D’Arbonne drawdown update

White perch fishermen are keeping the ramp at Jake’s busy

The spillway gates on Lake D’Arbonne have been closed and will stay closed unless substantial rain raises the lake more than a few inches. The lake stands at 75.05 feet, almost five feet below the lake’s normal 80 foot pool stage. That was the target set by the Lake Commission.

Several of the major ramps are still accessible — the spillway ramp on the Farmerville side, Jake’s ramp, Hwy. 2 ramp on the East side (the old roadbed) and the Hog Pen ramp.  Use care. The ramps are steep and when they get wet from rain or truck traffic, they can become difficult.  And if you plan on launching at Jake’s, you may have to park down the road and walk back to your boat.

The plan is to leave the lake down until early January and hope that a frost kills some of the aquatic vegetation that has plagued parts of the upper end of the lake. If you are a property owner, you’ve got a couple of months to get things done down by the lakeside, barring any extended rain that could bring up the lake whether we are ready or not!

Enjoy and be safe out there.