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BA Steinhagen LakeAuthorized by the River and Harbor act of 1945, the construction of the Town Bluff Dam and BA Steinhagen Lake were started in 1947 with deliberate impoundments starting in 1951 and the actual completion of the dam in 1953. Construction of the Robert D Willis hydropower project began in 1987 with it being available for commercial use on November 17 1989. The purpose of BA Steinhagen Lake are to regulate the power releases of Sam Rayburn Dam, provide hydroelectric power, and divert water into a water supply canal and also to provide water storage on its own. BA Steinhagen Lake has roughly 10,000 surface acres though it is officially listed at 13, 800 acres. The reason for this is that over the 50 plus years of existence several thousand transition acres have developed. Acres that you can not call land but are not water either. On average BA Steinhagen Lake is extremely shallow. Averaging 3 to 7 feet north of the US 190 bridge to 5 to 12 feet south of the US 190 bridge, with the deepest part of the lake being 35 feet. Due to the shallow nature of the lake the most popular game fish are catfish, though there is a nice population of largemouth bass as well. In 1992 the lake record largemouth of 12 pounds was caught while the lake record flathead catfish, 55.64 pounds was caught in 2006. If you are going to be planning a fishing trip to BA Steinhagen Lake the best time of year to go is in the fall, winter or spring months when the water temperatures are much cooler. Your best bets lure wise in trying to hook the lakes largemouth bass is to throw a crankbait or spinner bait around the abundant aquatic vegetation, the flooded timber or even the cypress trees. Either way you go you just have a great time. |
