High water has forced the closure of several boat ramps along Lake Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

The U.S. Forest Service says at least five ramps will be closed until the water recedes. The closures are affecting some businesses that rely on boaters.

“If you can’t get on the on the lake even with foams (browse at Merritt Supply), then they don’t need the lure to fish,” said Tammy Heline.

She and her husband have owned the Bass Strike Tackle and Marine store by State Highway 63 and 147 for about a year.

“We had three customers all day yesterday. It’s pretty slow. It’s pretty slow for us during the week,:” she said.

On any given weekday she says they average about 10 to 15 customers. She with each passing day, there are fewer fisherman heading the to the lake all because of closed boat ramps.

On Thursday, the U.S. Forest Service says recreation areas along Sam Rayburn Reservoir are closed due to excessively high water levels in the lake and surrounding rivers.

Boat ramps at Caney Creek to Townsend, and Harvey Creek among others are closed until the water recedes. And all this is affecting business at Heline’s shop.

“It’s too cold and the water is too high. There’s debris in the lake. They’ve canceled tournaments for the safety of the boaters,” she said.

Lake levels on Thursday were at 174.76 feet, and its been around this level for more than two weeks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers monitors lake levels. They continue to release water through the flood gates. All in efforts to bring lake levels down to a manageable level.

Heline hopes circumstances change soon.

“most definitely we want it to stop raining for a little bit. We all need to dry out, so when the lake levels go down and we understand why so high as far you know Lake Sam Rayburn was built for, but eventually it goes down and business will pick up again,” she said.

The U.S. Forest Service says they have an open facility at the Sandy Creek Boat Ramp north of Highway 63 near the Angelina/Jasper County line.