# cj water level



## yakfish (Mar 13, 2005)

here comes the rain. hopefully it will help bring the water up at Cj. I haven't been by it in a while. I'd love to find some time and get into some early walleye


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

u better be williing to travel cause u aint gonna get into them at cj early this year


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## fshman_165 (May 26, 2004)

You would be surprised, there are some prime spots that the eyes can still access. We've picked up a few the last couple of evenings (from shore). The first ones to show up every year tend to be small, but the big uns will follow.


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## All Thumbs (Apr 11, 2004)

fshman_165,
what part of the shore u fishing from?

all thumbs


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

fishman u getting them over by the rock levy? that is a good early spring spot but it seems like thenever stay there too long but maybe withthe water down they will have no other choice than to stay there.


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## zpyles_00 (Dec 15, 2004)

Congrats on picking up a few eyes already. I've never caught a fish from the shore on that reservoir, must be doin sumthin wrong or fishing the wrong spots......... Oops I take that back, I just remembered I snag a Carp over by the Dam last summer LOL.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

As of this morning the lake has gained one foot since they closed the gates two weeks ago. The rain this week should speed up the process considerably. The graph is from the Corps of Engineers and shows rain and lake level for the past year.

See you out there.

MC


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

that is great news blue boat i can't believe a foot already without any rain. this may be the greatest walleye year of them all cause i'm hoping they will all be congregated in the same spot.


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## eyeguy (Jun 13, 2005)

Just got done talking with the guy that is in charge of the project and had just came from there latest meeting! He said starting April 1 the ramps will be open for boaters to use on the weekends only, which is very good news! Also the project is pretty much at a stand-still untill the asphalt company which is located out by the fairgrounds starts to produce again "which will be around April 1 also." so the areas that need to be blacktoped are ready to go but no material???? At least we will have access on the weekends


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Thanks for checking on this again, eyeguy. I'm really glad to hear this but I wish those guys would get their stories straight. That's totally different than Doctor was told just last Friday by "the head guy at the office." This is back to what they said last fall when the project was started. I hope it holds up this time. However, April 1 is only 3 weeks away. The lake level is not likely to be more than another 18" to 2 feet higher than it is now. That will still be some pretty skinny water for launching. My fiberglass is already scratched up enough. Later in April will be a lot better for me.

See you out there sooner than we thought!

MC


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## eyeguy (Jun 13, 2005)

Blueboat, I dont know who the Doctor was talking with but, this fellow is not a ranger and he is the person in charge of the overall project. He lives a couple doors down from me. I dont think if you talk with any of the rangers they dont really have the latest info. I've never ask him what his title is but he is always in nice plain clothes and drivers one of the state park trucks!


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## fshman_165 (May 26, 2004)

I heard the same thing that eyeguy heard. Limited use in April, with more extensive use based on weather factors. Crappies4, we got our share of em from the boat this winter, pm me and I will give ya the info you need.


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## fshman_165 (May 26, 2004)

Zpyles,

For years there has been an early season bite on CJ, used to be you could drive down robert eastman and see people lined up on the dam. It now seems that the early bite is concentrated to smaller areas. The easy early run has faded away, replaced by a site specific bite. You can still catch em on the dam, but they seem to come in and pull out much more quickly than in years past. The last hour of light is the best time. If the water comes up another 1 or 2 feet who knows. You can pm me and I can help ya out.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

I don't care who Doc talked to. I like the April story lots better. Let's all go with that one!

MC


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## fshman_165 (May 26, 2004)

I second ya BB, lets go with the April thingy.


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

April it is I'm going with the guy that went to the meeting and talked to the people that r actually doing the work.


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## socdad (Jul 25, 2005)

Will the ramp at the marina be available weekdays in April?


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## Hotntot (Jul 28, 2004)

socdad said:


> Will the ramp at the marina be available weekdays in April?


The Marina ramp is always available but make sure you unhook your trailer & park it in a parking space because they will give you a ticket.
I heard the same thing @ Boathouse from a guy from the Corp Of Engineers he said that the ground temp has to be a certain temp before they can lay the blacktop.
April sounds good to me too!!


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## newbuckeye (Feb 6, 2006)

Hotntot said:


> ground temp has to be a certain temp before they can lay the blacktop.
> QUOTE]
> I believe ground temp has to be 50 degrees for black top? I know it can still frost, but has to warm w/ direct sunlight. Rain raises the temp requirement considerably..


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Amazing what 2 or 3 inches of rain will do! Just 5 days after passing the 1 foot mark, C.J. is now up by more than 2 feet from the winter drawdown. More rain coming this week - we may be ahead of schedule after all.

MC


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

went over buck creek sunday morning and it was almost out ofit's banks by new moorefield i could 't believe it on satuday a.m. it looked like it was only a foot deep and very clear. come on c.j. fill up fast :B


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## Flathead King 06 (Feb 26, 2006)

crappies4ever said:


> went over buck creek sunday morning and it was almost out ofit's banks by new moorefield i could 't believe it on satuday a.m. it looked like it was only a foot deep and very clear. come on c.j. fill up fast :B


I live at the top of the hill in new moorefield across from the stop sign, and yes the creek on sunday was almost 2 ft. out of its banks...  how spectacular especially for the whitebass run in april/may. I thought it was a good thing until I drove past on monday morning on my way to school to see that it was back down to its 1-2 ft. winter depth  after school I drove by the spillway at CJ Brown and they had the flood gates open to let out excess water from the rain over the weekend. And in spite of the rain that we got on sun. late night thru early morning monday, the rain didn't help...


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## Flathead King 06 (Feb 26, 2006)

But to encourage alot of people that haven't driven past the lake yet, the state is placing christmas trees and brush they have cut down, around the lake. If you get a chance got to the marina and look out over the handicap dock...NICE for crappies! And over at the rock levy closest to the spill way where they net eyes for testing, they have put in almost 2 whole trees they have cut down. On sat. after we had all the rain, I took a drive over to the picnic area at the park wild life exhibit office at the end of the rock levy (where everone walks) and talked to some guys that had a basket half full of crappies-looked to be about 10-15 in the 8-10 in range, and had two or three walleyes...they have to be over 15 in. but didn't look to me like they were. They said they were catching them on a very slow retrieve (one or two handle turns every few seconds) on minnows under a float about 6 to 8 ft. deep.


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## gdtii (Oct 31, 2005)

Sshhhhhhhhh on the brush piles, lol........


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

blue boat how about an update on the water level chart from the army corps of engineers if u have time. drove down by the new ramps last nite and the water was up past the first set of poles that the docks r gonna tie into by about 3 or 4 feet. if i had to guess 5 more feet and it will be full. i'm gonna go do my rain dance now LOL


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Their site says that the gate is still closed and that the water is still rising. As of this morning they say it is up by 2.7 feet over the five feet lower than normal winter pool. Your guess of 5 feet to go is pretty close.

MC


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

i'll say one thing for sure they have an awful big mess down there with that ramp for the life of me i can't figure it out i am glad to see they r doing the work but it seems like there is an awful lot of waste wouldn't it have been easier to just tear old ramps out new ramps in and leave the parking the way it was i never thought parking was a problem and as far as that break wall goes no one is gonna tie up to that iron thing and risk ruining their boat and i can't blame them and if there r gonna be any courtesy docks no one will use them either cause they will be so far away. i know i am cynical but after years of fishing this lake i know how the problem people think and act. a lot of people with biggger boats will stay away from the marina probably cause they won't want to have to deal with parking a big boat trailer in it's own space and i can't blame them there either those things can get pretty heavy. just my opinons and some venting. filler up


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

hey blueboat do u have a new chart from the corps of engs. with all this snow we've had it has to be way up LOL any precip is better than nothing i guess.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Here 'tis. The level today is 1007.6 feet above sea level. That is two feet below normal for this date. You will notice on the chart that the level from last year was coming up by now. I think we're in good shape.

See you out there.

MC


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## born2fish (May 10, 2005)

BIG rain headed this way. Maybe it'll get that lake level up to normal.


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

i sure hope ur rite but it would take another 3 or 4 inch rain to get it back on track


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## born2fish (May 10, 2005)

Those storms fizzled out just as they got here! Now there's no rain in the forcast so we'll probably get 2 inches.


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

ur probably rite i should have been a weather man in no other profession can u get so much wrong and still have a job.LOL but it's not far from normal so it should be ready sooooooooooon.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

We'll be OK. The lake has been rising by 1.3 inches per day for the month that the gates have been closed. That includes the big bounce from the rain earlier in the month. It's rising at 1.2 inches per day even outside that period. Tomorrow, Thursday, we will hit the halfway point from the drawdown low to the normal summer pool - four feet each way. At the current rate we will make up 40 inches of that by the first of May. That's quite fishable for virtually all of the lake. Except for the big North end cats the fish should be able to move into their normal haunts on their regular schedule.

See you out there.

MC


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## crappies4ever (May 21, 2005)

u have renewed my faith blue boat thanks for the update. with those figures we walleye and crappie fisherman will be ok.


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