Lake Conway boat lane brainstorming sessions announced

MAYFLOWER — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will host two meetings in early February to gather public input on the boat lane enhancements planned for Lake Conway during its renovation.

Anyone interested in offering suggestions on where boat lanes can be created, moved or improved are welcome to attend one of the two meetings scheduled to be held at the Mayflower High School Cafeteria. The first meeting will be 8:30-10:30 a.m. Feb. 3 and the second will be held from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 6.

“We’ll have maps of the current boat lane system and individuals will be guided with opportunities to brainstorm how we can improve navigation on the lake,” Nick Feltz, AGFC Regional Fisheries Supervisor in the Mayflower Office, said. “We’ll have to consider water depth, number of stumps to be removed and preservation of live trees during the process, but we definitely want to hear from anglers, landowners and other people who use the lake so we can make the boating experience better.”

Clearing navigable pathways through “Old Stumpy” is likely one of the most anticipated highlights of the Lake Conway renovation the AGFC is undertaking. Even some of the marked boat lanes have enough remnants of flooded forests to keep most anglers at idle speed whenever they venture onto the lake’s surface. The lake being drained will enable the AGFC to improve the 23 miles of existing boat lanes and create some new paths to make navigation much easier once the lake is refilled.

“We worked with an underwater stump-removal company a few years ago to work on some boat lanes,” Feltz said. “We saw some good progress, but the work was extremely expensive and there are only a few contractors for that type of work in the country. The lake being drained should let us produce the best possible product for people who use the lake.”

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CUTLINES:

GROUP LOOKING AT MAP
The AGFC will hold two special input sessions for public assistance in improving the boat lane network on Lake Conway.

BOAT IN WATER
Even running in some of Lake Conway’s established boat lanes can be tricky.

MAP
Meeting participants will be able to identify areas where boat lanes can be enhanced.