Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Please help with Toledo Bend Launch sites.
greenhornet12.
Guys and Gals, We are trying to schedule our annual Toledo Bend trip and are heavily debating wether lake navigation is safe or will be safe in March of next year if the water doesnt come up. What Im wondering is what launches are usable at this water level. I know Cypress Bend, Pirates Cove, big bass marina are open. Im looking for others. How about Alpine, Indian mounds, six mile, The texas launch at Martinez creek, Holly park and so on. When we went this past march the lake was at 163.5 and we could lauch at all of those as well as the Texas flats, Carrice creek, North and South state parks, La Nana. Im trying to make sure we make the right decision for the safety of our Club. I know the Toledo Bend area is hurting financially due to the low water and if at all possible I dont want to take any more business away from them. Catching fish is not in question. I know the fishing is spectacular there now. I appreciate any and all input that you can give. Thanks and I hope all of you are having a Great Thanksgiving Day!!Chris CoupelPaulina, La.Chris CoupelPaulina, La.
If the water does not come up I would not run at all outside of the river/main channel. Cypress Bend was closed for awhile and I am a little surprised it is back open however it was one of the few open in the first place. The launch at Pendleton Bridge is open and is a short idle to the river. Last I checked North Toledo Bend State Park was closed a few weeks back. I suspect the water will be up by March but the question is how much. There will be others to answer some of your questions and they may have more recent information. I have not been on Toledo in about 6 weeks. Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving.
I launched at Holly Park twice last week. They added a second ramp across the road from the store because the first one is out of the water. It is a good ramp however it is not level. It slopes to the left and makes it a little more difficult to load the boat on the trailer but it is still better than nothing. As far as navigating your way out of Patroon….the best thing right now is to go straight through the trees. The boat lane is very shallow near Holly Park and its full of stumps all the way out. Thats pretty much true for any of the coves right now. They did contract a guy to clear stumps from Cypress Bend to San Miguel. I do not know the details but I believe he just went down the red and green bouys (north/south lane). There are plans for the SRA to buy a barge and continue clearing the lanes themselves but I have no idea when that might occur. Hopefully they will get busy on that soon and we wont have as much problem in the future if the lake ever gets down like this again. http://www.toledo-bend.com/toledo_bend/ … atlaunchesThe lake is listed at 159.69 so even some of the ramps listed as open on the list are now closed.Carrice Creek is darn near dried up. You cant get behind the Carrice Creek bridge unless you drop a tin boat in. The Frontier Park area is completely dry. Ill try to put some pics up but you can see the old roadbed and bridge that run from Bryces restaurant to the public ramp. Its really amazing. Remind me when the time gets closer and Ill fill you in on the lake level and launches.Jim Ebarb[url=mailto:toledobasser@yahoo.com]toledobasser@yahoo.com[/url]Last edited by toledobasser on November 25th, 2011, 2:18 am, edited 2 times in total.Jim EbarbMany, LA (Toledo Bend Lake)2004 Cougar/ 225 OptimaxHumminbird Helix 12 Chirp SI on BalzOut Mount at bowLowrance HDS 7 at bowHumminbird Helix 12 Mega SI on Ram Mount at ConsoleLowrance HDS 8 in dash at console
This is Holly Parks newest boat ramp across the road from the store. This is a road bed and bridge in the back of Patroon. You can actually see under the bridge itself the water is so low. The rest of the pics are taken from the Carrice Creek bridge area. These were taken in October so the water is actually lower now. Jim EbarbMany, LA (Toledo Bend Lake)2004 Cougar/ 225 OptimaxHumminbird Helix 12 Chirp SI on BalzOut Mount at bowLowrance HDS 7 at bowHumminbird Helix 12 Mega SI on Ram Mount at ConsoleLowrance HDS 8 in dash at console
Thanks for the the quick replys fellas. So Jim, the boat lane from the back of patroon is pretty much idle only? Have you been running the main lake or idle only out there too. I know you can run the river channel and most gps should have that clearly on there. I just saw some pictures of the Indian mounds launch and it is closed due to the fact that they are extending it another 60 feet. I love the Bend and I hope You get some rain up there to fill that thing back up. If it will just come up 3 or 4 feet it would be an easy decision. But, its hard to wait to the last minute to try to set up an alternate location. We have a group of almost 30 with 15 boats that make the trip every year and its tough at the last minute to find accomodations for such a big group. Thanks again.Chris CoupelPaulina, La.Chris CoupelPaulina, La.
Absolutely idle only right now. The main boat lane from Holly Park to the main lake is too shallow from the Holly Park boat docks on down about 1/2 a mile. That is why I said to just get in the trees. Once you get past the shallow part the boat lane is still a mine field of stumps under the surface. I hit a lot fewer stumps just staying in the standing timber. I have only run from Pendleton Bridge to just south of Patroon in the north/south lane and I didnt hit anything. With gps and your own eyes you can pretty plainly see the old river channel through the trees, and I agree that it should be safe. Only Mother Nature and the Good Lord know if we will get the rains we so desperately need. Like you said, if it would just come up 3-4 feet it would make a lot of difference. We have heard rumors that the major Oilmen tournaments in March have already been cancelled. I dont know that for a fact. A lot of rumors run around this part of the country. If my memory serves me correctly, you guys normally stay at Bridge Bay. That cove is pretty dry as well so there will not be any launching or parking in the boat dock there unless the water comes up quite a bit. Last edited by toledobasser on November 25th, 2011, 3:30 am, edited 1 time in total.Jim EbarbMany, LA (Toledo Bend Lake)2004 Cougar/ 225 OptimaxHumminbird Helix 12 Chirp SI on BalzOut Mount at bowLowrance HDS 7 at bowHumminbird Helix 12 Mega SI on Ram Mount at ConsoleLowrance HDS 8 in dash at console
Shap, from what i hear, its safer idling through the trees/woods vs. the boat lanes. They have bought a stump cutting barge plus they are gonna dredge the state run boat launches starting at San Miguel. Ronnie
if you can get on the water, the bass are absolutely HAMMERING frogs in the shallow grass along the new banklines. also, topwater bite late (chugbugs) has produced some real nice fish (4-5 lbs). throw to the edge of the grass, let the bait sit for a minute, then barely twitch it…and get ready for some action.lots of ducks on the lake right now, as well.
Shap,Just in case you guys have not made up your mind whether to come this spring or not…….The lake is rising. Its not in great shape yet but if we can keep getting the rains we have been, it should be fairly safe to get around on in the next couple of months. Its getting close to the level it was last year and, according to your original post, you were able to launch where you wanted at that time.Heres a link to the current lake level….. http://www.toledo-bend.com/toledo_bend/ … lake-levelHeres a link to the ramps that are now accessible….. http://www.toledo-bend.com/toledo_bend/ … atlaunchesI made a trip out of Cypress Bend last week and stayed within sight of the park at all times. I ran the North/South lane up to the island north of the park and down to the mouth of Negreet. Running south, it did get pretty shallow in a couple of spots and I set down to an idle just to be safe but I did not find any stumps. Jim EbarbMany, LA (Toledo Bend Lake)2004 Cougar/ 225 OptimaxHumminbird Helix 12 Chirp SI on BalzOut Mount at bowLowrance HDS 7 at bowHumminbird Helix 12 Mega SI on Ram Mount at ConsoleLowrance HDS 8 in dash at console
Toledo basser. Any new update on what has been done or is being done to clear lanes? We have a BFL in March. I hope its up some by then. I know Pirates is open. staying in the LA side N-S lanes, how froggy do you feel going from pirates to San Miguel?? If you are on the LA side, what is the easiest, safest way to get over to the TX side from Indian down to Mill? I assume on the TX side stay in the river by the big bouys. Im liking your new cat. We have talked before about my maroon P4. Bryan Adams. Are the fish biting?
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