How will the drawdown affect the WP fishing in the fall??? The Claiborne overflow is connected so will they lower it some to act as a level buffer at Darbonne while its down? Thanks for any info in advance...

yes. a lot of fish will go out the gates. the last draw down they also took claiborne down to. that caused the gates at darbonne to stay open longer. i know claiborne lost all their strippers. they did not end up in darbonne i think they ended up in the river. that where most of the fish will end up from darbonne in the ouchita river. john

this is just me and my thinking but every time they draw the lake down it takes 3 yrs to come back. i wish there was some other way to accomplish what they are trying to do without drawing the lake down

Wantabe. you right about the three years before the fishing will bit right again. do you remember the first draw down in 74 that’s when darbonne was in its prime . I had a 15 terry bass back then. I took the back seat out to make room for more ice chests after the draw down you get by with one ice chest. I think the worst draw down was in 87. I'm like you the draw downs need to stop. it would not hurt my feeling if the police jury would take the lake back over . john

the commission was set up by the state.the state rep and gov appoint the members. the police jury have no say in any of it. the last time the jury recommended a member rep downs would not let them serve. it is all politics and that is one problem with the lake.

I also agree with the 3 years to come back of the fish population,but right now I think we need the drawdown to knock the hydrilla back a little. Even though vegetation does a lot of good, it can easily be a big problem on the Bone due to the vast amount of shallow water....anything 5 feet or less is starting to really get choked up in the arms of Little D'Arbonne and Corney. The other complication during the low water period is that it always occurs at the same time as the start of dove and squirrrel seasons....with the resources of the wildlife dept. already stretched thin, anything with "fur or feathers" usually trumps anything with scales when it comes to enforcement. The main thing we can ALL do is use some self-restraint and good judgment when the fish are at our mercy............even if you take ONE ICE CHEST doesn't mean that you have to fill it up to the point of not being able to close the lid.

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I'm hearing of the 3 year duration of Darbonne getting back to normal following a drawdown. Is it because of fish being passed thru the gates or fishing pressure during the drawdown??? Or both?? Or could it be a mini version of what happened at Caney when the carp were turned loose there to trim the weeds? This case being Darbonne going "weedless" for a brief period as a result of the drawdown. I would suspect that the massive amount of habitat being eleminated (hydrilla) would stun a lake such as Darbonne. I really think this could also be a factor. What do you all think. JN

Both there a lot more pressure put on the fish now days then in the past. I know last spring there was about 50 boats a day fishing below the spillway . in two weeks the wp was wipe out. in the past few mouths I’m seeing a lot of old john boats with new motors running up & down the road . last mouth I sold a small outboard I had about 200 calls on the motor most of um was just getting into fishing only time will tell what it will be like this year. john

i think all factors come into play with a draw down. we as fisherman need to do what we can to help. the fish will be like fishing in a barrel, so we need to catch what we need and release the others or go home and fry the ones we caught. enforcement activity has always been low on the bone for some reason, and i don't expect it to be better this yr. i know the weeds are a problem for the owner of camps and getting to their property, but i think as with caney once they are gone so is the good fishing. i live here and like to see the lake thrive for all, but have mixed feelings about the draw down.

Has anybody ever seen a drawdown really work to controll aquatic grass???I have never seen it work. Really the only thing that will help this problem is the correct number of Grass carp.....Tknight

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