Thread: Dear AGFC,

ac, it's been years since i've been on the lake but katy ray was a good place for bass when the water was right. loved to fish that lake but have heard it's gone downhill.

We used to catch lots of crappie off the cypress trees in Katy Ray and butterfly. The last time I was in there about 3 or 4 years ago, all I did was churn up mud and some kind of funny grass that was so thick you could barely move.
I haven't seen a good limit of crappie come of Big Lake in a long long time.

crappie and bass liked those cypress trees. a friend and i won a bass tournament there once. i bass fished more than anything but after i'd fish a cypress tree i'd drop a jig to see if there was a crappie there. little green was good. there were hot spots all over the lake back then.

There sure were. I liked to fish in Little Green too. I even liked fishing up in Dry Cypress. Caught some monster bream in there when there were still willow islands in there

alright lets get this aired out im gonna start, yall fill in the blanks
#1 mallard .....sux
#2 frierson.....sux
#3 charles.....sux
#4 houge... decent at best
#5 poinsett.... below avg./ on the verge of sux
#6 ashbaugh... sux

we cant include big lake, wapanocca, and hard to see how st. francis lake or any of the bar-pits can be included
this is my list of bodies of water that can and should be promoted to better class fisheries. its also in nea yall can fill in south and west of here.

by the way, im payin my extra $35 on tags and 1/8 cent just to buy gas to go south east n spend more money that could stay in this state. think back of the bait shops that have went out of buisness cause of the quality of these fishin holes

Originally Posted by joekiller

alright lets get this aired out im gonna start, yall fill in the blanks
#1 mallard .....sux
#2 frierson.....sux
#3 charles.....sux
#4 houge... decent at best
#5 poinsett.... below avg./ on the verge of sux
#6 ashbaugh... sux

we cant include big lake, wapanocca, and hard to see how st. francis lake or any of the bar-pits can be included
this is my list of bodies of water that can and should be promoted to better class fisheries. its also in nea yall can fill in south and west of here.

I agree 100 percent and think you hit the nail on the head. Don't get me wrong these lakes are hard to manage, but they sure as heck could do a better job than they do. I don't even think about fishing these lakes around here anymore.

All,

Thank you for all your concerns for the fisheries in NE Ark. I am the District Fisheries biologist for NE Ark and I come on here often to answer questions about the fisheries around here. Your opinions mean a lot to me and this is the reason I come on here along with Ben (bigben7) and Matt (D10).

First, The AGFC not in charge of Big Lake NWR. The feds handle it.

As for the low water at Mallard Lake, we take full responsibility for the low water during 2012. We reduced the water 18” to place new pipe in the north end. The whole project was suppose to take 1 ½ weeks to complete. As you are all aware of, it took to till October to get completed. I could easily point fingers at the reasons why it took so long but it still doesn’t change the fact that the lake got low. It is our lake and it was our decision to start the project thus we should take responsibility. The lake still would have been low due to the drought but not as low as it got. It was the first of January before there was finally enough water in Ditch 28 to pump. We have been working hard since then to get the lake back up. This includes working several weekend days, which must be done to run the pump continuously and we are not complaining about doing it because that is our job. We currently have the pump off because the water in Ditch 28 is too low. If you drive by the pump, look in Ditch 28. You will see a gate. If you see mud between the bank and the gate, the water is too low. The pump will start sucking air and ruin the pump. After every rain event, we drive up there to see if the pump can be turned on.

I have been in this District for 3 ½ years. I worked in SE Arkansas before that. I am a fisherman (tournament green carp fisherman) just like all of you. You can check out my website in my signature. I really want good fisheries for all anglers because we work for you and I fish them too. NE Arkansas lakes are challenging to manage especially the four levee lakes where we have to pump water in to keep them at normal level. There are very few other places in the state that have to deal with that challenge. We spent a lot of time and resources doing that one activity. We realize that we have a problem with the crappie at Lake Charles. We also understand that Lake Frierson is difficult to manage because of the turbidity. This is why we are stocking saugeye in there. There are numerous problems with Lake Ashbaugh. We just try to do the best with what we have to work with.

Again, I thank you for your time and opinions. I have my AGFC email and phone number attached to the signature as well. Please feel free to contact me.

Jeremy Risley