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 MAGNOLIA
- Have you ever watched your favorite fishing show tape an episode on
some stumpy trophy bass lake in some exotic locale and wished you were
there? Well, many anglers in south Arkansas are finding out that you
don't have to travel to Mexico to catch a trophy largemouth bass.
South Arkansas has its own stump-filled trophy bass lake that many
people across the state have may never have heard of. Lake Columbia is a
3,000-acre impoundment located in Columbia County, approximately six
miles west of Magnolia. The lake was constructed in the late 1980s as a
water supply lake for Magnolia and Columbia County. It was officially
opened to fishing in 1987.
Close to 150,000 Florida strain largemouth bass were stocked into the
lake within the first five years after impoundment, according to AGFC
fisheries biologist Jason Olive. "Largemouth bass harvest in the lake
was restricted initially by a 12 inch minimum length limit. However, due
to the rapid growth of the fish, the limit had to be changed to 15
inches by the spring of 1988," Olive explained.
"Eventually, the lake became over-crowded with 10 to 12 inch fish, and
in 1990 the minimum length limit was replaced with a 13 to 16 inch
protective slot limit. By 1992, some of the Florida bass from the
initial stockings were already reaching trophy sizes, with numerous
reports of fish greater than ten pounds being caught. In 1993, analyses
of bass filets showed high levels of mercury in bass greater than 16
inches. This, coupled with the trophy bass potential of the lake, led
biologists to implement a trophy bass slot limit of 16 to 21 inches
beginning in 1994," he said.
The bass population in the lake continued to boom throughout the 1990s,
with numerous bass over 10 pounds being caught by anglers every year.
However, in August of 2002, a fish kill affected only largemouth bass,
with almost all ranging in size from 17 to 25 inches. AGFC biologists
observed forty dead fish in three days, which may have been only a small
fraction of the fish that died from this kill.
The kill was later attributed to largemouth bass virus, or LMBV, which
affected many lakes in the southern part of the United States including
Lake Monticello, Olive said. "Surprisingly, electrofishing data showed
little decline in the overall bass population," he added.
"A fish health assessment showed a slight decline in the overall health
of individual fish from 2000 to 2002. However, the bass population in
Lake Columbia appears to have fully recovered from the effects of the
LMBV kill. The assessment conducted in 2004 shows much better health
than was observed in 2002," Olive said.
Electrofishing data continues to show a population with a high number of
fish within the protective slot (16 to 21 inches) and several above the
slot. 2004 was an excellent year for anglers on the lake as well, with
area wildlife officers reporting numerous bass over nine pounds being
caught weekly during spring months.
In the first two months of 2005, anglers have reported catching one bass
over 11 pounds, two over 10 pounds, and numerous seven and eight pound
fish. District biologists believe that the primary reason why the bass
population in this lake has been more productive than those in other
area lakes is because local anglers tend to harvest some bass that are
below the slot limit, and release all bass within and most above the
slot. "This practice has made the 16 to 21-inch slot extremely
successful on this lake at producing trophy bass. Additionally, since
the implementation of the trophy slot limit in 1994, an average of over
95,000 Florida largemouth bass have been stocked into the lake each
year," Olive said.
In fact, anglers in other states have learned of Lake Columbia and it is
now not uncommon to see trucks with license plates from Texas and
Louisiana at access areas around the lake. The lake was also recently
featured on a fishing show on ESPN Outdoors. Lake Columbia has been the
best kept bass fishing secret in the state of Arkansas for many years,
but it appears now that the secret is out |
