Shrinking water levels coughing up remnants from the past on lakes across Texas
LAKE NACOGDOCHES -- They say one man's junk is another man's treasure. I'm not sure if the old adage applies here or not. Perhaps "finders keepers, losers weepers" might be a better fit.
I say that in reflection of a cool discovery made a few weeks ago at Lake Nacogdoches, a 2,200-acre impoundment in southeast Texas. Actually, I've made two neat finds in back-to-back trips. Amazingly, I wasn't looking when I found either one.
On a trip in mid-October, I beached my flatbottom rig on a point near the rear of the lake to let my Jack Russell Terrier, Harley, tend to his business. In the meantime, I got out to stretch my legs on a sun-parched stretch of shoreline left exposed by an epic drought that has shrunk dozens of lakes across the state to a mere fraction of their full capacity. A couple of Texas lakes have dried up completely.
I hadn't gone far when something caught my eye. Partly buried in a mix of gravel, sand, mussel shells and few fish skeletons was a Plano storage box. I've got a dozen just like it in my bass boat -- all filled with crank baits, jerk baits, topwater plugs, hooks, weights and other assorted items -- so I didn't waste time moving in for a closer look.
The lid was badly soiled, but the latches were still intact. The compartments inside were level full with sand, gravel and a whole lot more. Like diamonds in the rough, there were nearly three dozen bass lures hiding in all the dirt. One by one I removed the baits for closer evaluation. The box had been submersed long enough that the hooks and O-rings were toast. Otherwise, the lures were in pretty decent shape.
Included in the mix were 23 assorted crank baits, six lipless plugs, two topwaters, one jerkbait and an unopened package of Storm SuspenDots. True, the baits won't shine up like new pennies, but they will certainly clean up well enough to catch a passel more fish.
Assessing the treasure, I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of the poor guy who lost it. Or how the tackle box might have wound up at the bottom of the the lake. Perhaps it inadvertently fell overboard back when the lake was full. Or maybe an unlucky angler broke his line on a big bass and threw a screaming, rod busting, tackle-box-kicking, conniption fit like Mike Iaconelli does when something doesn't go his way.
My guess is it was probably a pure accident, especially considering today's tackle prices. Most of these baits are $4-6 when purchased new.
The second find came late last month but was hardly as good. I was dredging a crank bait along the edges of the Loco Creek channel in about three feet of water when my rod suddenly felt mushy, sort of like the lure had found a snag.
Seconds later I discovered it wasn't a limb at all. It was a rod and reel -- and from the looks of things, it had been in its watery grave for a while, too.
The metal reel plates were badly rusted and the rod was snapped about six inches from the tip. I thought about taking the rig home as a souvenir, but it was a such a muddy, sloppy mess that I returned it to its final resting place instead.
I'm not the only one who has stumbled across watery treasures on Texas reservoirs pulled low by what is being billed as the worst drought in Texas history. Reports of scavenger finds are turning up everywhere, and there are sure to be more if water levels continue to fall.
One of the first to surface was a fuel cell from the space shuttle Columbia discovered at the upper reaches of Lake Nacogdoches last August. At Richland-Chambers reservoir in Navarro County, falling water levels led to the discovery of more than two dozen unmarked graves believed to be those of former slaves buried on the property in the late 1800s.
At Lake Georgetown, fishermen discovered a human skull in shallow water near the shoreline. The skull is believed to be that of a native American and could be several 1,000 years old.
Another old cemetery site was discovered at Lake Buchanan near Burnet, and parts of an old town built near the Red River showed up at Lake Texoma along the Texas-Oklahoma border. There also have been people arrested for tampering with ancient Indian artifacts exposed by vanishing water at Lake Whitney in Central Texas.
In September, some neat photos surfaced on the Texas Fishing Forum depicting the sun-parched upper reaches of Lake Ray Hubbard near Dallas. One of the most telling images was that of a relatively new 15-horsepower Yamaha outboard lying flat on its side, smack in the middle of the muddy lake bed. Judging from the motor's position in relation to a large stump, there isn't much question how it wound up there. Somebody had a bumpy ride.
Fun as scavenging for lost treasures on public water bodies might sound, it may not be legal, according to David Sinclair, chief of staff for the Texas Parks Wildlife Department's law enforcement division.
While it is against state law to tamper with arrowheads, pottery and other historical artifacts on public reservoirs, Sinclair said there are not any TPWD laws on the books that specifically prohibit exploring dry lake beds for other items.
"However, local water body authorities may have restrictions," Sinclair said. "If the property is not governed by a local water body authority, it could be private property which could mean you are trespassing on private land."
On lakes across Texas, hundreds of other remnants from the past lay coated in dust, dirt or mud. Boats, propellers, cell phones, rod and reels, cameras, trolling motors, fishing lures, tackle boxes, jewelry -- you name it and it is probably out there just waiting to be found.
Just do the smart thing and ask before you look.
Matt Williams' email address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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