Anglers in northeast Arkansas will soon have a better place to fish as the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission completes its renovation of Lake Poinsett.
When full, Lake Poinsett covers about 575 acres on Crowley's Ridge near Harrisburg. The lake was created in 1961. It was the first lake the Game and Fish Commission built in northeast Arkansas, and it was the impetus behind creating Lake Poinsett State Park in 1963. As with all lakes, it was also attractive for landowners to build lakeside homes.
As with all old lakes, Lake Poinsett became decreasingly productive as a fishery as its natural cover rotted away. Erosion was a bigger problem. The loess soils of Crowley's Ridge are very delicate. Wind and wave action constantly chewed away the banks, eventually jeopardizing private property.
The Game and Fish Commission has been unable to manage water on Lake Poinsett for a long time. Jason Olive, assistant chief of fisheries for the Game and Fish Commission, said that the lake's water control tower has two gates that can release water at different levels in the water column. The upper gate has been inoperable since 1968. The lower gate failed in 1983.
Bank erosion accelerated in 2015-16, Olive said. In July 2017, the commission drained the lake.
Ben Batten, chief of fisheries, said the move was unpopular. A dry lake remnant is worthless, especially for a state park that draws about 90,000 visitors a year.
"The local folks are going be against it immediately every time we do a lake renovation," Batten said. "Fishing is always good afterward. After the process of drying out the earth and the habitat work, fishing comes back awesome. Local people always come back and say, 'Thank you!' "
The commission renovated lakes Atkins, Pickthorne, Greenlee and Bois d'Arc in 2010. Lake Atkins was, for a while, an excellent lake to catch big bass. Lake Poinsett's renovation coincides with renovations at lakes Horsehead, Lower White Oak and Mercer Bayou. Lower White Oak is currently one of the state's best bass and crappie lakes.
Lake Poinsett's renovation was scheduled to take five years. The first three years, 2017-20, were dedicated to repairs that included toppling the old water control structure. It remains on the lake bed to serve as fish habitat. The commission installed a modern water control structure and updated the spillway.
Also, the commission hired a contractor to stabilize the banks. The contractor pushed bankside trees into the lake bed for fish habitat and created riprap ribbons along vulnerable shoreline. Concrete matting was installed in some places, as well.
In the fall, the commission will stock catchable-sized catfish, bluegill, shad, shiners and other baitfish to create a forage base for game fish. In the spring of 2022, the commission will stock largemouth bass fingerlings, followed by 2-inch crappie fingerlings in autumn 2022.
"Two years after that, we'll have a bass and crappie fishery," Olive said.
The timetable depends on weather, of course.
"Three of the wettest years of my lifetime were during this project," Olive said. "Now, I hope we don't enter a drought period while we're trying to refill."
The total cost of the renovation -- including staff time, fuel and other expenses -- will exceed $3.5 million, Olive said. Construction will cost $1.25 million. Bank stabilization and habitat work will cost $1.28 million. Almost all of the project is eligible for Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration grants, which will pay for up to 75%. Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration money comes from a 10% federal excise tax on fishing equipment, including rods, reels, line, lures and even tackle boxes.
"It's the most expensive lake renovation project we've undertaken," Olive said. "Thankfully we don't have a lot of other lakes with bank stabilization problems as severe as this one."
As it did at Lower White Oak and others, the commission will probably enact a protective slot length limit for bass at Lake Poinsett to achieve maximum spawning potential out of the initial bass stocking. That will create a trophy fishery.
Considering that Lake Dunn, another Crowley's Ridge lake near Forrest City, yielded what would have been the state-record largemouth several years ago, the new and improved Lake Poinsett certainly has great potential.