate of rise would change and it finally has.. In the last 24 hours we have come up over 6/10ths of a foot. We are rising faster than before. I am not sure where we are headed, but we are up to levels not attained since the mid nineties. And we will certainly gain a few more feet at the least. We are at 291.50, or 9.52 feet low. And the lake is looking Big.. Real Big..

The catfish are also biting very well in many of the creek channels. We hear from the local catfish "Pros" that there is just too much current in the river up from the lake to fish there effectively.. Not to mention the the willow tree forest that is moving to warmer climates.

On a Tackle note.. We got in some new items.. A lot of em.. And one of the best looking worms is the Manns Jelly worm in the 10" size.. For those of you that think the 12 inchers are too big.. Got them as a "see how they look thing" and they look awesome.. I think we are going to have some in bulk also. WM Red. Go Figure. We are slowly adding new products to our E-store all the time. When fishing will allow.

And I want you to know that I'm not going fishing for me.. I'm doing it for you guys.. Because I know you need the latest in on the water info.. And I am committed to getting it for you.. It's kinda like making Rice Krispie Treats.. I don't mind the work.

Will post some pics soon!

October 5, 2008: There are a lot of neat things to see in Zapata, and there are a lot of neat things to see on the the Lake. Especially at this water level up the Salado river. And for those of you Newbies to Falcon, the Salado runs in the Rio Grande at the top of the lake, and their confluence heads south at marker thirteen, one marker above Beacon Lodge, and the last Concrete marker on the north end of the lake. And I think these markers are sinking as they are getting shorter and shorter.. Pretty soon I may be able to get my rattle trap back from the top of marker eight.. But I don't think that a stepladder in a boat is a good idea.. I better wait a few days..

But it is really neat to see some of the old ruins that are up the Salado river, in the old town of Guerrero. And right now, many of the buildings are just about to re submerge with all this new water in the lake.. We still came up .51 feet in the last 24 hours, and I am having a hard time figuring out why we have not slowed the vertical rise.. We are defiantly covering a lot more acres.. We are at 10.66 feet low as of this morning.

But like any good boy, or girl, your first stop of the day should be at church.

Historic Guerrero Church

And after praying to catch some big fish, you should go to school to learn how it should be done.

Old School Building Near river Channel.

And after dilligent study, doing your homework, and praying for a double digit bite, you set the hook on what could be a dink... Or Not!

Mike Wood 10.3 Fattie Caught 10/3/08

And of course after catching a fish like that, I would probably go and get tanked..

This storage structure was a part of an old water system built way back when, and I will assume it was for irrigation, as it is on the other side of the Salado from the town of Guerrero, and it is linked by a concrete trough system to another holding tank with three outlets that had to irrigate the big flat it is near.. At least that's my theory.. This pic was taken Yesterday, Oct, 4th.

This pic was taken seven days earlier.. I think the lake she's coming up...

Note the awesome rock work These guys were craftsmen.

Here's another one from Yesterday..

And here is the other tank that is linked by the trough system..

And here's what the rock trough that connects them looks like.. I wish the picture was better as you just cannot believe the detail in the rock work. They used stones that are two and three inches long. I don't think that today's labor rates would allow this type of construction.. But back then rocks were cheap, and labor was near free..

I fished yesterday, and I really struggled.. The water in the back of Salado is very dirty, and I can't figure why.. I don't see any current coming down.. Just big mud lines.. But maybe that is where the water I can't figure out is coming from. But I can't find any info on releases from Don Martin in Mexico.. But I am working on it.. That's a lot of buts...

We ran from the back of Salado to the very Back of the Golondrina, dodging floating trees, refrigerators, and whatever was left close to the river from Del Rio to the Burros. The water in the river is about like a Double Half Caf Chocolate Expresso thingy from Starbucks.. Nasty.. But once we got in the Goldondrina the water was fantastic looking with visibility down a couple of feet.. Too Bad the fish don't know about it.. We only caught a couple in there. We stopped in Chapote Creek on the Mexican side on the way back, and caught several in there.. The water color was not nearly as nice as Golondrina, but we caught several fish on the rocky points.

I spoke with several guides yesterday and they said they did real good down the lake. Jim Edwards said they had a couple over eight and a lot of other good fish mixed in.. I should have followed him.. But I have been wanting to check out the water quality in the backs of these creeks.. Cause believe me.. When this water settles down , there will be fish all up in these creeks.. And that is where the spawn will start.

Still lots of good fish being caught, but I won't lie to you and tell you that they are just jumping in the boat... The fish and the fishermen must adjust to water conditions day by day. But if I was fishing a tournament and needed to catch fish I would head south for now, Starting at the Diablo and School Bus Creeks. Good water quality there. Spinner baits and Frogs are still working well early,..and the flipping bite is good later.. Cranks and Jigs are also catching fish. Be patient and cover some ground... Better make that water..

And while I was fishing some rocky bluffs yesterday, I heard a splash, and of course I looked to see what was chasing what.. This big lizard, (not sure of the species, but we see them all the time) fell off the cliff and landed in the water. He may have Spiderman qualities on Land, but this is a no swimming son of a gun.. Thought he was going to drown before he got back to the wall.. I actually thought a bass was going to grab him.. But that didn't happen. He was so tired I guess that he just hung there and let me get a few good pics of him.. You usually can't get too close to them. I was gonna grab him but I didn't have any of those 11/0 hooks with me..

See you soon!

October 3, 2008: We are still coming up a hair over six inches a day, and since I wrote last, we have gained a foot of water and there is water in the river that will keep us on the rise. We are currently at 289.28, or 11.74 feet from full. That's up .52 feet in the last 24 hours.. I am still thinking the vertical rise has to slow down, as we are covering a lot more acres every day.

Amistad is leveling off, as their release rate is similar to the amount of water coming into the lake. And this should continue for a while. It is just about 8" over full..

You may be getting tired of me just talking about the water levels and what's coming down the river and Amistad and the Watermasters and yada, yada, yada. But I think we will see a point in a few weeks that we have not reached in a decade and a half. But for now it is pure speculation. We know Santa is coming, but we're not sure exactly what he is bringing.

Dudley Rains with a 8.9

David Wharton with a 9. 6

Dudley Rains and David Wharton wore out the big fish this week as they had a heck of a stringer with four fish over eight pounds. Said they did not catch a lot of smaller fish.. Don't know if they were bragging or complaining..

A lot of areas above marker ten are muddy if you are in the line of the current.. Many creeks up the river are clear, but you have to get back in them a way to get to the clear water.. Find clear water up the river , and you will catch fish.

The water below marker ten is in great shape.. But these fish are on the move, and where you catch them one day, you might not catch them the next. So you might have to do some fishing before you do a lot of catching.. It does happen ... Follow the bait.. If you see no shad and no surface action at all, odds are that you need to move on..

Should be a pretty busy weekend around here, so we'll have some better reports soon.. Come see us..

October 1, 2008: I just cannot believe it is October already.. Where did the summer go? I needed a jacket this morning while I was talking to some folks in the parking lot.. And if I'm feeling the cooler temps, you can bet the fish are too..

I have always held that October is a great month for numbers of fish here on Falcon, and this year should be no different. The only wild card is all the rising water, as we head for who knows exactly where. And if anyone knew, they wouldn't tell us..

We are at 288.22 as of this morning, up .52 in the last 24 and I keep expecting the six inches a day to slow down, as we are covering a lot of acres right now. That equates to 12.8 feet low, only about two feet from the high water mark set last winter. And let me tell you that the lake is looking a lot bigger as a lot of the old brush that was in the lake has broken down some.

I cut across the former peninsula in front of Paradise Point on my way from the Veleno to the river on Monday evening. There was four plus feet of water in the pass and today there will be over five. Travel at your own risk, but there is enough water to make it easily by. But watch out for those stumps!

The fishing continues to be very good, and we have gotten some reports and pics of some bigger fish being caught.

Jesse Garcia-Perez caught this nine pounder earlier in the month.

9-13-08

Jorge Aguilera Caught both of these fish, one over ten, and one over twelve.. What a weekend! He said they also had a bunch of fish up to 7 pounds.. When you get on a heard of these fish you can catch several whopper in the same area. Of course they're not always ten pounders..

September 28, 2008: Falcon has risen to about 14.5 feet from full, and let me tell you, it wont be long till we are fishing a lot of green thorn bushes.. There is already a lot of greenery in the water, and a lot of Retama trees are now fishable.. Although I did not do real good on them in the last two days..

Spinner baits are still catching the lions share of fish, but I did do pretty good on Watermelon Red and Plum worms in Ol Monster.

We are up to 286.74, or 14.28 feet low. We have gained over six inches of water in the last 24 hours. I look for this vertical gain to slow a bit in the next few days, as we start to widen the lake. Amistad is nine inches from full. It remains to be seen if they will increase the outlet when they hit full pool. There is about 17,000 CFS coming down the Rio Grande at Presidio the last couple of days. But there is still about 40,000 CFS hitting the top of Amistad. They are releasing about 18,000 CFS down the river as I write.

I fished on Friday evening and Saturday morning with a buddy from Bracketville, and we fished the Salado both trips. O Friday we caught over thirty fish on Spinner baits and Frogs. And these fish are blasting the frogs out of the water. I have taken to using a 3/0 hook on the Ribbit frog, and not inserting the point of hook in the frog at all. It has greatly increased my hookups, and I have had no problem with hanging up.

Jimbo Beard caught this 6-14 on a 3/4 oz SOB in Talapia.. I usually don't post pictures of fish so small but he did give me a good Cigar.. And I did lip em' for him..

See you soon..

September 26, 2008: Well folks, I guess it is time for a prediction.. I have been studying the river flows above Amistad, and between Amistad and Falcon. And after computing all the data, taking readings from the Aqua Stick network, and dusting off my abacus, I have come up with a theory.. The emphasis being on theory.. I do not have a college degree, and math is not a particularly fond area of recreation for me. But I was told that if I did not leave college that Guadalupe county would experience a population explosion.. And that is about the last thought I have given to math.. But I have crunched the numbers and this is what I have come up with.

Falcon should come up to about ten feet from full, or maybe seven, but I would be surprised to see anything above that. If it does, it will be in a very slow manner, and I really think that anything above ten will be slowly reached.

The flow in the last gage above Amistad at Foster Ranch has dropped from over 70,000 CMS to under 46,000 CMS in the last two days. The top two feet of water in Amistad are the hardest to get, and with the amount of water being released, and the decrease of water making it to the lake, it should take Amistad two or three days to reach full pool. Maybe four. In the last 24 hours Amistad has risen .85, down from 1.2 feet per day a few days back.

From what I can discern, the flow out of Luis Leon Reservoir has been reduced to less than 20, 000 CFS, and probably closer to 15,000 CFS.. Although yesterday it was still at 190.5 % of capacity. And from what I understand, the lake total storage at this level is only 529,475 acre feet.. This is not a big lake compared to Falcon or Amistad.

Long story short.. I see Amistad filling by Monday or Tuesday, and Falcon continuing its slow rise to about 291, or ten feet low. It is possible that we would continue on a slow rise from there on till we reach who knows what.. If the Mexicans decide to quit hoarding the water.. But I doubt if they will. Of course any significant rainfall in the watersheds of any of these three lakes could skew the whole equation.. And set us up for the whole ordeal all over again..

If there is any common sense in the management, (and I have found that overall, Common Sense is not that common) Amistad should be dropped to at least five or six feet low, to protect against at least a minimal flood in an area that is known to have low pressure systems park over it. And if Amistad releases a few feet of water to get below full pool, then of course Falcon would gain water accordingly. See how simple this is...

Anyway, that's my Nostradamus impression for the time being.

And now for the FLT disclaimer.. All predictions are subject to change.. Not responsible for irresponsible uncontrollable actions on others parts. MSRP not reflective of actual costs. I didn't know it would break and it doesn't look like me.. Water may rise faster or slower than anticipated..

It wil be fun in any case.. Come See Us!

September 25, 2008: We have been fielding calls from all over the country from folks wondering about the lake level and what they think will happen. And it is good to see the collective interest in the well being of the lake. You don't have to fish Falcon too many times to fall in love.

All this fresh water might make fishing a little tougher for a while, but it will be well worth it in the long run. With the adult fish we have in the lake, Can you imagine the spawn we will have this spring if the lake stays anywhere near full? We will again have fish that do not see a bait for several years.

But there will be few tools you will need to add to your arsenal when the smoke clears.. Like a chain saw, a good set of lopppers, and a pruning shear or two, just to be able to walk around in the boat. There will be times this spring when you can't see your partner in the back of the boat.. Because there is a tree between you.

Bill Dee, owner and manufacturer of SOB lures was here last weekend, and he and a buddy put the hurts on a bunch of Falcon fish. And while they did catch a lot of fish on brush hogs and senkos, he caught a 9.6 on, you guessed it, a SOB 3/4 ounce spinner in the Talapia color. Come and get em..

September 24, 2008: It is raining again today in Zapata, and we have had just over an inch and a half in the last three days. And it seems to match the mood as the water rises here on the lake.. I am back in Zapata after a three day trip to the north country, where I had to work on an overpopulation problem.. (whitewings) And suffice it to say that there are more frozen ones now than there were last week.

And while I was gone, the lake has risen about 4/10 of a foot a day. But in the last 24 hours it has come up a full six inches. More evidence of the increased water flow out of Amistad. It is just sad to see the folks along the river getting flooded out of their homes.. And there is a good chance that the releases from Amistad will increase, according to what I hear, read, and see. Reports say that they will not allow Amistad to go over full pool..

Check out this story.. And read the politics between the lines..

Releases from Luis Leon are on the decrease, but we are far from over with this water event. There is still a lot of water hitting Amistad, (over 65,000 CFS) although it may slow in a day or three.. But for the next three days at least I think you will see a foot or more a day rise there. There is currently about 18,000 CFS coming out of Amistad, and that amount is holding up all the way to Falcon. But look for it to increase when Amistad nears full pool.. Like it isn't already..

One thing for sure is that Falcon is going to catch a bunch more water.. I am not saying that it will fill up.. But it could.. But after reading the article I linked above, I won't be surprised to see them dump water out of Falcon before it fills. And then I'll be really PO'd..

September 23, 2008: I have been on the road a for a few days, and believe me it is no fun packing boxes and hauling 25 years of stuff to here and yon. Now I know why my mother told me just before they moved to the ranch to "Come and get your stuff or we're putting it on the curb." I shoulda moved it to the curb..

I had not turned on the computer since Sunday morning, and have not been keeping up with water levels.. And I have been catching some flack lately cause all I have been talking about is water, water ,water.. And I'll admit, I kinda like that kid in the Disney commercial.. "I can't sleeeep.. I'm too excited..."

And I am not sure just why, as I know all this new water is going to make the fishing tougher sooner than later if the lake were to fill up. But in the long run, this is going to be good.. Trust me..

I have been exchanging e-mails and mathematical equations with several of you out there, and it is fun trying to figure where we are headed with all this water coming. All I know for sure is this.. As of this morning, Amistad is 5.51 feet from full, and it has risen 1.09 feet in the last 24 hours.. That's a lot of water.. Falcon is sitting at 16.92 feet low, up .42 feet in the last 24.. Staying in that range for the last week or so.. But as the releases from Amistad have increased, so has the surface area we need to cover, and it takes a lot of water to bring Falcon up a foot as we are getting wider and wider every day.. So if the releases from Amistad remain constant, we will see a slowdown in vertical rise on Falcon in the next few days..

So hare's a little history.. We reached a high in 2007 in December of 289.46, or 11.56 from full.. Before that, we reached a high of 289.76, or 11.26 feet low in December of 2004. And the last time it was higher before that, was March of 1994, when we were at level of 291.10, or 9.92 feet low. And from there we started our spiral downward that continued to the lows of the early 21st century..

The last time the lake filled up was in 1990 or so, and it remained full or over full through 1992, more or less. And the fishing was unbelievable during those years.. Yes.. Unbelievable.. Yes better than it has been this year.. You may not believe it.. But I was here..

So for those of you who need to see some fish pics, here's a couple of snaps from some fellers from Louisiana. They are killing the fish and said they had the proverbial "Monster at the Boat" that did not stay for press photos..

The fishing has remained very good, and the fish are still following the water up, if you like throwing shallow water baits.. And of course you can still catch fish in deeper areas flipping and fishing ledges..

See you soon!

September 20, 2008: This weekend on Falcon, the Mexican "Bassmasters" are holding a tournament. Most of the fishermen are from Monterey, and they are as crazy as any of their American counterparts. We had a lot of them in the store yesterday evening, and a few in this morning. The tournament is being HQ'd out of Guerrero, on the banks of the Salanias. I hear the Corona Girls are going to be at the weigh-ins, but that is not the kind of beer I drink.. But I have heard that in the past these gals will make you switch allegiance.. I better stay here at the store..

Hopefully we will get a report later on what happened. (with the fishing)

Falcon has cracked the 18 foot barrier, and in a day or so we should be near seventeen feet low. And headed up a lot higher than that.. The flow out of Amistad has been increased to about 16,000 CFS, so we can only expect to see the lake continue its rise.

All reports are that the fishing is still very good, with the fish continuing to move shallow with the rising water.

We have a couple of great spinner baits on the rack, and the Jo-Baby and the SOB are both whacking them really good. Another bait that is tearing them up, and a lot of big fish, is the Strike King "King Shad" in the Tennessee Shad color.. It is a jointed hard plastic swim bait, and it comes through the trees and weeds excellently. And it will scare the crap out of you when a big one hits it. (Sorry for the curse word)

There is no area of the lake that is not producing fish, as long as you find some clear water.

Get on down here and get you some!

September 19, 2008: Up and down the river goes! Where it stops, Nobody Knows! There is certainly a lot of excitement being generated by the rising water here on Falcon, and the general consensus is, well we just don't know.. I have been talking about this water coming for two weeks, and it appears that we are going to get a lot.. Some here think that Falcon will fill up, something not seen since around 1990. I am not going to say that it will.. But I'm not gonna say that it ain't!

I have been following the water flows from Presidio to Amistad, and it looks to me like the big water is just starting to hit Amistad. And this water will continue to flow into the lake at very high levels for several days at the least. And it is hard to say how long the water will continue to scream out of Luis Leon Reservoir in Mexico. But even if they slow it down a lot, it will take weeks to get it back to a manageable level. On the 16th (Tuesday) The lake was at 238% of capacity. Yesterday it was down to 227%, so you see the amount of water we are dealing with.

This morning Amistad is up to 1108.00, exactly nine feet low. But look for it to take a jump big time in the next 48 hours. They are letting all the water possible out of Amistad, without flooding a lot of homes along the river. But it is possible that they may have to increase the output to keep up with the input.. That's why I thought they would start releasing water before they did. But what the hell do I know..

Seems that greed, or the unwillingness of Mexico to keep the lake at the level where they could hold back potential flood water, has gotten them, and us, in trouble. This lake is the last link on the Rio Conchos chain before it hits the Rio Grande.. And the US. Sure we all want the water when we need it, and it is a shame to just wash it out to the gulf.. But in this case Falcon could have been holding a lot of this water for months. And we all know the Mexican appetite for irrigation water around here come January and February.

Falcon has risen five inches in the last twenty four hours, and you can look for it to rise more than that in the next twenty four. As the first of the increased release should hit the lake today. We are currently sitting at 282.52, or 18.5 feet low. Locals can no longer drive out to the island on the east side of the Veleno bridge. That island totally submerges right around 292, or nine feet from full. If you're heading up the river, you can't cut across the long arm of Paradise Point yet, but it won't be long.

There is increasing amounts of debris floating down the river, especially above marker 12. So if you are headed to Salado or the Hedieona, keep your eyes open. There is still a lot of clear water in the mid area pockets of the Salado. And below Marker 9 the water looks great. I was in the Tigers yesterday and it was some of the prettiest water you have ever seen..

The fish have risen with the water and the spinner bait bite is still very good in the flooded grass. A frog of your choice, or a Fluke, non or lightly weighted can also be a killer right up there on the bank. I am keeping a baby bass fluke rigged up and at the ready whenever I get a hit on a spinner bait that I did not hook up. If you chunk the fluke right back there you will catch that fish many times. And if you watch closely, you will often see many fish chasing the one you have on. It has not been unusual to get several strikes on the same cast. These fish have been pretty clannish, so fish an area thoroughly when you catch one or two..

In any case, if you come down, I recommend that you follow the water up to the backs of creeks and pockets... Just like the fish. And make sure the water you are fishing is clear.. It's not hard to find..

September 17, 2008: If you cannot make it to Falcon because you have to work, then it is time to quit your job.. You can find another one later.. If you cannot make it to Falcon because your spouse says... wait a minute... I better not go there..

Whatever reason you are using to deny yourself the pleasure of whacking a whole bunch of fish, is unhealthy. This is therapy.. And you could probably use some. I have long studied this type of therapy, and I find it to be much more effective as smelling some candle burning.. They don't even make one that smells like bass.. When my wife lights a candle, I usually open a jar of Smelly Jelly in the Garlic or Crawfish version. You've got to have a Yin for your Yang. See.. I told you I was trained in this stuff..

And the simple thing about this therapy is that nobody needs to be asked "How does that make you feel?" after you whack a seven pounder. Sometimes a Cigar is just a Cigar...

We have caught 1.71 feet of water in the last week. And a lot more is on the way. Amistad is dumping a good amount of water down the river, as a LOT of water is headed her way.. Kinda makes me smile..

You can track the water in the Rio Grande from El Paso to Brownsville with this link.. Info direct from the AquaStick Network..

Track Water

Come on down..

September 15, 2008: Well it has finally happened.. The watermasters at Amistad have finally started releasing some water from the lake.. I guess they have not been reading the same reports that I have.. Saying that the biggest flow in history was on its way from Big Bend.. And while it may or may not be, they are certainly expecting some record water levels in the river in a few locations.

The area above us, from Zapata to the Webb county line, received a monster thunderstorm yesterday evening, and there were reports of six to seven inches of rain in the San Ygnacio area. Oilfield trucks and equipment are scattered all over several ranches we hear.. The Arroyos Salado and Dolores were raging this morning, and it will take a while for them to settle down. There was a big storm in the southern regions of the lake this morning.

All this adds up to some good amounts of water ending up in Falcon. Amistad has risen to 1106.18, or 10.82 feet low.. And it is going to jump in the next few days. The flow out of Amistad is presently 11,351 CFS. I'm not sure how much water that actually is, but I am sure it is more than comes out of my garden hose. It's a lot of water to be sure, as it has the river below Del Rio above flood stage. And I expect that the release will increase.. But you just never know with these guys..

Falcon has crept up to 280.98, just about to crack the 20' mark.

Fabulous shallow water fishing continues at Falcon, and I can only anticipate it to continue as we flood more and more grassy banks. Get down here and get you some!

September 14, 2008: Yesterday was a hot day here on Falcon, as humidity and temperature were both at the top of their games. Laredo hit 100 degrees, and we were right there also.. So much for the cool front.. Hope it is still on its way.

The fishing was hot also, with good numbers of fish being caught most all places on the lake. We had reports from folks who fished the river, midlake, and the south end of the lake.. All of them had one common thread.. They all caught fish shallow on spinner baits in the morning. And so did we..

There was a small benefit tourney yesterday put on by the local folks, and they had a decent turnout. It took over thirty three pounds to win it. Naturally we came in fourth, one spot out of the money. But we did win the Big Bass pot, as Rick Romane caught his lifetime best bass, a fat 10.96 heifer in about five feet of water on a big spinner bait. We caught a lot of other fish on the spinner bait also. And we had some spinner bait malfunctions that cost us a couple of nice fish.

As of this morning the Rio Grande in the Big Bend area and below is still at a pretty major flood stage and Amistad is catching a lot of water. They are also releasing some so Falcon will benefit from this event also, but it remains to be seen as to how much.

Amistad is at 1105.69 or 11.31 low, up 1.55 feet in the last 48 hours. Falcon is at 280.57 or 20.45 low, up .08 feet in the last 48 hours.

Don't forget to pray for the flood victims in East Texas..

September 12, 2008: Part Deux.. The river in the Big Bend area is still raging, and I stole these pics off the Internet.

Amistad is releasing about 5000 CFS as I write this, and I am not sure if it is in anticipation of a lot of water coming into the lake, but I would like to think so. Amistad is coming up almost an inch every two hours, from what I can gather from the Internet.. Next time I am out there, I need to install an AquaStick so I can keep better track of it. It may slow with the increased releases from the dam. In any case, there is a lot of water in the pipeline, and I hope we can get some of it down here.. I would like to think that fishing is the first reason for having these reservoirs, but I know that recreation is down a bit on the priority list. But I do believe that we are about to see what these lakes were built for, and primarily that is flood control. I believe we can still hold a couple million acre feet of water here at Falcon. That seems incredible but we could hold it.. (According to my rudimentary math)

Using 50,000 acres as a current level, adding 20 feet of water on top of that, given acreage expansion to 87,000 acres at full pool, and then the reserve to top of flood pool elevation of 307.. Piece of cake..

The other day I was in the back of a creek up the river, and the fishing was so hot it caused an explosion.

Zapata is full of evacuees this evening. Every gas pump has two cars at it. Or more..

September 12, 2008: We have an awful lot of people in town that have evacuated here in the advent of Hurricane Ike. And while Ike is supposed to hit in the Galveston area, I am still not too sure.. It looks like it wants to head west to me.. But I don't work for the weather channel.. We'll know soon, as there is only so much Gulf of Mexico left to cover..

There is some big rain in the Big Bend area, and the Rio Grande is already on flood stage with the releases from some Mexican Reservoirs. And the rumor is that this cool front that is in the panhandle is supposed to collide with all this moisture and create some rainfall in our area Sunday and Monday.. We'll take it all..

Amistad is rising and is currently at 12.81 feet low, according to my abacus.. And I think we could see a big jump in water level there in the next week or so. Hopefully they'll send it along down the river to us..

The fishing remains excellent, with 30 fish trips pretty common in the shallow water. The Locals are really whacking them as they have figgured out the shallow bite. A lot of fish are coming out of the shallow grass... Still..

And you don't have to be a big strappin he-man to catch these fish either.. But it helps..

Went to Sugar yesterday.. Will post report on the Mexican lake Page..

September 10, 2008: With the rising water pattern still in full effect, there are a lot of fish being caught right up against the bank. Many people fishing from shore here in the Veleno, and on private land are catching a lot of fish. Even I caught a few near the county boat ramp yesterday evening right before dark.

It sounds like a lot of folks are going to be visiting Zapata this weekend, as Hurricane Ike makes them leave the coastal towns. And it sounds like a few of them are planning on bringing their boats with them. No use going to a Bass Lake Town and leaving your bass boat in the path of a storm.. Sounds like smart thinking to me.

We will see how much rain actually falls in Zapata, but the new path for the storm is less promising than the past, when it comes to putting water in the lake. I am closely watching the Rio Grande above Amistad, and it is looking like there could be a big influx of water there in the next week or so.. If it somehow does not get diverted out of the river.. Strange things happen to the water in the Rio Grande.. It never seems to make it here..

I think Aliens come down in their spaceships, and suck out all the water before it hits Amistad.. I hear all about those funny lights around Marfa and the desert out there.. Maybe they are not really here to probe us.. Maybe they have a water shortage on their planet and they just want ours... That would explain a lot..

It would be cool if we could take Falcon on the road.. Pull up to Ike.. And say "Filler up Please!" But I guess we'll have to just have to be patient and wait and see what the Good Lord brings us.

Either that or we'll have to wait till one of them Alien Spacecraft crash lands in the Salado.. I can see myself over there now, with my 18 volt cordless... Drilling holes in the storage tanks.. See you later.. I gotta go make me a tin foil hat..

September 9, 2008: When I turned on the computer this morning, I immediately went to the National Weather Service site to see where Ike was headed. And I was not really surprised to see that the track has shifted to the west, putting Falcon in its sights. Now I don't want to be the one to prematurely anoint Ike as the Hurricane that finally got it done. But I like the idea that it could happen.. We certainly have the ground wet here in the watershed. But I have also seen many a storm turn south of the Texas coast, and dump a foot or two of rain on La Pesca, on the Mexican coast. And that could certainly happen. We'll know more on Friday..

The Rio Grande in the Big Bend area is way up on flood stage, as the Mexicans are letting a bunch of water out of lake Luis Leon and it is headed down the river in a big way. It remains to be seen how much of the water will end up in Amistad. But it has to have a good effect on the Big Friendlies' water level.. And whatever is good for Amistad, will eventually be good for Falcon.. (For a minute there it sounded like I actually cared about how much water is in Amistad..) Just Kidding... Put the mouse back.. We love Amistad..

And speaking of Amistad, it is currently 14.03 feet low, and it is slowly rising, similar to Falcon. Looking at the water in the river this morning I figure that the lake level here at Falcon will continue upward, but the rate is slowing. In the last 24 hours we have only risen .17 feet. And that is with some good showers in the afternoons.

The fishing is awesome.. There is no way you cannot catch fish here right now.. I will post some pics later in the day, time permitting.. But for Now..

I LIKE IKE!

Check Out Ike's Projected Path

September 8, 2008: Sorry its been so long since I wrote, but I have been stretched thinner than the gravy at Dennys.. We have received anther 3/4 inch of rain this afternoon, and the radar looks like a bad case of Measles as these spotty showers are coming up off the gulf.

If you don't mind getting a little wet, the fishing has remained excellent. There are a lot of fish still living in the shallow flooded grass, and they're not all small ones. I have some pics to post but just have not gotten to it yet. Soft plastic frogs like the Ribit and the Horney Toad are still whacking the fish, especially in the early and late hours.. A spinner or chatter bait is working better a little later in the day. These fish are loving the shallows with all the new water in the lake.

We are at 21.21 feet low this evening, and I would not be surprised to see us above 21 feet in the am..

I will post some guides reports in the morning and give some more detailed info on what's happening.

We are also watching Ike with great interest down in the Carribbean.. You just never know...

September 7, 2008: Its Sunday evening and we just had an inch and a half of rain in the last hour. The lake is still rising slowly, and the soft plastic frog bite is going crazy in the shallows. Of course the spinner bait bite is still awesome.. Been out of town for a night or two but will have a full report in the AM.

September 5, 2008: The lake continues its rise, and is currently sitting at 279.34, or 21.68 feet low. Big numbers of fish are being caught in the shallow flooded grass on spinner baits, chatterbaits, and most anything you want to throw. If you can retrieve it through the cover, it will catch fish. Swim baits are being used by a few folks and they are producing fish also. Mid days are a little slower in the shallows, but fish can be caught most all day long in the right places.

However, most of the bigger fish are not in the shallow water. Flipping deeper bushes, and swimming a jig off rocky points and ledges is probably the best technique for the bigger fish. Deep crank baits are always catching some good fish, and this has not changed in the open deep water, that is now much farther from the bank.

We should get another foot of water or so, albeit a more gradual rise than in the past couple of weeks. The AquaStick 2x2 water level unit has had to be repositioned to a more shallow and protected area.

If you make it to Falcon in the next couple days, or the coming week, be aware of some large drifting trees and miscellaneous materials, especially north of marker nine. The river is indiscriminate of what it brings with it when it rises.. I haven't seen any refrigerators yet, but I did see a pallet or two. Either of these could mess up your day if you meet them on your appointed rounds..

Stop by and see us for your new Texas or Mexican License as we have plenty of each.. And we can have you a new Mexican license in the mail pronto if needed. Our inventory is growing daily, and if by some chance we do not have what you are looking for we can have it in a jiffy. And if you are looking for a new GPS give us a shot at getting you one.. We can usually beat the price in the Bass Pro catalogue.

Thanks for stopping by our site and we look forward to seeing on your next trip to Falcon!

September 2, 2008: Here at Falcon Lake Tackle we celebrated Labor Day by Laboring all day.. Till about 6:00 anyway.. Then I went out to check the shallow bite I have been hearing so much about. And I found the fish quite receptive to the idea of a big Chart/White Spinner with nickel blades. There are a lot of fish very shallow, and I even caught a couple on a buzzbait. I never picked up my worm rod.. And I can count the times I've done that (or not done that) on one hand.

We are also hearing that a Pop-R is catching a lot of fish.. I am sure that a chugger of most any kind would work. There are just a lot of fish in the shallows in the newly flooded grass and weeds on the bank, in lots of areas. Even the backs of creeks..

The Veleno is producing a lot of fish. But then most creeks with clearer water are doing well also. The rise has only murked up the river channel and the tips of big creeks. It has backed up a lot of clear water in the backs of many of the smaller creeks and the fish are in there.

There seems to be an absence of really big fish being caught, but the three to five pounders have been plentiful. It is springtime fishing here right now.. So you bank beaters need to get here now. I am planning on taking my Mom and Dad out this evening, and putting them on some spinner bait fish. Sounds like fun to me..

According to the new AquaStick the lake has come over six inches in the last 24 hours. The river at Laredo has been over flood stage for the last thirty six hours, and looking at the river upstream it should remain there for the rest of the day. It has crested for the time being, but there is still quite a bit of water in the pipeline.. We should catch another foot or two if we are lucky. We are at 278.34, or 22.68 feet low.

If you like shallow water fishing.. Get down here now..

August 31, 3008: The lake level has risen to 277.53 as of 11:30 am this morning. And I know many of you are wondering how we can keep such an accurate track of the lakes changes in level. We have gone to great personal expense to design, build and perfect the all new Agua Stick 2x2. This is not a prototype unit, as many of the past models could not cut the mustard.. This is the real deal when it comes to accuracy in water level readings, with updated reporting intervals every nanosecond. It is up-linked to the FLT global satellite system, and transmits a new reading to us every time we drive to the county boat ramp. Kids, don't try this at home.. The installation process can be a slippery one.. You can be sure that we will have the latest in lake level fluctuations, leaving NOAA and NWS in our dust.. Or mud , whichever may be the case.

AquaStick 2x2. Patent # FLT/kne-dpBS-023

August 31, 2008: Sorry it has been so long since I wrote, but I got invited on a trip deep into Mexico on a dove hunt, and it was an offer I could not refuse. To say it was interesting would be an understatement. From paying your speeding ticket out the Suburban window to round the clock Margaritas, to goats eating your seatcovers.. Never a dull moment.. Oh yeah.. We shot the hell outta the birds too.. But I digress..

Falcon is up to 277.49, or 23.53 feet low. That is up from our Fourth of July low of 29.42 feet below pool level. And I'll do the math.. That means that we have come up 5.89 feet in the last sixty days. The river is on flood stage in Laredo again, as there was quite a bit of rain above Eagle Pass and in the general water shed above San Ygnacio. We have also had some nice rains here at the lake and we are still catching some runoff from the creeks all around the lake. I see that our forecast calls for clearing skies early this week, and it should be nice and hot with high humidity's. Yee-Ha..

It is Labor Day Weekend, and there are a lot of folks in town. I spent the afternoon in the shop yesterday, and spoke with a lot of folks. They were hurried off the lake by a nice PM thunderstorm. There are still a lot of fish being caught up shallow in the flooded grass, and several people said that a light weighted Fluke in a Shad or Baby Bass pattern was tearing them up. Some folks reported over fifty fish on a Fluke. I'm gonna have to try it.. A frog like the Ribbit or the Horney Toad is also working in the same areas. If you like shallow water fishing your ship has come in.. But I think it has been docked here all summer..

The Spinner Bait bite is still going strong, and I don't want to overlook talking about it. We have sold out of the Tilapia SOB bait but have dozens on the way. The Jo-Baby is working well also, and I hear that an all Chartreuse bait was killing them in the Veleno yesterday evening. There is still a lot of clear water in the Veleno, so don't overlook it as being too close to the boat ramp. There's a lot of fish in there..

I did hear of some deeper fish being caught also, and most of these were in the southern regions of the lake. Big Dingers, and Carolina rigged baits on the points and humps are catching some nice fish. There were a few Ten Plus fish caught yesterday, but I have no pics as of yet.

Here's to hoping all goes well along the Gulf for the folks in the path of the hurricane.. Send the rain our way.. We have plenty of room for the water.. We'll let you know what is happening with the lake level later today..

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

August 26, 2008: The lake has come up nine inches in the last twenty four hours, and I expect something similar in the next twenty four, and then a slower rise, tapering off by late in the week. It could happen that we get up to about 23 feet from full before this is all over. But there is a better chance of rain later in the week, and there is also that tropical storm down in the Caribbean.. And you never know... We have had over ten inches of rain here in Zapata since the first of the month. And this country looks like a jungle..

We now have about fifteen feet, give or take, of water over the last growth of bushes and trees that are currently submerged in the lake. We were down to about ten feet from the "no bush line".

We are currently sitting at 276.22, or 24.8 feet low. And a lot of water from the river is hitting the lake today. Many of the creeks have receded to a great degree, and their influence will lessen day by day.

Tommy Law has some clients in town from Zimbabwe, and I am gonna guess that they are the record holders for long distance travelers to come to the lake after seeing the Bassmasters on TV. They are catching some nice fish... Ehhh...

Jack Moore caught a 9.2 yesterday here in the Veleno.. You guessed it.. Jo-Baby FLT Special spinner bait..

The spinner bait bite is ON is the shallows as the water continues to rise. Find some clear pockets in the creeks and you will find fish. I have fished off the bank the last couple of evenings here near the county ramp, and have done pretty good. There are a lot of fish shallow.

If you are a bow fisherman, then you need to get down here right now.. The alligator gar, needlenose gar, and carp are in the shallows like crazy. I really believe you could wade fish for them here in the Veleno.. They are thick in there, and all over the lake in the shallows I hear. Come get you some..

August 25, 2008: The lake has come up over six inches in the last twenty four hours, and as I write this, (6:30am) the river is above flood stage in Laredo. It looks like it has crested, and it has not gotten to crazy flood levels, but it defiantly will infuse some water into the lake. I also had a report from a buddy that the Tigers were running like crazy yesterday evening.. And from what I understand, running like crazy means that there is a lot of water coming down the creek.. But it's not quite ludicrous speed.. There is also a lot of water coming in the Veleno, and the Dolores above San Ygnacio was raging yesterday also I hear. I am sure the Mexican creeks are running some also, but the majority of the rain was on the US side. But I do see us catching another foot or so before it is over.. Maybe more..

There is no rain falling in the watershed this morning, but there is some below us on the Mexican side of the river. We'll see if it creeps up to where it can do us some good.

We are up to 275.54, or 25.48 feet low.

I rode the four wheeler down to the ramp yesterday evening, and cruised around the cove along the water line. The 10-14" bass are tearing the minnows and shad up in the new water right along the bank. It was a splashfest to be sure..

Not a lot of fishermen on the water yesterday.. Most folks that were in town threw in the towel after yesterday mornings downpours. This morning would be a great one to fish.. Sorry fellers..

August 24, 2008: It is unusual in Zapata for it to rain for three or four days, and I can tell you that the Natives are getting restless. I rained on and off all night long, and at 5:45 things got a lot wetter.. I poured for a solid hour, and it was the kind of rain that makes the water run.. The lake is coming up at a decent pace, and we are at 275.02, exactly 26 feet low.. But we should get another foot pretty easy.. Currently it is not raining, and the clouds have lightened up a bit. Rain chances lessen this evening and tomorrow..

The Dam People have the water release rates at a minimum, and I couldn't imagine them letting any water out of this puppy for a while.. But around here you just never know..

Lots of people headed for the ramp right now.. Maybe I'll have a fishing report for you later..

August 23 2008: It has been raining off and on for the last three days.. And we have had some good rains here and in the area, and the lake is up to 274.36, or 26.66 feet low.. There will certainly be some more water making it's way into the lake in the next few days. We have had a store full of frustrated fishermen today.. Some of them are wet.. And some are not.. I think the dry ones are the maddest.. In any case we have sold a lot of rain gear the last couple of days.. But mostly we are talking fishing more than actually fishing..

HERE'S HOPING IT KEEPS ON A RAINING!

August 21, 2008: From all the calls and e-mail we have been getting, it looks like it is going to be a busy weekend here on Falcon. There are several groups in town from various states, and they are enjoying the fishing and the slightly cooler temperature that we have been experiencing. But the humidity is making the afternoons uncomfortable. The chance of rain is still around through this weekend, and we are still holding out for a downpour somewhere north of us. We have the ground wet.. Now we need a real frog strangler..

The lake is up to 273.82, or 27.2 feet low. And it is still on a very slow rise.. But the new water does have a lot of smaller fish up in the very shallow water in many places.. We have been hearing reports from a lot of fishermen that schooling bass have bee observed, and caught in two to three feet of water. Water clarity is an issue in a couple of spots, but overall the lake looks good. The very backs of creeks, and the current side of the river here on the top of the lake have some muddy areas.. And we have defiantly done better with the fish in the clearer water.

The big Gar and Catfish are in the backs of a lot of these creeks where the water is flowing a bit and is muddy. The locals are having a field day catching both of these species. There is also a big bite going on up the river in the deep holes for big catfish, and shrimp and fresh dead shad are the ticket. A big shad, five to six inches long, curled on a hook and fished on the bottom, on what is basically a Carolina rig, is working great.

Sugar lake caught about a foot of water in the last week, as all that rain just East of them ended up in the Rio Grande, which does not run through Sugar. But a very near miss..

Plum colored soft plastics are doing a great job on the fish right now, and I have also been having a lot of luck with the Zoom Mag Lizard in Junebug. When the sun is out we have also caught a lot of fish on the Mag Lizard in Watermelon Red. But the key, as always is in fishing in the right spots. When you catch a fish or two in an area, the odds are good that there are several more catchable fish in the same general area.. Fish thoroughly.. Flipping the bushes is still producing more fish that any other method I have tried.. But I am pretty one dimensional..

Stop by the store when you get to town and we will point you in the right direction..

August 20, 2008: We would like to thank all of you who have passed on your condolences to us and Barney and his family. His Obituary follows.. Unfortunately only one of the Powderkeg Twins was able to attend the graveside service..

Barney Barrel (1970-2008)

Barney Barrel grew up in an Oak Thicket in Northwestern Kentucky. He lived there for many years. And during his formative years, he was surrounded by many family members. And it is true, that the Acorn does not fall far from the tree. He grew up straight and tall just like his Father, Rockingchair Armrest.

In his youth, he enjoyed the outdoors.. He loved to see the sunrise and he really liked thunderstorms, even though his uncle Oakdell got killed by a lightning strike.

In his teens he worked for Seven Years at the Jack Daniels Distillery, in Lynchburg, Tennessee.. He often said that these we some of the most mellowing times of his life. After his retirement from the Distillery, he moved to a small farm in Kansas, where most of his time was spent holding up pot plants.

But Barney was never the sit around type, and he came out of retirement during a mid-life crisis in 1998. And like many entrepreneurs, he chose the hospitality industry for his second career. He had spent the last ten years in South Texas, preparing a bevy of meats, always with that famous Oak Roasted flavor, left over from the days of his employ at the distillery. His meat was second to none. And like he always said. "When you've spent seven years making one drink, Twelve hours cookin' a brisket is a blink of an eye."

We will miss you Barney Barrel. Godspeed.

August 19, 2008: The humidity here is about stifling, and everybody is complaining about the "heat index" It appears that 95 degrees and 80% humidity are not a good or desirable combination. Air Conditioning is good..

It is a sad day here at FLT.. One of our hardest working and most reliable partners here succumbed to the heat today. He was making dinner, and we were all looking forward to it, let me tell you. It appears that some butter dripped out of its wrapper and ignited his work area. We have Zapata CSI working on the case.. The only witness to the crime was the front of my pickup, which barely escaped with its clearcoat. Another non survivor was Bubba Brisket.. He has already been cremated..

We will try to pick up the pieces and go on.. I know many of you knew or at least met Barney Barrel. And I know he enjoyed preparing many a tasty meal for you and others.. He will be sorely missed..

Survivors include only the Powder Keg Twins.. In lieu of flowers please send crawfish.. We still have a boiling pot left..

I guess I'm having a Ham Sandwich for dinner..

August 19, 2008: With all the rain and all the storms around here we have been busy answering e-mails and phone calls from folks wondering if the lake is on a rise. And the lake has come up about eight inches in the last two days. Hopefully we will get some more before this event is through.. I am sure the catfish are going crazy about now..

But with all the excitement I have neglected to tell you that the FLW Stren series is coming back to Falcon in 2009. Most of you probably know this already.. The dates are January 15th,16th,and 17th.. They have changed their format from a four day event to a three day event, and I hear that the top twenty anglers will advance to the final day. The dates are firm, but I am not sure of all the rest of the details. We'll fill you in as we know more. Congrats to the Chamber for getting it done..Make your hotel reservations now..

August 18, 2008: 5:00 PM The lake has jumped up over 5" in the course of the day.. And there is still a bit of water on the way in.. Hopefully we will get some more rain this evening and tomorrow.. I hear that parts of the valley, and Rio Grande City had 10" or more this morning.. Hoping that will happen above us.. But in any case we are catching some water right now..

August 18, 2008: Well boys and girls.. I have a weather report for you.. Yesterday evening and last night we got two inches of rain here at the shop in Zapata, and lots of Laredo got two inches also.. And the good news is that it was the kind of rain that does not soak in.. Most of it is running down the streets, and into the creeks and into the Rio Grande. And here this morning it is pouring, and has been for the last hour and a half. If this keeps up for a few hours it can be the kind of rain that can make a difference in the lake level. And if I know the bass here at Falcon, these fish will be in six inches of water tomorrow morning.. A lot of them are there already.

I would like to take a picture of the rain coming down, but I don't have one of them underwater cameras.. Right now it is 10:07 and you can't see across the street.. Hope it keeps up for a while..

As my Dad says, "It's raining like a cow pissin' on a flat rock.." (Please excuse the vernacular)

I'll keep you updated.. The lake as shown a rise of a couple of inches so far.. And there is a little in the pipeline..

August 16, 2008: There are a lot of folks in town this weekend, and I have no idea what might have brought them here. It's 70% humidity, 98 degrees in the shade, Gasoline is $3.59 a gallon.. What in the world could possibly make these folks crazy enough to drive all the way down here to this border town?? Oh Yeah.. The fish are going crazy... I forgot.

We are hearing of all kinds of fish being caught, from the dam to the Salado, and on most every method known to man. And these fish are still very shallow. And I mean from zero to ten feet.. But most fish are being caught in two to four feet.

Fliping the hardwoods and bushes is still the top producer of fish. And anywhere on the main lake where there is a brush line, with any kind of contour near, there is apt to be fish.. And sometimes good concentrations of them.

But what is kinda weird is that the spinner bait bite is still going strong, especially in water that is less that six feet deep, and always better near rocky points and ledges. We had SOB lures build us some