Little Indian Construction

Water stained; 55 degrees; 6.66’ low.

Black bass are fair on Hot Tomato Bass Hog spinnerbaits, Brownwood craw jigs, black/blue Bass Hogg jigs, perch and craw colored RJA Custom crankbaits, and chrome/blue Rat-L-Traps along the shorelines.

Hybrid striper are slow.

White bass are excellent on Li’l Fishies, Rat-L-Traps, and shad crankbaits.

Crappie are fair on Li’l Fishies and tube jigs over brush piles in 5 to  22 feet.

Channel catfish are slow.

Yellow catfish are slow.

In case you haven’t heard about them…

Hook & Anchor Marine and Water Sports opened their doors in 2007. They are located on Lake Brownwood.  They carry great name brands such as Tige’, Bennington, Sea doo, Can am, Hurricane, and Bass Cat.  They have a great staff on hand that is friendly and knowledgeable, and are ready to help you any way they can.  They have a terrific service department that is certified in all the brands that they carry and they will do service calls at your dock here on Lake Brownwood.  They have a variety of parts and accessories on hand to help  make your time at the lake fun for the whole family.  In thier store you will find a wide variety of water toys like wake boards, surf boards, skis and towables.  Or if you’re in need of things like fire extinguishers, life jackets, throwables or ropes they have that too.

So Come out to Lake Brownwood and see everyone at Hook & Anchor Marine.  Located at 9230 Hwy 279. Or call 325-784-7676 and let them see what they can do for you.  They are open Tuesday-Saturday from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.

The Brown County Water Improvement District’s (BCWID) Board of Directors met Tuesday night and was briefed on a Lake Brownwood hydrology analysis that they are hopeful will help maintain the Lake’s current flood elevation level.

Hydrologist Ron Morrison recently completed a historical analysis of Lake Brownwood and compiled the maximum lake flood elevations for the past 77 years using historical data provided by the BCWID.

“This analysis essentially is a graph analysis of the history of Lake Brownwood floods,” said BCWID General Manager Dennis Spinks.

Spinks said that 1435.6 mean sea level was the flood elevation that this new historical study of Lake Brownwood showed. The current base flood elevation of Lake Brownwood is 1435.

“His (Morrison’s) summary is that the 1435 is a good number for a flood plain elevation,” Spinks said.

County Judge Ray West will be sending the report to FEMA and will ask FEMA to accept this analysis as the best available data.

FEMA has been working on re-mapping Brown County and has attempted to raise the base flood elevation three feet above the current levels. City and county officials have discussed publicly in the past that they are against this increase due to the negative impact it would have on residents. This new historical analysis may help them in this fight.

The BCWID Board of Directors approved payment to Morrison for 1/3 of the cost of the new study which was $1,589. Spinks said that the City of Brownwood and Brown County will split the balance of the bill.

In other business at the BCWID Tuesday:

• The Board of Directors was briefed on the status of the District’s microfiltration water treatment plant. Currently, a new rapid-mix unit is expected to arrive in mid-April and is expected to help get the new plan operational.
• The Board of Directors approved a change order in the amount of $7,530.61 for the purchase of chemical containers for the microfiltration plant.

Water stained; 51 degrees; 6.71’ low.

Black bass to 5 pounds are fair on Hot Tomato Bass Hog spinnerbaits, Brownwood craw jigs, black/blue Bass Hogg jigs, perch and craw colored RJA Custom crankbaits, and chrome/blue Rat-L-Traps along the shorelines in 3 to 5 feet.

Hybrid striper are slow.

White bass are excellent on Li’l Fishies, Rat-L-Traps, and shad crankbaits.

Crappie are fair on Li’l Fishies and tube jigs over brush piles in 5 to 22 feet.

Channel catfish are slow.

Yellow catfish are slow.

Water stained; 50 degrees; 6.72’ low.

Black bass to 4 pounds are good on craw and black/blue Bass Hogg jigs, Persuader crankbaits, and GrandeBass 4” Trickster worms along docks, between rocks, and over brush piles in 1 to 5 feet.

Hybrid striper are slow.

White bass to 1.5 pounds are fair on Li’l Fishies, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits off lighted docks.

Crappie are fair on Li’l Fishies and minnows over brush piles in 10 to 18 feet, and near the Hwy. 279 Bridge.

Channel catfish are fair on cut bait and nightcrawlers over baited holes in 8 to 10 feet.

Yellow catfish are slow.

Water clear; 51 degrees; 7.83’ low.

Black bass are fair on chartreuse/black jigs, small crankbaits, and watermelon red 4” worms over brush piles in 10 to 20 feet.

Hybrid striper are slow.

White bass are fair on Li’l Fishies and watermelon red crankbaits under lighted docks at night.

Crappie are good on Li’l Fishies and minnows over brush piles in 10 to 20 feet.

Channel catfish are fair on stinkbait, minnows and shrimp in 10 to 20 feet.

Yellow catfish are slow.

TUESDAY EVENING, the Brown County Water Improvement District held their regular monthly meeting where Mr. & Mrs. Joe Berryman, operators of Flat Rock Park, asked for approval of a 4^th of July fireworks display at the park again this year, which was granted.   Mention was made of possibly asking other displays to join Flat Rock for one “huge show” in order to help the lake patrol and game wardens have an easier task patrolling during the holiday.

The Berrymans are also considering making improvements of more RV spaces and installing new septic systems and roads at Flat Rock and they have applied for a $175,000 grant to help cover part of the expense.  The current Flat Rock Park lease from the Water District ends in 2012, considering the investment & improvements the Berrymans would be making, they asked the board to extend their lease for a longer period of time, possibly 15 years and consider a slight decrease in the cost of the lease.

Bill Bell, BCWID attorney, noted that the grant would have to be reviewed to see if there were any obligations or liabilities related to receiving the grant money.  The board in general noted the great job the Berrymans have done in cleaning up and maintaining the park.  Consideration of the lease will be given at a later meeting.

In other busienss, a report was given by the engineering firm Freese and Nichols regarding the District’s mircrofiltration plant.  It was conveyed that the plant is still not operational because they are waiting for a part for the rapid mix unit in hopes to get the plant up and running soon.

The Brown County Water Improvement District’s Board of Directors met on Tuesday evening in their regular monthly meeting.

Rates for irrigation water and for docks on Lake Brownwood were one of the first topics discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.

The Board of Directors unanimously approved at 12.5% increase in fees for having a dock on Lake Brownwood in 2010. That increases the annual cost of a single story dock from 16 cents per square foot to 18 cents. It also raises the annual cost of second stories from 8.5 cents to 9 cents per square foot.

Dennis Spinks, General Manager of the District said, “Those docks on the lake need to finance some of the expenses we are incurring on the lake.” These new expenses include work that the Lake Patrol is doing along with required inspection costs.

Spinks said that a dock owner will see an average increase of $20 per year for a dock. This is taking into consideration that the average dock is about 1000 square feet in size.

There will also be an increase in cost to lease dock space on McCartney Island and Goat Island. McCartney prices will go from $320 per year to $350 while Goat Island from $215 to $235.

The board also considered an increase in the cost to provide irrigation water to customers who use the service, but board members voted to keep those rates unchanged in the coming year.

Other action taken by the Water Improvement Districts Board of Directors was approval to spend $16,514 for the repair of a pump at the District’s Riverside Drive pump station.

Directors also approved a change order for work being conducted on the District’s new microfiltration system. They approved the change order not to exceed $180,000 for the needed repairs and modifications.

Mike Morrison from the engineering firm Frees and Nichols made a presentation regarding the repairs and modifications to the new microfiltration water treatment plant. Morrison said that he hopes to have modifications compete and ready to start the plant up by Thanksgiving at full capacity to monitor if the modifications were successful.

County Surveyor Don King also gave board members an update on the FEMA flood plain mapping situation. King stated that resolutions passed by Brown County, the City of Brownwood, and Water District were delivered to FEMA just recently. Those resolutions asked FEMA to keep the flood plain in Brown County at 10 feet above the spillway level and to ask to open a dialogue between the county and FEMA regarding historical flooding data.