Contractors with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recently completed a major project at Mike Knoedl Tri-County Lake in Calhoun County improving fishing access and fish habitat on the popular 280-acre lake near Fordyce in south-central Arkansas.

The lake’s north shore holds nearly a dozen earthen jetties that extend angling opportunities and offer increased access toward deeper water. However, over the decades, much of the area between the jetties has silted and filled in, preventing the deep-water access they once offered. Late last year, the lake was drawn down, and contractors worked to deepen these areas and revitalize the fishing experience for shorebound anglers in the Fordyce area.

Andy Yung, AGFC regional fisheries supervisor, said the lake saw many other improvements during the drawdown.

“Other improvements completed since the start of the drawdown last summer include rehabilitation of a ramp near the girl scout camp area, brush clearing along shoreline areas for bank anglers, and aerial millet planting on the upper end of the lake for waterfowl habitat,” Yung said.

The gate was closed in mid-December to allow the lake to refill.

Yung says one remaining element was left to complete, and it has been highly requested the past few years. The construction of a new fishing pier on Tri-County has been approved and the AGFC is working with contractors to begin work as soon as possible.

“With the rain we got in mid to late December the lake is nearly full again,” Yung said. “The gears are turning on the construction of the pier, and we hope to have that complete within the next few months.