Update – AG&F Presentation Set for July 25 ——30 Comments posted on “Total Draining of Lake Monticello” AG&F to Recommend to City Council
July 12th, 2017 by iPhone
ML confirm Tuesday night that the Game & Fish Commission will address the Monticello City Council on July 25, at 6 PM in the old post office / district court building.
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Last Monday, MLive posted that the City of Monticello would need to lower the level of Lake Monticello to repair the levee, which is expected to begin in August.
As ML researched the possible repercussions of lowering the lake, we contacted the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. During this process we became aware that AG&F is expected to soon be recommending to the Monticello City Council that the lake be totally drained.
Since Lake Monticello was built during the 1990s, as a largemouth bass lake, it has lost its reputation, as well as its ability to produce impressive largemouth bass.
Sources tell MLive that AG&F’s associate chief of fisheries Jason Olive had recently recommended to Mayor David Anderson completely draining Lake Monticello.
It is believed that the complete draining of Lake Monticello would:
- Kill off the grass carp that eat the vegetation from the lake.
- Provide more vegetation for blue gill and redear bream, as well as other foragers, (due to the removal of grass carp) to feed the largemouth bass, when they are restocked.
- The removal of yellow and white bass would reduce their competition with largemouth bass, in feeding on the bream and foragers.
- Take 1 year to drain, and 3-4 years to refill.
- Be presented to the City Council in the near future.
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Drain it to remove all the fish…
Then let AGFC restock the carp and white bass?
I’m sure they will but she to feed these bass and get a mess of white bass again.
Just stock plenty of crappie and bream and let the bass eat them.
I agree. This has been needed for a while. Lake Monticello has fallen off dramatically from what it once was. A couple of years inconvenience is worth it to return the lake to greatness. That helps not only fisherman, but local businesses as well. A few years back it was common to see large boats parked at our hotels, etc. That means money for local businesses, as well as tax dollars for the city.
I agree with Joe. This is long overdue. The lake is hardly worth fishing anymore and you don’t see the out-of-towners filling the hotels like in the past
Then they should pay any and all cost involved. Why put carp anyway? Just more money spent, more people without a lake because of some bonehead call.
joe said it best
Lake have life cycles and I’ve seen this before. During the 1980s lower white oak lake was a big bass producer. Lots of big bass! My buddy owned a store at Jack’s Landing and it was very common for 2 or 3 fish a week caught that were 10-13 lbs. Then the G&F started fertilizing the lake and it went downhill very quickly. Folks in the Bluff City area even started a petition to halt the fertilization. Didn’t work.
Same thing has happened to Lake Monticello. Lakes can be stocked and slot limits set but the lakes will always go downhill after the peak.
Lower White Oak was finally drained 3 years ago and restocked after refilling. I say drain it and start over from scratch.
Lake Monticello used to be great, you could come in the spring and see trucks and trailers from all over, not so much anymore. I don’t fish there at all anymore, and won’t until something is done to improve fishing and lake management conditions.
Do a history search on Candy Lake in Chatham,LA.. same picture same scenario about 20 years ago.. Louisiana Wildlife Fisheries recommended the drain and open season on carp there due to depletion of almost all vegetation… Candy is now a largemouth bass tournament lake.. The carp are supposed to be sterile but the fish population either exploded or mutated.. maybe carp ratio was wrong but after the killoff the lake is once again a trophy lake. It. Evokes a fine line between providing fish or recreation lake.
I didn’t know they wanted the carp out. I can take my bowfishing rig over an help them out!
Will we be able to fish it during the draw down ?
There’s not a thing wrong with the lake at all. There’s still plenty of trophy bass in that lake. If you can’t catch them maybe you should try your luck at a different sport. Bass fishing isn’t for everyone…….agfc ruins everything for the real sportsman eventually.
Killing off the grass crap will put a stop to many of the individuals who come out daily and nightly to shoot these fish. This is a big hobby for some, how about maybe a more sportsman like solution? A bowfishing competition to limit the population?
I am against the drain of Lake Monticello. The lake does not need a total drain because it is a trophy lake and top 10 trophy lake in Arkansas. It is kind of funny that the game and fish wants this to happen because you know who will get paid for all the work to redo the lake oh yea the game and fish. Who put the grass carp in Monticello and the accidental white bass oh yea the game and fish. I fish that lake year in and year out since they opened it and I can consistently catch trophy bass and good numbers and if you cant you might want to blame yourself and your skills before you blame the lake. Yes the white bass need to be removed and I believe the numbers have come down a lot since a few years ago. I want the grass back on this lake too and if you lower it in the spring by 10ft or so for all summer and fix the levee guess what it will grow grass. Lake Chicot was lowered and now it is better than ever. People wake up and smell the roses this is a small lake and can get pressured very easily so yes sometimes it can be hard fishing but they are there. Stock bream, crappie, and big shad and you will continue to see more healthier fish and also good numbers of trophy fish. If you are against the drain like I am please voice your opinion to the city council.
I think the community would benefit greatly from an improved lake that attracts not just fishermen but one that would offer water sports. Not everyone likes to fish. I know people who drive from this area to the lakes in Hot Springs for water sports. It would help local food business, lodging, and business in general. Please make Lake Monticello a local water sports lake and offer more of a playground area with trails and grilling/picnic areas. Bring back the fireworks displays locally!! People from towns around will drive here instead of other towns…..And they will spend their money here rather than there!!
Do it and close lake for 3 years and guard the bass
Do it and close lake for 3 years and have a 24″ size limit and give lots of tickets guard the lake
As for draining the lake, I think it’s a bad idea. There are an abundance of lagre bass in the lake. It’s just a challenging lake to fish, needless to say its not for begginers. And as for tourist fishing the lake, I’ve never seen the town over whelmed with tourist looking to fish the lake! Drain the lake and you want see tourism for years and year’s. If ever!! I mean it’s Monticello, no one is breaking the bank to come here for a vacation. So as the old saying goes “probably should let well enough alone”.
So they going to take my tax dollars to do this because of a bass your kidding me
If you’re catching 16lb sacks, that’s part of the problem. Used to be able to catch much more than that. I remember days of catching 15-20 5lb+ fish from that lake, and my personal best, 11-7, came from that lake. When is the last time you’ve heard of an 11lber coming from that lake, because it used to be pretty common. 16lb sack….pffft. I’ve heard more from Cane Creek than I have Monticello lately.
Keep white, yellow, and stripped bass out along with the carp. Stock Bream, Crappie, Bass only…I’d include some spotted bass this time though.
Leave it to the experts…AGFC. There would not be anything out at that lake if not for the AGFC…boat ramps, etc., I think they even paved the road in to it. The lake was not originally supposed to be a bass lake instead it was supposed to be a water reservoir for the city. That was the crap fed to the voters to get the tax passed. At first there was not even supposed to be any motors allowed on it because of “reservoir” the status. Now its a fishing lake so let the fish experts handle it. Lord knows what happens when politicians get involved in the process.
i agree make that lake a water sport lake and a weekend getaway like swimming parties weddings etc.
im not really a fisherman i just like to get out
THE REASON FOR DRAINING THE LAKE WAS TO REPAIR THE DAM . RIGHT? IF WE DONT REPAIR THE DAM WE MAY NOT HAVE A LAKE!
A lot of lakes in Arkansas do a 4-10 ft drawdown in the winter. It allows for shoreline maintenance and it kills the grass. It also aids in concentrating the food fish. No need to completely drain it.
Yes to; Jeff, Jerry, & Dennis. It was supposed to be a Reservoir! Does intake pipes for Reservoir need to be installed at this time?
Wow! that’s a long time to not have a Lake! One year to drain and 3 to 4 years to repair! So no lake for 4 or 5 years? Just for bigger fish? I agree the lake could be better… for everyone. In many ways, not just fishing. Why not have camping and more to do out there. Like hiking and biking. More opportunity to enjoy the outdoors around the lake other than just fishing. I could get on board with this proposal if it was more of an all encompassing Lake Plan. Like making the Lake bigger and better for water sports and outdoor recreation. As well as better for fishing. After all we do have two fishing boat manufacturers right in town! Fishing, swimming, boating, hiking, biking and camping are just a few things that a Lake can provide for a community. Let’s Make He Lake Great!
A 16 lbs bag of fish is a nice stringer of fish for a lake with a slot limit where you can only weigh one over. I’m not sure who you are that is thinking it to be easy to do, but you are more than welcome to come to a tournament on Tuesday nights and try your luck. On the other hand, yes the lake needs attention and guess what it has gotten it, there is a tournament weekly held where anywhere between 15-20 boats fish it plus the other anglers that are already on the water. When the lake was in its prime I don’t recall seeing many more boats than that. People love catching big fish yes, but sportsman enjoy a good challenge and that is what Lake Monticello provides. As far as Cane Creek is concerned, yes you can catch nice fish there, also no slot. GREAT LAKE FOR BEGINNERS. You can go there and not have a clue what you are doing and generally catch a few fish. I believe a draw down will increase vegetation growth and while its down they could put some gravel in shallow water areas to give the fish a place that they look for during spawn to lay their eggs. No one is right or wrong in this case, but the city of Monticello doesn’t have much for recreation and lets face it the lake is the funnest thing for the summer time fun.
Is Lake Monticello big enough to be a major water sport lake?? I doubt it. There needs to be a compromise. I think it attracts too much attention to be drained completely but surely there is something that can be done to increase bass and vegetation and decrease the carp. Possibly hold bow fishing tournaments and give incentives for bow fisherman going out there to help decrease carp as much as possible.
If the lake is completely drained, will some sincere thought be given to building a large boardwalk type pier, totally and easily wheel chair accessible. It would really be nice to have such an item for the elderly and the handicapped to be able to use. Parents could take their children and fish without need of a boat as well. This was suggested back when the lake was first built, to no avail. Finally an attempt at one was made, but it is way too small and no way a wheel chair access it.
I have to say I disagree with totally draining the lake. There is no need in losing the game fish we have in there. Those carp a starving because there is no vegetation in the lake. drop the water level about 10 feet and drop some square bales of hay in the shallows and put a $$10 a head bounty on the carp and they will disappear rapidly. Tournaments won’t do as good because all of the boat traffic from people scouting will have them so spooked they will stay in deep water till it’s quiet again. Caney lake had the same problem and a tournament was held with a $3000 guaranteed purse and the first few nights we seen hundreds of carp but by tournament night it was hard to even find one. We ended up killing 10 fish in 2 nights and won the tournament. If I had to guess I would say there was only 25 grass carp total killed in that tournament and there was bowfisherman from multiple states. Just my opinion.. ??
Ok, as many of you would expect, I’ve been asked numerous times over the last few days about the possible draining of Lake Monticello. I’ve thought about it a lot. Here are a few of my thoughts.
Coming from a guy who has never eaten a bass out of the place, the AGFC has encouraged people to keep bass out of Lake Monticello. This is backed up by the fact that the creel limit has been relaxed in recent years. As I’ve been told, there are more bass in the lake than forage to go around. From my observation, there are skinny bass in the place. There are healthy looking bass too. Overall catch rate per angler has probably gone down. I still have a lot of really good days on the lake with good numbers and good quality. Not every day is that way anywhere. In my opinion, the fish have changed their habits to a point. Could it be better? Of course it could! The bass need more to eat. Yes, it would help to have the grass back in the lake. It does a couple things. It gives the small baitfish good cover to hide from bass and other predators so that they do not clean out their food source. It also gives anglers more shallow water fishing opportunities. So the answer to the question “what do you think about draining Lake Monticello?,” I personally, would like to see the grass carp either thinned or eradicated, a thinning of the white bass population, and a good stocking program of protein rich forage for our bass to eat. In short, the answer is no. I am not for draining the lake! I would hope we could accomplish these things without the drastic measure of draining draining the lake and starting over!
Lake Monticello for water sports? What a joke.
The lake in general is mediocre at best.
No Jerry Webb they will draw the lake down this year regardless whether the draining passes or not. The drawn down will make it where they can repair the levee. The draining is a whole different ball game.
I fished Lake Monticello at least once a Week and more when I could back 10 + years ago.I didn’t want to go anywhere else.I have caught 33 Bass over 10 lbs.there the largest was a 11.5 lb.post spawn Bass.It was easy to catch 3-4 fish 6 lbs or better every trip with a couple of 8-9 lb fish most trips.There would be small schooling Bass hitting everywhere,with occasional schools of Big ones.If draining the Lake is needed to fix the Dam we have no choice.If lowering the Lake 10-15 ft.is enough I hate to see the Big ones left die.Lowering it for a few Years will let vegetation grow and it will help when refilled.I would likento see all the Grass carp gone and Hydrilla and Coontail come back.When the lake is back to normal level I would like a 16-24 slot put back.Having a AG&F boat checking livewells would greatly benefit the lake too.Of the hundreds of times I fished the lake I have been checked 1 time by AG&F.
They could stock tilapia for the bass to eat in the summer. It’s been done in other lakes.
Plenty of bream and crappie need to be there.
I would like to know what about the bass and other fish that are in there now. Will we be able to fish the lake why it’s being drained? Cause I know their are some very big bass still in the lake.