the lake will be lowered starting sept. 2nd. the commission was going to lower it 4 ft but the wildlife asked it to be lowered 5 ft. will close the gates on or before jan 15th. the lake will be open but wildlife has been asked to patrol heavy, and the commission thinks they will. launch will be hard with only a few places to put in. i have seen it before where the lake would stay full with the gates open so it all depends on rain. any questions i will try to find answers if you will ask. alvinl

If You Do Not Mind Please Keep Us Informed As To Where We Can Put In. I Plan To Fish Some Later This Year. Thanks Don.

hwy 33 ramp will be open, but may be hard to launch. i will keep you posted

The ramp on Corney Bridge (East Side) should also be O.K......it will be a little steep, but unless the ramp gets very wet, you should be able to launch and recover without any problems....the ramp behind the convenience store will probably be too shallow to use......This is the same area that most locals still refer to as "D'Arbonne Village"...in case you don't know, the store has changed hands in the last year and made major improvements.....namely, a good grill for sandwiches;etc. where you can actually sit down and relax. They also have added a camping section and I believe they offer "FULL" hookups....don't know the cost.......They are real nice folks who have made a major investment to help the area and I hope everyone will stop in....As a further bit of info, this is all located on Hwy 2 which heads west out of Farmerville toward Bernice...............

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Bob, how long will it take to lower the lake? When should the fishing get good?? I hope you`ve had good summer and rested up for some great fall and winter fishing........Tknight

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The limit is how many you KEEP, not how many you CATCH! Cat. III Jigs/Custom Jig Poles

i am not bob but i will try to answer that as best as i can. darbonne has a large watershed and with that said it will all depend on the rain we get here and to our north and west. the lake can be down in 2 to 4 weeks with no rain. as far as the fishing when it is falling to me it is always good. maybe bob can correct me with this. alvin

This is killin' me!

Randy

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The Bait Pump

Sorry, I've been out of the loop for several days....I usually figure a drop of about 3 inches a day, but like Wannabe says, it all depends on the amount of rainfall we get...Even though we've had a good bit of rain in August, the lake still didn't rise a foot above pool. On the other hand I have also seen all the gates wide open and the lake level go to 3 to 4 feet above pool. Most people just don't understand how mich water is collected in the D'Arbonne watershed....Can't remember if it was 1957 or 1958, but BEFORE there was a dam built to form Lake D'Arbonne, we had weather conditions that produced enough rainfall to flood every creek and river in south Arkansas and north Louisiana......if there had been a dam at the present location in Farmerville. the water level would have been about 11 or 12 feet ABOVE the top of the dam.

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B&M BOB I know of two times the river got in the lake 74 &91. the 58 flood was bad to.

Thanks for the heads up Alvin,

You know I am not too worried about the draw down. In my mind it will just consentrate the fish more in the deep channels when it gets cold. They have to find deep water and only place it will be with 5 foot less lake is in the channel... Should be some awesome fishing if you can get your boat in...

~Fishin' Magician~