Lake Conway Winter Pool Drawdown

This is a heads up that we will start the annual winter pool drawdown over the weekend. The lake is at 263.2 feet right now. We will be bringing it down to 262.0 feet, as dictated by the Lake Conway Management Plan. I know no one likes this but we have to do it. The recent hydrology study that was completed last year recommended that we continue to draw the lake down this time of year for flood protection. We should be done with the drawdown by mid-week next week. Hopefully the fishing will pick back up after the lake has had a couple of days to stabilize.

Any more on the spillway that was being look at. I have forgot what you called it.

We did not get the feasibility study funded this past year. We will ask for the money every year until they approve it.

Thanks man for all your hard work

thanks for heads up D10

hey matt why draw down early according to original plan?
agfc plan:
The current water level operation plan calls for the lake to be at 262 feet mean sea level (msl) November 15th to April 15th and at 263 ft. msl from April 15th to November 15th. This plan tries to balance flood risk above and below the dam and give as much flood control as practical while providing normal lake levels for the spawn. Due to the fact that winters have been

milder in recent years, the raising of the level back to 263msl may need to be at an earlier date than April 15th. A solution to this problem is to bring the lake back to 263msl March 15th instead of April 15th. This change in operation would increase the flooding risk from March 15th to April 15th.
Lowering the lake during the winter to 262 feet msl will be ended when and if the Grassy Lake Road and Bridge are raised above the 100-year flood plain. Raising the road and bridge three feet will provide significant improvement and the opportunity to hold Lake Conway at 263.0 feet msl year-round. Once Grassy Lake Road is elevated, the water level management plan will be modified towards holding the lake at 263.0 ft msl year-round on a trial basis.

checked the weather according to three services no threat of hard rain in next 15 days... well I was going to ask if yall could hold off on the drawdown even at the 15th of nov. you know especially if there is no threat of hard rain. with now youcan open all gates it can be pulled down quickly cant it?3 -4 days?the fishing has been good the pads and grass have been hot as you know.the pulldown kills that bite for a while.the tops have been producing too but to me a little harder fishing,enlighten me fellow sportsman.is there a special reason for a weekend early? are you guys going to be able to fish the next 2 Fridays.

Dan,
You are quoting from an old plan. A new plan was written and approved this Spring. We even had a public meeting about the new plan. Remember when Matt and I stopped by early this Spring to invite you and you said that you would come to the meeting? The new plan addresses the FTN Hydrology research and report that was conducted over the last couple of years. Our goal is to have the lake down by November 15th each year. It has been this way since I have been in the district. If I open 5 gates on Sunday, it should be down sometime the next week, at or before the 16th. Five gates is a compromise from extending the drawdown too much and dropping the bottom out too fast. As I said previously, hopefully it will be stabilized by the following weekend. I will be sure to drop you off a new plan the next time I come over there. And since you asked, I will not be able to fish this Friday, due to running nets on Lake Conway. This is part of a research project that is assessing the effectiveness of Lake Conway Nursery Pond crappie stockings. We have OTC marked and are stocking 200,000 crappie into the lake today. I will be off next Friday, but if Lake Conway is not right because of the drawdown, I will go fish another lake. Because we are blessed to live in an area that has several good crappie lakes within a short distance. Lake Conway isn't the only lake that you can catch crappie on during this time of year. Thanks for the inquiry Dan.

yea thanks Matt,ok I missed that meeting,thought it was more about the duck gate,my bad...I know yall have the best interest of the lake on,and yall do handle and make good decisions..thanks again...

We have OTC marked and are stocking 200,000 crappie into the lake today.

CMJ and Crappiepro will catch that many by Monday noon................

Matt close the gates on the lake today at 4:00pm and left the Bell Slough gate open to fill the WMA. The lake should be stabilizing pretty quickly.