A large-scale habitat project at Greers Ferry Lake should provide better cover for fish and better fishing for anglers.
Biologists and technicians with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's fisheries division sank 345 trees into the lake during December. The project is identical to a habitat project at Swepco Lake near Gentry that Game and Fish completed about a year ago.
The Game and Fish team were able to harvest the 345 trees from a pair of islands and other areas on the lower end of the lake to establish 60 habitat sites. Tom Bly, supervisor of the district that manages Greers Ferry Lake, led the effort with the Army Corps of Engineers' approval and assistance.
"I thought the project was successful, especially given the weather conditions," Bly said, noting that winds of 10 to 15 mph on the first day forced the staff to wait a day to venture out on the lake.
Once the weather quieted down, the teams completed three and a half days of habitat work around Goat Island and Scout Island, situated between Cherokee Recreation Area and Heber Springs Recreation Area and in the vicinity of Old Highway 25 Recreation Area.
Coordinates for the new sites will be added to the Game and Fish interactive map and in the downloadable fish attractor files soon, Bly said.
The lower end of 32,000-acre Greers Ferry Lake is the portion between the Narrows and the dam. The crews worked out of Heber Springs Marina all week.
The Corps provided the heavy equipment required to move tons of concrete blocks onto Game and Fish barges to sink the trees. Staff sought heavy-limbed sweet gum trees with a base of six to 16 inches in diameter at the stump.
The fisheries division in 2016 began planning two large-scale habitat projects a year on major Arkansas lakes, targeting such lakes as Bull Shoals, Norfork, DeGray, Chicot, Swepco and Monticello.