tri-county canal

O.K. I am from Lincoln and was wondering where the Tri-County canal system is? Help….

Brian will be able to explain it much better than I can but to put it very simply, it is above and below Johnson lake. Along the canal there are several checks that widen up and make some real nice small bodies of water to fish. I’m sure Brian will add to this but this is the simple version

Welcome to IDO! Glad to have you aboard.

Thanks Zach. Zach’s been out there before and knows how neat some of the areas are. We had a tough day but still managed to get a few fish in, with a real nice fish by Zach.

The canal system essentially starts at Big Mac, and it’s purpose is to cool the Gerald Gentleman power plant at Sutherland. It then snakes back into the river, and then is diverted out again around NP and goes back into the river about 10 miles from my house, in between Lex and Overton. From here to NP and a little past, it follows the river on the south side of the valley rim. It’s real fun to get on google earth and follow it as it snakes through the canyons. The lakes on the canal are Phillips, Johnson, Plum Creek, Gallagher’s, Midway, Jeffrey, Maloney and Sutherland. Pretty neat little system with lots of opportunities. Lots of everyting in it, with some shots at some real nice saugers, crappies, walleyes, and especially flatheads. C’mon out and give it a try.

Thanks for the pic Brian. And that nice fish came off a “hand tied” that you just talked about in your latest report. How rewarding it is to catch something on something that you made yourself

I look forward to catching a few more of those with you on the canal again this year

Welcome to IDO fishtastic!! I see you are from Lincoln, I live in Hickman and fish a lot of the lakes around Lincoln. Maybe we’ll cross paths at some point in time.

I started fishing the canal system back in the 70’s with my mentor Wes Traudt. I haven’t been the same since.

We set lines and ran them at night and fished the checks for crappies and walleyes.

Memories!!!

So when is anybody heading to the Tri-County? Also does anybody know the water temps around the Gothenburg/Brady canal area?

Welcome to IDO htc. I think Brian Robinson is on the canal today. He should have an update up later today or tomorrow.

Talked to Brian earlier and he said the water temp was 45 degrees. I sure hope the parties involved in letting the air out of his trailor tires yesterday stayed away today! They won’t like B when he’s angry!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Hank, welcome aboard.

I was in the canal the last couple of days and the water was in fact around 45. Was all the way up to 47 in a few areas. Just wish the fish would have been more cooperative. Didn’t do real well, but we did get some fish in the boat.

Water at the dam at Johnson is 40. Pretty darn chilly, and we didn’t really mark much at all.

Just a reminder….the canal is public water accessed by public boat ramps in various places. They are not private, no matter what some apparently think.

Is there somewhere on the internet that has the temps listed for the canal/ inlets/outlets or is it just up to us to find out on our own?

Up to us.

You won’t find much posted online about the canal because the water fluctuates so much, sometimes hour to hour. You’ll be out there one day and the water will be down a foot or two; go back the next day and it’ll be right back up.

Yea it can fluctuate almost 2′ just overnite. I was just concerned with the temperature, would like to go but the water needs to warm a little I think, unless I am wrong about the temperature at when they start to aggresively eat, being around 55 degrees.

Yup, it’ll be a while yet. We’ll see what happens with this weather we’re supposed to get this week. Could get interesting.