Never underestimate the AGFCs ability to screw up a wildlife area.

Nice to see update on your lake over there.Happy New Year.

We drove down to Little Rock from Bentonville a couple of weeks ago. It was an erie sight when we got to Lake Conway.

HI Cole, Jay, Cyprus and Summer. Lake looking terrible. Thanks for taking us along. God bless and love yall ❤❤

I’ve been saying if they would flip the stumps upside down to have the roots sticking up, no artificial fish attracts would be needed. Bulldoze a pile of about 5 stumps with roots up… Wow! That would make great cover for spawning!!

Wow. That’s shocking. Can’t wait till it’s back some day

That’s cool, Cole. Maybe feed those trapped bass in the channel you were catching the other day. That lake has had so many shad it seems like you could walk across them at times.

At 11:30 in your video, you didn't know what the "Little Dam" was? There used to be a pipeline going across there back in the early 90's. All rusted away, now! (Used to fish with Boogey H. there, and catch a LOT of good Crappie!).

I would have kept some of those shad for sure! Great cut bait and chum.

that old cement wall would be a great place to check for spawning crappie in the spring,., it also makes a good choke point for largemouth and sandies to corral shad up against.

That sunk, sinker cypress, makes Great art and furniture.

It was an interesting video. Would be nice to show some before and after comparisons.

Like you showing your lake and do you all know if they are planning to build a new type of dam for the future or just planning to tread the hold lake. Thanks for the update and can't wait for 2024 videos.

We have a ton of alligator snapping turtles that bury themselves under the silt that will not ever see the light of day again… so sad

That's crazy me and my buddies we're out there at the damn when you posted this video cast netting as well

Excellent video Brother

Your boy is here for it let's goooooo

Hey guys, yall more than welcome to come here to Dallas/ft. Worth to fish!!!

I’m headed there tomorrow (Friday) morning. Any suggestions on where to fish?

Oh wow are you at Lake Conway and I'm from Central Arkansas here

Good afternoon my friend s.

W video man!!

I just wonder where the giant Croc-o-saurus has got off too now ??

Hope you do the cast netting again.

We watch. Every show we have family that live on lake Conway. Keep it p with draining project on your show .grandson. He’s 4 any watches you guys with kids. . Gotta meet you when we come visit family. We have daughter. That was raised on lake Conway

Lots shades in that area

Cole, I have wondered about the fish leaving the lake as they think they will also. Hopefully they will bring in an excavator and tear out those concrete walls in front of the damn so more water can drain and fish can escape. About 3 weeks ago I went down to the ramp where you, Daniel and Houston launched at and there were hundreds of small size catfish just boiling the water feeding on shad in that pocket there. I hated to see them do this to the lake but hopefully it will be better in 5 or 10 years.

Have you seen any carp in the shallow flats areas?

I'm sorry to hear they are draining your lake

You ought to make some shad gut stew.

In my opinion why fix something that’s not broken? That’s ridiculous! Not to mention all the wildlife habitat that they’re destroying! I know that I can get carried away with some things, but my goodness! I just can’t!😮 I’m so sorry, Cole! I know this craziness must be tearing y’all up because it was your dream to live on this lake! Lots of prayers for y’all! Love and blessings from this old Bama girl!❤❤❤

Must of missed it. Just how soon will the state return these waterways back to "normal" ? Thank you...

Cole, what will happen to all those cypress trees? Will they die or can they live without being in water.

You need to take a metal detector down there and pick up sinkers and lures! When I lived in south Florida, years ago I would go down in the keys and pick up sinkers under the bridges and offshore around the rocks at each end of the bridges! I'd find more than I could carry in a 5 gallon bucket! I'd have to make several trips to get them all to the car! Lead is becoming a precious commodity in the U.S. now since the EPA closed down our only remaining smelter several years ago! All lead has to be imported now!

Maybe you should communicate with the organization that is doing the work on the lake to see if you can do some video of the work and it's progress so you can educate yourself and your viewers on the who? What? When? Why? Where? of this whole deal. Just Sayin

Do dams block fish passage? Yes, they do, as seen here, even a low wall is a fish barrier. The concept of fish passage is mostly emphasized out west in "salmon country" where salmon runs happen, but it should never be devalued in Arkansas, especially with a dam so close to the Arkansas River where this one is located. But first, let's talk about the sediment/siltation accumulation, the reason given by AGFC for draining the reservoir called Lake Conway. The dam was constructed around 1948 to create the impoundment for recreational purposes. . It's neither a flood control dam, nor a hydro-power dam. Nearly 7000 acres of land was inundated. A couple of creeks were also drowned beneath their own impounded waters, the main one is known as Palarm Creek, a name derived from an early French settler named Baptiste Larme. Some of the very first eminent domain laws were used to obtain the land since some land owners objected to losing their land for this dam construction project that was being championed by the state of Arkansas. The dam, like all dams, blocked the natural transport of sediment. A river's job is to transport that sediment downstream. A river bed works like a conveyor belt. A dam is a wall that disrupts this natural system causing the sediment to settle on the bottom of the reservoir and accumulate instead of drifting downstream. The accumulation increases when populations and development increase due to the coverage by impermeable surfaces. So, the AGFC's plan is to drain the reservoir for 5 YEARS in hopes that this accumulated sediment will become "compacted." They claim there are case studies that prove that compaction will occur, I haven't seen these studies, but it sounds pretty far-fetched. Anyone who has seen what happens to a drained reservoir knows that the former lakebed will revert to what it was prior to the damming. In this case, the land was a cypress and hardwood forest that was being logged and used for farming. Fish passage: "Rivers connect us", but they also connect fish to their native spawning areas. When dams block fish passage, fish populations often plummet, unless and until fish are later stocked into the impoundment, thus replacing a natural fish run with a bureaucratic fish stocking program paid for by us the taxpayers. What we know about dam removal from the hundreds of dams that have been removed is that the natives come back once the dam is gone. Even after long periods of blockage, the fish return and swim upstream and reconnect with where they have lived for thousands of years. Diversity and numbers increase rapidly once the dam is gone and fish are free to move up and down the river system. The siltation and sediment that was trapped is also free to move and that improves the water quality and fish habitat. Once the dam is gone, the system works like it was designed to and the best thing is we don't have to support a bureaucracy to stock fish for fishermen to catch. A river ecosystem is sustainable, natural and ancient. 🤔 Thank you for showing this area returning to its Natural State. It's time to reconnect Palarm Creek to the Arkansas River by removing the remnants of this obsolete dam and restoring our shared natural resource! To the rivers, gvh

Cormorant tried to eat the big bass. Choked to death. Right now both are fighting in the afterlife.

here you go buddy..after steepping on his buddy..lool

Watch out for the gator as it warms up. It buried up in a old beaver hut somewhere out there. A gator can survive in frozen over water as long as it keeps its nostrils above ice level 🎅 Santajerry

What are they going to do to renovate the lake? Not sure what the means.

Need to do operation save big ole bass.

That's what I was wondering.. Have you guys seen any sign of the gator??

The problem with shad is that it is, in my experience, impossible to keep them alive.

Better than my throw I still can't get it to open up

You said that there were Alligators in the lake,where did they go?

Especially when they didn't really get you a warning

Do people eat shad? If so, how do they handle it?

Feel really bad for the big ole big bass that will get left behind😢. Maybe you can catch them and release the biggins out and let them survive to get even bigger. Help save the biggins Cole.

Did they relocate the gator?

I can definitely understand why they would drain the lake to clear channels for boating, just safety concerns.

I shad in the stream.

How deep was that lake before they started draining it?

As soon as next week they're planning on getting the two old drain pipes open and it'll start draining about 2-3 more feet. By February it'll be mostly drained. Except for the old ponds and creek channel. Sucks

Saw a guy lose a net right there early in the spring...he didn't have it tied to his wrist... It's in there stll

I have a question, when they are draining a lake like that do they allow you to keep any and all fish you catch at that lake only or do you still have normal state limits and they leave all the fish that do not meet regulation to die as the water dries up?

Oh

Dumb question - you verified that there is at least one gator in the lake. Is AGFC planning on relocating the gator (s) or will they be ok during the drawdown?

Where is this?

Ok… Now let me clarify something. Looks like there is a lot of PETA members or something. Was the lake a good lake? Yes. Should it have been drained from a habitat improvement perspective. Probably not. But, the lake was constructed way beck in the 50s and 60s and the same needed repairs, so they lake was either going to be drained by Agfc or the levee would burst and kill all the fish anyways. Plus even though the lake still had a ton of structure during this drawdown lots of small trees and bushes will grow in the old lakebed and soil will be enhanced leading to a more fertile better lake in the future. Also everyone saying they are destroying the environment. REMEMBER the lake was made by people in the first place. If you really want to preserve the environment, drain the lake and restore the natural creek bottom that was once there.

Why are they draining the lake. What are the plans for it?

What’s the reason for draining the lake?

Think of how beautiful those cypress trees would be right now if they didn't cut them all down.

I have a question. I follow you a lot!!! And it will say catch and cook, and you just keep throwing them all back - like white bass, for example. Can you please explain why a catch and cook...and you throw so many back? I'd appreciate it!!!

Man we gotta work on your castnet skills..😂

Fish swim upstream They're not going out the gates into the creek. And 5 yrs of no water ain't going to " cook" the soil. I wish i knew what they were really up to. I need to get out there and get some fish before it's too late

Haven’t been keeping up why r they drawing the lake ?

What lake?

Why are they drawing that Lake?

Why does he carry a bucket if he isn't going to keep any of the fish?

Totally hate that beautiful wildlife area has been destroyed. Lots of fish and wildlife being displaced. Thank you for letting us see everything.

I can't honestly believe they are doing this to improve the area. I believe there is a money behind this.

Say Cole, you're pretty handy with that cast net.... I came across this vid of Roland Martin throwing a Ten footer that pretty cool... he's 81 in this vid kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j9t7qNKKv724opc.html ... the mans simply amazing.

You would have done better if the water was running faster.

SAD to see! Sickens me .

Still hate to see a lake drained 👋

Still sad that they have done this.

U never know when u cast a spill way.

Silk fill in a lake Time drain remove lot silk floating into lake Once deep holes fill in silk floated in year by year,Time remove dozer,track hoes pull lot silk floating into lake Dig out lay in deeper hole,cut bank down fill deeper water,most fish trap in lake deeper holes creek will come back restock do in big size fish release So fish lot sooner

Why do you never mention that it’s Lake Conway? like you’re trying to keep some kind of special secret or something, it’s kind of aggravating

That really disgust me can't imagine how you feel it's sad

Sad…

What a shame!!! What kind of A-hole would drain a beautiful lake not realizing the repercussions on the wildlife that depend on it for their existence???

Just sad

Any gator sighting since the water got low?