Educate me on McAlpine Dam in Louisville

I'm pretty new to the area and want to take my boat out this weekend to fish below the Dam/Hydroplant for Hybrids or Striper, I was looking at the scheduled water level for Saturday and it looks to be 12.5 on upper and 28.9 on the lower. If I'm fishing below the Dam/Hydro plant do I go by the 28.9 ft? Also is this too much current? What is the idea water level for fishing there? Is there any rocks/hazards around the area that I should be aware of? Sorry for all the questions, I want to be safe than sorry.

Do not go! If you aren't familiar with the area, don't go in a boat. It is very rocky because it's a Devonian Period Fossil Bed. Go with someone with knowledge would be my advice.

The water color is a major factor as well. It's way to muddy right now. I fish for the same species and don't start looking to catch them until the lower pool level is around 20 ft. There's a ton of current right now coupled with the fact , visibility is less than an inch, you would have to run into one for them to find your bait. Just not a good time to try it. I totally agree with redearhoosier. Even the most seasoned river fisherman find a rock every now and then. Go with someone that knows that area. It's very unforgiving.

The Ohio is high and muddy right now at Cannelton Dam. I can only imagine it is about the same there. I'd definitely skip a river trip right now.

thanks guys i will skip the trip this weekend. Is the whole area a shallow fossil bed? My plan is to launch on the Indiana side on Harrison Ave and fish that spillway or Hydroplant that you see straight ahead from the launch. I've looked at the Navionics map and it looks to have some good depth for a boat or maybe its not accurate.

Try this number , 502-775-5056. They usually update the recording every 4 hours and the lower dam amount is what you want if you are trying to launch there. As of now they are running 48 ft out of the lower dam. Impossible now. The dam that you are referring to that you can see from the Harrison Avenue boat ramp. FYI, much over 15 ft of dam there makes it very rough to launch. You have to be very aware of the predictions so that when you launch, you will be able to get your boat back on the trailer. If they raise the amount of dam they are running , you will have to take out at New Albany and that's not good if you are by yourself. Tough to drive the truck and boat solo. It's happened to me a couple of times and luckily I had someone with me to drive the truck and trailer to New Albany so we could get out. Things change very quickly on the river and you have to be prepared. Arm yourself with all the knowledge you can and then there's still no guarantees.

thanks for the info. Man I don't think its a good idea for me to go there then as I only fish by myself 99.8 percent of the time. [QUOTE=Bent Loomis;571188]Try this number , 502-775-5056. They usually update the recording every 4 hours and the lower dam amount is what you want if you are trying to launch there. As of now they are running 48 ft out of the lower dam. Impossible now. The dam that you are referring to that you can see from the Harrison Avenue boat ramp. FYI, much over 15 ft of dam there makes it very rough to launch. You have to be very aware of the predictions so that when you launch, you will be able to get your boat back on the trailer. If they raise the amount of dam they are running , you will have to take out at New Albany and that's not good if you are by yourself. Tough to drive the truck and boat solo. It's happened to me a couple of times and luckily I had someone with me to drive the truck and trailer to New Albany so we could get out. Things change very quickly on the river and you have to be prepared. Arm yourself with all the knowledge you can and then there's still no guarantees.[/QUOTE]

This is an incredibly dangerous and awesome part of the river. When I first got to Louisville and didn't know about levels and generations, I was dumbfounded for how much that lower pool can change, and quick.
While you are coming up with a plan, start calling that number when you get a chance to look at the river/ramps. If you haven't already, watching the falls and fossil beds at different levels is fun too.