Management of lake Conway or lack there of.

Attachment 115560

Our AG&FC at work, in Conway we got a little rain. So what's the answer to that rain. I will tell you, run down and open the gates and let the water out of the lake. The lake manager for Lake Conway is at best mediocre. I went to one of the Lake Conway home owners association meetings about 2 weeks ago and they were bragging about how they had the AG&FC in their back pocket, and how they could get the lake manager to do what ever they wanted, including keeping Conway low on water. I guess they were right, every time you turn around the gates are open letting water out. The Lake Conway Home Owners Association is not for the well being of lake conway. I wish that the game and fish did not get rain forecasts cause when they do, and there is a chance of rain, they think that they need to run down to the dam at Lake Conway and let water out. And The lake manager don't work on weekends, so even if the lake reaches it specified level on Say Saturday the water will be continue to be let out until it is convenient for the AG&FC to close the gates resulting in a lake that is below normal pool levels. If lake Conway was manage properly it would be one of the best fisheries in Arkansas. But because it don't have trout, walleye, strippers, or pertain to Duck hunting revenue in their pockets, it is not properly managed. The AG&FC has Become so political that it can't function for the people abroad anymore. They just respond when a group squeaks loudly and they do what they can to silence the squeak. I respect the law enforcement side of the AG&FC. But the rest of the game and fish has gone to the you scratch my back I will scratch you back policy.

the lake is like 6-7 inches below normal right now, came up about 4" from yesterday.with no threat of flood in sight they could let it run over the gates wouldnt hurt landowners and would benefit fisherman tremendously!it has to be 2' high before its close to anybody i think,so what the heck is going on?maybe Hayden Baldwin from LCHOA could chime in with an input.or Matt Horton lake manager G&F.more fisherman need to complain to the right people. also i was supposed to pass on that the g&f want to hire civilians to mark and remark boat lanes. guru you would be excellant at that or at least supervise bud...

Somewhere there's a picture of me and my uncle when I was six years old, putting in a boat at Lake Conway. Trees everywhere. Soon as we could drive, we used to go to Mrs. Sippell's at Art Pond and rent a boat for a dollar (paddles and cushions included), a tube of crickets for a half dollar, and paddle OVER the bazillion floating logs to get to the bank and catch #10 washtubs of bullnecked bream.

Boatlanes used to be easy to see, they were lanes in the trees. Letters went N/S and Numbers went E/W (or vice versa, not sure which). Boat Lane D had a stump the size of Delaware in the middle of it, and a 9.9 mercury lower unit is prolly still on it!

Later, I got a bit tired of fishing in 5 feet of water over 6 feet of silt, and nowhere to go for the lily pads. Every wind put me on a stump that it took an hour to get off of. I swore off of that lake and went somewhere else.

And from the looks of all the fish on here, I made one big old mistake!!!

But any lake that is ringed with houses, and most of 'em old, is not gonna be one of my favorites..............still, I need to re-learn it, that much is clear.

The commission is run political not for the sportsmen of the state. All the commissioners are rich fat cats that mostly hunt and fish private farms and clubs. We had problems dealing with rich and politically connected folks in other places. The local AGFC employees knew about them breaking the laws and were told to look the other way. After getting on facebook and making it public was the only way to get the AGFC to acknowledge it. Everyone wanting this brought to light get on AGFC Facebook page and complain or get a petition.

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Originally Posted by danogoldcreek

the lake is like 6-7 inches below normal right now, came up about 4" from yesterday.with no threat of flood in sight they could let it run over the gates wouldnt hurt landowners and would benefit fisherman tremendously!it has to be 2' high before its close to anybody i think,so what the heck is going on?maybe Hayden Baldwin from LCHOA could chime in with an input.or Matt Horton lake manager G&F.more fisherman need to complain to the right people. also i was supposed to pass on that the g&f want to hire civilians to mark and remark boat lanes. guru you would be excellant at that or at least supervise bud...

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Dano, the bass club has volunteered to help and this includes me, but it goes back to one of my other statements in my first post, Matt does not work weekends and that's the only time we can get people together to do it, the old 5 day a week jobs keep us from being able to do it during the weekdays.

I will do anything I can to help. I am more than frustrated when I see this lake poorly managed. From the water, I see many poles, nets, boxes, etc. leaving me to believe many of the homes are inhabited by those that love to fish.

This lake should be an awesome fishery as it once was from the stories I hear from those in their golden years.

Game and fish is just scared to get caught with there pants down again like they did a couple years ago when that massive rain came through. I've just posted on AGFC's facebook page cause no one else has. If anyone wants to chime in, feel free. The post is by Jacob Knight.

I 100 percent agree

Hmmmmmmm, too important of a lake to be poorly managed. I'm interested to see the agafc response and solution.

If flooding rains are expected that's one thing but an average rain in no way should equal a release of water. As for the boat lanes, it and so many other lakes have been neglected. That Lake Columbia has stumps bigger than the boat deck cut off at water level????? Unless that's been changed in the past couple years. We talked to the lake manager down there one day, seemed like a good guy but those stumps are a big problem. Harris Brake is another one we witnessed rusty rebar sticking up instead of bouy's??? Lake Atkins is another one that I couldn't see any form of a boat lane in???? They don't wanna take care of the lakes anymore it seems??? I'm very, very grateful for the stocking programs and most of us fishermen put in a lotta effort when it comes to brush but we don't work for the G&F either, they can do better.