rookiefisherman

Hello All,
I read some of the comments from other members and I would like to share my own as well. I am a frequent visitor of the lake and I do know of the history as well. Point Blank, this is a fishermans hole; and that's why it stinks. This is the same reason you find fish debris all around the lake and grassy areas. This is a very primitive, rough-neck hangout spot and I don't recommend it for a family retreat. There are a lot of various bugs and critters on the land side, and there are snakes in the lake as well. Trust me, I've seen plenty of them! This is an excellent fishing hole since it contains Reds, Cats, Talipia, Perch, Bass, Stripers, and a lot of other species. There are also turtles and ducks in the water so this should answer any questions if this is a swimming hole. There is an area near the dam for water sport equipment like jet skis, etc.... Yes the water is extremely cloudly and dangerous, since there are tons of hooks and fishing tackle on the bedrock, from thousands of casts from fisherman. Now lets discuss the history. This lake is man-made and was constructed to cool a power plant. It used to have mercury in the water which is extrmely dangerous; especially in fish. They finally got the mercury levels down to make the fish edible. The water itself IS INDEED WASTEWATER! You do need to be aware of that. The SA River Authority pumps treated wastewater into Calaveras to cool the plant. They save money this way and it's kind of a turn-off to know that. For those of you that don't excatly know what waste water is; it is everything that goes down the drain and toilet bowls. They sipher it out, chlorinate it, and pump it to Calaveras and Braunig Lake. So all that water you see used to have fecies, detergents, urination, raw sewege, etc..... That's why it is so dark. I wish someone had pictures of the construction since it wasn't too long ago. Basically they dug a really large hole and fed treated wastewater into it. Also for the record, Braunig Lake used to be a Ranch and towards the far East Side of the lake, there is a barbed wire fence in the water; so if you have a boat, be careful. Braunig is man-made as well and it is named after Mr. Braunig himself. Like I said it used to be a ranch and they now pump treated wastewater into it. Braunig doesn't smell as bad as Calaveras, but it also has a lot of snakes. There was a murder weapon discovery in Braunig about a year ago, and there has been deaths in Calaveras lake, and an unsolved murder at Calaveras lake as well sometime in the 90's. Bottom line folks, these are two excellent fishing holes for a city of almost 2 million, and it saves us a 2hr trip to Corpus. It's kind of fun to see how many fisherman are out there and they are all pretty friendly. They have cleaning stations so it's equipped enough. Nobody bothers you and they don't run you off the lake. You can stay there all night, or even for days without anyone disturbing you, so I enjoy that. There are BBQ pits and tables near some nice fishing spots so that's nice also. I've slept there many of nights and I've seen the maintenance staff empty the trash cans in the early morning, and pick up trash here and there. Since it is a wide coverage area, there are still trash items in the grassy areas. For the most part I highly recommend this lake to fishing geeks, but I don't site it for family get aways; unless of course you're a fishing geek like myself. Oh yea, I believe both lakes have fishing contests for kids. If you want to catch catfish, easily; look up the Fisherman's Corner near Canyon Lake. I hope this info helps and good luck to you all!!! Thanks and sorry about the novel.