Anglers fishing on Mississippi’s busiest waters, Barnett Reservoir near Jackson, will find a lower water level from the start of December through the end of February under a new operational schedule approved by the Board of Directors of the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, a state agency that oversees the 33,000-acre lake.
“We will target a lake level of 296 (feet above sea level) during the winter months, down from the 297.5 we’ve targeted since 2012,” said John Sigman, general manager of PRVWSD. “If you remember, from the early 80s through 2012, we had a seasonal drawdown every winter. Our target then was 296, so this is nothing new.
“As we saw last year, when we had brought the lake down to assist in our battle against the invasive giant Salvinia vegetation in Pelahatchie Bay, it provided valuable storage space to help mitigate flooding downriver during a high-water event in February. We weren’t able to keep water out of all the houses in Jackson, but we were able to keep the numbers down in the low hundreds instead of thousands.”
The flood of 2020 saw the second-highest, in-flow totals into the lake in its 55-year history, behind only the catastrophic 1979 Easter Flood. It surprised forecasters when it exceeded the 1983 flood, yet the number of houses impacted was far lower.
“We felt like bringing the lake down to 296 was the right thing to do,” Sigman said. “We will start bringing it down to 296 on Dec, 1, although nature might do it for us earlier. We are heading into mid-November already low to a lack of rain and very little in the long-term forecast. We will start bringing back up to normal pool on March 1.”
Other benefits
Sigman said the lowering also provides more opportunity to continue battling against Salvinia and other invasive vegetation.
Bass fishermen see another side benefit, too.
“I like to see them bring it down,” said Kenny Churchill of Brandon. “I thought it was always good for the fish, and I know it was good for me. Just seems like the bass always were more numerous and healthier back when we had the drawdowns in the winter. You have to pay more attention to where you are running when the lake is down, but I think it’s worth it.”
Crappie fishermen agree with Churchill’s assessment.
“It might take us a few trips to figure out what depth the fish will like in the winter, but that’s OK,” said James Carson of Pearl. “Fish will be even more concentrated in the deeper areas that still have baitfish. Back 10 to 15 years ago, I remember having some of the best days of crappie fishing in my life with my uncle.
“He loved to fish over off Brown’s Landing in that old lakebed that starts just off the ramp. He had this one stretch of trees on the edge of that lake that always held fish back then. I just hope I can remember which ones they are or find them. I remember 14 feet being the magic depth. With modern electronics, if they’re there, finding them will be so much easier. My uncle, Jack, he has passed, and I wonder what he’d think if he saw how easy it is to locate fish. He had to do it the hard way and boy could he ever do it. He loved to get the boat in the water when he had to break ice at the ramp to launch. We always caught them.”
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