Thread: So, I up and says to creekslick...

Originally Posted by creekslick

I should have said we don't have the numbers like Conway, Nimrod, or Dardenelle. From what I've heard it's hard to manage these deep clear lakes for crappie. Here's my 2 cents, a lake can only support so many pounds of fish so with all the whites and hybrids we have that takes away the number of pounds of crappie the lake can support. So if you are up here fishing and catch whites and hybrids please keep them and don't throw them back in the lake. Maybe D10 can chime in on this.

You are correct Wayne. Greers Ferry is the least productive Corps reservoir in Arkansas due to the geology in the drainage and a few other factors. One of them being the lack of nutrients flowing into the lake from the tributaries. The more nutrients in a lake, the more phytoplankton, zooplankton, shad, and predators. There is only so much shad to go around for all of the mouths to feed. We are in the process of documenting the age and growth, mortality rates of all predators in Greers. Due to several years of not having sustained high water during the spring and summer, it appears that the forage base is down. One thing that we have already documented are the low relative weights of hybrids in the lower part of the lake (below the narrows). Due to this, we are not stocking hybrids this coming year. This wont fix the problem but will not put more mouths in the lake to feed. This will not happen every year because there are just as many hybrid anglers as crappie anglers on the lake. We also suspect that very few people harvest hybrids and whites. We will hopefully be looking into this in the next couple of years. What we can't control is the number o white bass in the lake. We see a ratio of 10:1 white bass to hybrids. There are tons of white in the lake and when no one harvests them, they get thick. Another thing that we suspect is happening, is that hybrids and whites may be reproducing with each other. We have been catching fish that have characteristics of both species. What we really need badly is a high water year or several high water years in a row. It does the lake a huge favor. It would sure be nice if the powers that be would hold the lake a few feet higher during the spring and summer. South Western Power won't go for this though. They are in the business of making and selling power, not boosting the productivity of a lake.