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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has postponed three open house meetings that were scheduled to discuss data on crappie from Wappapello Lake and collect comments from Wappapello anglers.
“We are eager to interact with anglers so we can show them our data and hear their comments, but first we must allow the community to respond to local flooding,” said Dave Knuth, a MDC fisheries management biologist. “Wappapello Lake’s primary purpose is to serve for flood control and that is what is occurring at the lake right now.”
Meetings were scheduled in Poplar Bluff, Greenville and Wappapello for May 4, 9 and 11. However, Knuth said MDC will reschedule all three meetings once the flood is under control.
“We want to ensure everyone who wants to be at these meetings can be there and we know that the current flood is what is at the top of our minds right now,” Knuth said.
Knuth said the history of Wappapello Lake is relevant to the challenges in managing the lake's crappie fishery. The 8,400-acre lake is unlike many other lakes, in that it’s a shallow floodplain reservoir as opposed to a steep sided, large volume reservoir. The lake’s primary, and necessary, function is for flood control.
For more information about fishing for crappie and Wappapello Lake, go online to mdc.mo.gov. To contact Dave Knuth with questions or comments about Wappapello Lake, call (573)290-5858, ext. 4434. Comments about crappie at Wappapello may be emailed to Knuth at dave.knuth@mdc.mo.gov.
