*Arkabutla Reservoir

Alert

Weekly fishing reports will resume the week of February 15, 2025. Below are winter fishing tips and techniques.

News on the dam assessment and repair can be found at UPDATE: Interim Repairs near completion at Arkabutla Dam

New crappie regulations went into effect on July 24, 2024 on the four Flood Control Reservoirs (Arkabutla, Sardis, Enid, and Grenada) and their spillways.

The daily creel limit for crappie is 10 fish per angler, and the daily aggregate limit is 25 fish for boats with three or more anglers. Crappie must be over 12 inches, and the pole limit remains at 4 per angler. In addition, fish may only be cleaned at designated fish cleaning stations if available, not on the water or in the boat ramp parking lots. In the spillways, the daily limit is 10 fish per angler. There are no boat or size limits in the spillways. Pole limits in the rip-rapped portions of the spillways remain 1 per angler.

All ramps are blocked off except for the gravel one into the north river channel at Hwy 51 landing parking lot. How far you can go there is limited by river flow and/or lake level. Creek and riverbank fishing are other options.

For COE regulations, see: US Army Corps of Engineers

Late Fall/Winter Fishing Report - Updated 12/3/2024

All fishing regulations remain in effect. It is a good time to take pictures or waypoints of bottom cover or habitat for when the lake refills. Be very careful around steep banks or soft bottomed areas. Some fish have survived in the main lake, sloughs, and creek and river channels.

Winter fishing can be good since the fish often school tightly and/or are concentrated by low water. Fish bite better after a few warm, sunny days. Unlike summer, best bet is to fish midday on sunny banks. Check water level trends; except for catfish, fishing is usually better on a slow fall than a fast rise. Even in cold weather, catfish will feed in rainfall runoff. Be aware water rises and drawdowns will be very rapid.

The extended drawdown is allowing vegetation to colonize exposed areas, providing habitat, cover, and food for fish, aquatic invertebrates, waterfowl, and other wildlife when re-flooded. Flooded vegetation also settles sediment out of the water. A September 2024 habitat survey found lots of 6 to 16 ft tall willows colonizing around the new waterline, lake bottom, and creek banks. Other wetland trees (cottonwood, cypress, etc.) were scarcer and smaller. Smartweed (seeds are good duck forage) was also abundant. 

Spillway

The spillway area is closed to fishing because of the dam repair.

Spillway gate openings, flow rates, and spillway water elevations can be obtained at Vicksburg District Corps of Engineers OR Yazoo River Basin Reservoirs click on 24-hour change for picture explanation of gate flow, spillway flow, etc.).

All fish captured and kept with dip or landing nets, cast nets, boat mounted scoops, wire baskets, minnow seines, and minnow traps in the spillway areas bordered by rip rap must be immediately placed on ice or in a dry container. Game fish caught with these gears must be released. This regulation was enacted to reduce the potential of transferring harmful Asian carps to the reservoir or other waters.

The 12-inch crappie length limit does not apply to the reservoir spillway, but the spillway has a 10-crappie creel limit.

Water Level

Ignore the rule curve as the COE maintains low water to assess and repair the dam. Expect very rapid rises and drawdowns as rain events happen and the Corps tries to maintain a low water level. Emergency spillway level is 238.3. For water level information, call (662)562-6261 or check at Vicksburg District Daily Bulletin for a table OR Coldwater River @ Arkabutla Dam, MS for a graph OR Yazoo River Basin Reservoirs for both (click on 24-hour change for picture explanation of gate flow, spillway flow, etc.). Be sure to check the date on the table; it is usually updated midday.