As many of you that fish here know, they have been letting water out since the beginning of May so that they can do some infrastructure work on the dam and related facilities. We had some record low water levels in 2015 and 2016 and as best as I can tell, the lake is at right around the same level now and will still be lowered several feet.

 

This hasn't really stopped the fish from eating all summer, but it seems to be slowing a little in the past week or two. That, or I just haven't homed in on the current pattern(s) quite yet. I can tell you that they are still eating plastics thrown right at the water's edge and if they are going to strike, they have been hitting the baits soon after they hit the water.

 

Also, note where I have drawn a red line across the ski arm. That is the approximate location of the current buoy line as of some time in the past several days. I was hoping to explore some of the topography in the back of the ski arm, but it's currently off limits. Oh  well.

Steep country!! They lowered a lake near me twice in the last 15 years or so for dam repair, and it was great fishing upon re flooding both times. I wish you the same luck when they refill yours! Ours is a much shallower lake but is in the mountains as well, but with lots of current. I think the river still flowed as normal while it was down and the only deep water was on the lower end  but it was enough to sustain everything and the populations seemed to explode when they brought the water back up . I think the trees that grew during drawdown were the key here but that’s just a theory. They worked on the dam for 2-3 years so a bunch of trees grew up about 15-20 feet tall on the former lake bed, providing excellent habitat for bass fry when they brought the water back up 

 

i should add our lake was also off limits while drawn down each time, I’m sure that helped too.  They had law enforcement posted up 24/7 for years both times to protect native artifacts and didn’t even allow people to walk the dry lake bed