For you that haven’t heard, the Lake Chicot drawdown begins on June 1 and will last until January 1st. It will be a five foot drawn down. The drawdown is part of the Lake Chicot Management Plan. So you maybe asking why do the drawdown during a year when the fishing has been on fire. Well it isn’t to ruin the fishing like most of you will hear. Here are some reasons why. First, the management plan states that a drawdown should be conducted every 5 years. Second, the reason the fishing has been on fire this spring is because of the large year class that is dominating the population right now. These fish are three years old now and will likely be start to be harvested off or die off. That said next year, fishing would likely not be as great as it was this year where we had the drawdown or not.
Now what are the benefits of the drawdown. During the drawdown, the banks will be seeded and terrestrial vegetation allowed to grow. Once the water starts to come back up, the flooded vegetation will give the small fish protection from predation. Also while the plants begin to decay, it will put nutrients in the water that will help the plankton blooms which will in turn give the young of the year fish more food to eat once they hatch. Also, it will allow the exposed bottom to harden. In oxbows lakes, the muck layer on the bottom starts to get larger and larger over time. By exposing the bottom, it hardens these areas and increases the spawning success for fish during the next few years. Also this process helps to slow filling in of the lake, which is a natural process for all waterbodies. When the water drops, it will force the small fish out of the shallows. These fish then are available to predators which reduce stunting and help to make the predator healthier for the next year spawn. All of these things help produce really strong year classes the following year which allows for more fish to be caught in the future.
Just realize if this lake was still connected to the Mississippi River, this would be a natural process of the water level lowering in the summer and coming back up in the winter. Finally, all the major ramps will be open and we are going to work with he county to make sure those ramps are going to be open to.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.
