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.

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

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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There is a bill being proposed by senator David Burnett, I believe, that is proposing to have all commissioners of the AGFC and the Highway Commission to be elected and not appointed. Might be a good time to let your senators and representatives know that you support it if you would like to see them elected. I will look up the name of the bill tomorrow at work and would be glad to share the information with any one that wants it.

We pay a launch fee each year of what $30? where does that money go? I wouldn't mind paying $50 a year if it went into better fish cleaning stations like at Blue Mtn say, its a nice one. They could put a little into re-stocking say every 2 or 3 years, they could fix up some of the campsites, some are nice yet others need work. With lakes like Blue Mtn and White Oak being down recently they should've took advantage and spent way more Money fixing them up. One of my favorite lakes over in OK, that Pine Creek Lake still has dam problems????? They were supposed to fix it like 3 or 4 years ago???? Yet now they say it can't even reach back to Normal or they'll release water cause dams still in the red???? It just now got back up enough to open boat ramps back up and their campsites in some parks stink. Other lakes here in AR are the same way in need of work. I've even seen the local fisherman putting out old tires cause they don't have anything to beach their boats up on??? Every tire shop around these days keeps the old tires so they can't be that hard for the G&F or Corps to drag down to the ramps and cable them off???

speaking out on g&f facebook &other site would help,most all the land and homeowners i talk to all still complain about not enough water for the boat houses. hey guru yeah i know how being busy is and i know you know this lake like the back of your hand. gonna find out if the g&f would be willing to pay someone on the weekend,im thinking so they just want someone else to do it. that statement that g&f dont want to get caught with their pants down is right on,and this is overkill precaution for lake conway. g&f can open all the gates1-2 days before predicted heavy rain and dump out a foot you know provided the river is not way up. its not rocket science!

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Originally Posted by arkcrappie

There is a bill being proposed by senator David Burnett, I believe, that is proposing to have all commissioners of the AGFC and the Highway Commission to be elected and not appointed. Might be a good time to let your senators and representatives know that you support it if you would like to see them elected. I will look up the name of the bill tomorrow at work and would be glad to share the information with any one that wants it.

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Pass info I be glad to call them. I hate when they get there cushy jobs and don't care if they grow the wildlife/fish

Electing commissioners would be much worse. The majority of voters don't hunt and lots don't fish. It would be easy for peta to soon have control and do away with hunting and fishing. Look how the last election turned out! Think before you get something you don't want.

Amen, Gomer.

We sure don't want them elected. Good Ole Boys are in the serious minority these days. And everyone votes.

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Originally Posted by Gomer Snerd

Electing commissioners would be much worse. The majority of voters don't hunt and lots don't fish. It would be easy for peta to soon have control and do away with hunting and fishing. Look how the last election turned out! Think before you get something you don't want.

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I was told we had the best in the states. I did not vote for them. I was told every 4 years you get a new one

They are indeed better than a lot of states. Ask their citizens.

But they have flaws, for sure. Some are glaring.

You get ONE new one EVERY year. There are 7, serve 7 years, one is due to step down each year.

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Originally Posted by Gindog

Pass info I be glad to call them. I hate when they get there cushy jobs and don't care if they grow the wildlife/fish

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Gindog, here is what was passed on to me. http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assemb...Bills/SJR3.pdf

I feel bad for the people on the east side of the lake. Their docks and boat houses are pretty much worthless now. The majority of them only have about 4" of water under them.

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Originally Posted by mdperson

I feel bad for the people on the east side of the lake. Their docks and boat houses are pretty much worthless now. The majority of them only have about 4" of water under them.

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And you want to know something that will not surprise you, the AG&FC really does not care, because it is not their docks and boat houses.

I cant speak for Lake Conway but how much thought do you think is being put into the boat landings. Why for the life of me why would you put gravel and large chunks of rock around the launch. I understand erosion and all that but at LEAST put a place with some freaking sand so you can put your boat on the bank without ripping a hole in the hull. I guess they think people are not going to notice things not being taken care of. I believe they think we are just grateful to have a place to go fish. The boating lanes in Harris Brake are terrible. Go put in at Chitman Hill on the lake. You can either run your pretty boat up on the concrete (OUCH) or you can run it into a rock the size of a basketball. Heck I guess I should just get out of the boat 3 or 4 feet from the bank. The only two places that I have seen sand is at Corp boat launches. Maybe the AG&FC needs to take notes on how to construct a boat launch. The boat landing on the Foushe River at Perryville is horrible to. River comes up and deposits mud all over ramp. Not their fault I know. I was putting in the other day and you barely got enough room for trailer and boat side by side on the ramp. I am talking matter of a half inch serperating them. Why cant they get local fire dept to bring fire truck to landing and hose the ramp off and widen it back up. Dont know. They might have to get out of the office to notice such things.

If you want to voice your opinion go to the Arkansas Game and Fish page on facebook or email the commisioners.

AGFC | The Commission

If you guys think this is bad you should get involved in current waterfowl regulations. Here are some non-sensible examples: 2 years ago, the AGFC tried to trade 80 acres of prime bayou meto bottoms for 80 acres of timber that was cut in 1997 that it labeled a "square deal" when in fact it was was far from a square deal (beautiful timber for a giant squirrel nest). Now they are talking about logging trees in Bayou Meto! The point is there is always someone trying to make a buck that is connected within the higher ranking brass at the AGFC and therefore the folks that hunt there have to keep a current fight attitude just to keep a place to hunt. Problem is, when the commish votes, it happens and most of the time they don't know enough about the matter to make an educated vote and are influenced by those who have spoken to them.

Blueduck, come up and take a look at Big Lake WMA. I can show you what Bayou Meto will look like when they get through logging it!!

I have reviewed the bing aerial photos as well as updated Google Earth photos of Big Lake and want to cry thinking about what could possibly happen to the scatters. Its unthinkable.

In my life I have seen 2 harvests of timber in Big Lake. The first was in a section of woods that I hunted. Some days we hunted a blind and others we waded in the woods. After they cut it, we couldn't beg a duck in standing in the timber.
Hope you guys fair better!

Go check out bell slough on the dam side. They clear cut 80 acres and left 3 or 4 cypress standing.

Look at Petit Jean WMA where they thinned the timber , looks like they removed big areas of huge Scaleybark Hickories. if we are not careful our public hunting grounds may wind up being Pine tree farms to make a buck. Look at Nimrod WMA , it is COE but they have planted most of the old fields in Pine plantations. Since when did the AGFC and Corps of Engineers get into the timber business? I think our public property should be returned to natural state of hardwoods or mixed planting to benefit wildlife.

The AG&FC is centered around what benefits them financially not around what is best for the Natural state or the citizens of the natural state. Lake Conway is something for them to boast about and they should be proud, but instead they neglect it and act like it does not have problems, lake Conway is a old lake one of the biggest man made and state owned lakes in the whole United States. It needs some tender loving care and the AG&FC could care less. The AG&FC does not get enough revenue to take care of it, we'll that's a lot of BS. They are more concerned with wasting money in other places to buy more land that they won't take care of. Unless that said land is for a commissioner or one of his buddies to duck hunt on.

Lake Conway’s water level is managed in accordance to theLake Conway Management Plan that was adopted January 8^th, 1976. Very little has changed. Dan, you should know that Lake Conway hasbeen kept at 262.0 feet msl from November 15^th to April 15^thfrom 1976 to 2002 and November 15^th to March 15^th from2002 to the present. So when you say,“the lake is like 6-7 inches below normal right now” this is an inaccurate andmisleading statement. The lake iscurrently being maintained 1 foot lower than 263.0 feet msl (normal pool), butthis is the standard operating procedure of this lake and has been for over 30years. Since Matt Horton started as LakeManager in 2008, the lake has never dropped below normal pool (263.0 ft. msl)or normal winter pool (262.0 ft. MSL) due to improper operation of the spillwaygates. Matt Horton monitors the lake’swater level and weather forecasts 7 days a week and if he is out of town, thereis always AGFC personnel monitoring the lake. People who peruse this message board look up to you and when you arespreading misinformation, it is doing a disservice to Lake Conway. Lkconwayguru, it is uncalled for and reflectspoorly on yourself to call the lake manager “mediocre at best.” I am Matt Horton’s supervisor and I take offenseto your comments about him on this message board. Matt Horton is one of the hardest workingbiologists that I have ever been around. He routinely works a 50+ hour weeks (gets paid for only 40), includingmany hours on the weekend. In 2012 heworked 75 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. That sounds like someone who works weekends.
Matt Horton has mentioned to a member of the Lake ConwayBass Club that he would be glad to recruit the assistance of the club’s membersto help mark boat trails on the lake and that he will contact them if he wouldbe available to work on a weekend.
For as poorly a managed fishery as Lake Conway is, it suredoes produce a “mess” of crappie. Thereare tons of reports on this message board of people catching limits of crappie. Lake Conway has the highest crappieevaluation score of any lake in Arkansas for the past 10 years. It routinely out scores other crappiefisheries around the state.

If anyone has a question, concern, comment or noticessomething that needs repair please just give us a call or send us anemail. If you want to know why or whynot something is being done on one of our lakes or rivers just ask us and wewill be glad to provide you with that information. We respond to every inquiry that comes throughour office. Please don’t rush tojudgment and post false information on these types of public forums withoutfirst obtaining the facts. Keep in mind,there are three of us working in District 10 and we manage all water bodies(over 30 lakes and numerous streams and rivers) within the 6 counties in ourdistrict. I would be glad to discuss anyissues that someone has with Lake Conway or any other lake in my district. Please feel free to call me or better yet,come by the office.
Matt Schroeder (FisheriesManagement Biologist)
213 A Highway 89 South
Mayflower, AR 72106
1-877-470-3309 (ext1204)

Attachment 115841

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Originally Posted by D10

Attachment 115841

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What's this?


C.J.

Where the little smily face with the tears. I think it sad that you and your other two people can take care of all this and run it right. "Keep in mind,there are three of us working in District 10 and we manage all water bodies(over 30 lakes and numerous streams and rivers) within the 6 counties in ourdistrict" It sad you can say you do the upmost for the over 30 lakes you work, you 40+ hours a week, you have spent less then 10 hour a week on each week on you 30 lakes a mo and you can't manage squat in 10 hour you or I can. I can't say I have seen conway what I say full, Now I don't live there so maybe text time I go by have look a little closer at it's hight. I call it very poor management

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Originally Posted by D10

Attachment 115841

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I am no statistician and am not trying going to pick your bar chart apart. I have no idea how you came to your conclusion with these numbers but I have grown up fishing Cargile and there is no way you can convince me that Cargile has a higher "crappie assessment score" than some of these listed. Cargile is a pond compared to other lakes I realize, but even if you are saying how many crappie are per square foot or acre or whatever, it still could not come out with Cargile being the 5th highest on your list. Cargile is a joke. I realize that this thread is about Conway but Cargile is in the same position. You can claim whatever you want but I have been on that lake all my life and it has always lacked in my opinion. Yes people catch fish but it def cant be listed as having the 5th highest crappie assessment score.
I would be interested to know how you come up with this assessment and your numbers???

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Originally Posted by largemouth8

I am no statistician and am not trying going to pick your bar chart apart. I have no idea how you came to your conclusion with these numbers but I have grown up fishing Cargile and there is no way you can convince me that Cargile has a higher "crappie assessment score" than some of these listed. Cargile is a pond compared to other lakes I realize, but even if you are saying how many crappie are per square foot or acre or whatever, it still could not come out with Cargile being the 5th highest on your list. Cargile is a joke. I realize that this thread is about Conway but Cargile is in the same position. You can claim whatever you want but I have been on that lake all my life and it has always lacked in my opinion. Yes people catch fish but it def cant be listed as having the 5th highest crappie assessment score.
I would be interested to know how you come up with this assessment and your numbers???

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X2 Pickthorne. Gotta be a mistake


C.J.

i apoligize for misleading,what i mean is all fisherman and most boathouse owners would like to do away from 1' low wintertime level,and i do know matt stays on top the gates according to policy.i thought that was the overall goal of the 263 level year round. and with the improvements of grassy lake road and palarm creek chokepoints cleared there would be room to deviate.the lake today is back close to the 1' low normal.... wintertime level

The AGFC monitors crappie populations with a standardised trap net sample. The figure above are the mean crappie assessment scores over the last 10 years. The crappie assessment is based on 5 components:1) density, 2) growth, 3) size structure, 4) age structure, 5) recruitment. The scores of these individual compnents are weighted and added together to get the crappie assessment score. Trap netting effeciency is greater in some lakes than others. Feel free to call me and discuss this further.

Matt Schroeder
1-877-470-3309 (ext 1204)

Dan, thank you for the appology. We have the same goals as far as water level management on Lake Conway. We would also like to keep the lake level at 263.0 year around. We are still waiting for the final hydrology study report. If is concludes that we can keep the lake at 263.0 year around, by all means we will keep it at that level.

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Originally Posted by D10

The AGFC monitors crappie populations with a standardised trap net sample. The figure above are the mean crappie assessment scores over the last 10 years. The crappie assessment is based on 5 components:1) density, 2) growth, 3) size structure, 4) age structure, 5) recruitment. The scores of these individual compnents are weighted and added together to get the crappie assessment score. Trap netting effeciency is greater in some lakes than others. Feel free to call me and discuss this further.

Matt Schroeder
1-877-470-3309 (ext 1204)

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Thank you for the explanation. I am sure you have a process and it is a legit one; just hard to agree with it from a fishermans standpoint. I guess you catch more with a net than I do with my single hook though :dono :fish