Lakeside pavilion will aid anglers
ROGERS — Fishermen returning to Beaver Lake this spring will have an added perk when a new weigh-in facility and group shelter is completed at Prairie Creek Park.
The weigh-in station is the first of its kind on Beaver Lake and will be used primarily for fishing tournaments, said Jared Trammell, chief ranger for recreation at the Army Corps of Engineers’ Beaver Lake project office.
It will be fashioned like a pavilion at Lake Dardanelle State Park. Greers Ferry Lake and lakes in the Hot Springs area also have weigh-in facilities.
The structure is planned to be a laminated wood amphitheater with a pavilion and two holding tanks that will help prevent fish from dying by aerating and pumping in lake water while fishermen wait their turn. Work began on the project in September and is expected to be complete by May 1, depending on weather conditions.
The anglers and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission got the project started, said Jon Stein, district fisheries supervisor for the Rogers Fisheries Division. He added that the holding tanks will have higher levels of oxygen than the lake and will help educate anglers on how to better take care of their catch.
The Army Corps of Engineers allows more than 100 tournaments at Beaver Lake annually, and the majority of them are based at Prairie Creek, Trammell said. It will
be the site of the 2017 Fishing League Worldwide Tournament at Beaver Lake on April 27-30.
Prairie Creek is a popular access point on the lake with a six-lane boat ramp and the capability of handling tournaments with as many as 190 boats, according to a newsletter by the Game and Fish Commission.
“Having a world-class facility and the best in the state will bring tournaments from Dallas and others out of state,” said John Newlun, general manager of Hook, Line and Sinker Outdoors, a fishing shop a few miles from Prairie Creek.
Newlun said Beaver Lake tournaments like the Fishing League Worldwide Tour, Everett Tournament and Ozark Anglers bring customers to the shop.
“We’ve had decent facilities, and now we’ll have great facilities,” he said of the lake.
Newlun said fishermen like going to Lake Dardanelle because of its weigh-in pavilion, and he expects the one at Prairie Creek will reroute business and tournaments to Northwest Arkansas.
“Any time they upgrade park facilities, it’s good to attract more people,” said Kim Williams, who owns Ski and Sports Inc. with husband Steve. The couple’s shop sells recreational equipment and repairs fishing boats.
Williams said she serves customers from Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, as well as locals, and she would expect better campsites and facilities to bring in more visitors.
Two group shelters at Prairie Creek were torn down to make room for the new facility, and the resulting new group shelter will continue to be open to the public as a rental space for family reunions, weddings, picnics and other events. The former shelters took 100 event reservations annually.
Construction for the weighin facility project cost $295,000. Federal grants through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Fund contributed $221,250 toward the cost, and more than $30,000 was provided by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Stein said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service collects excise taxes on American fishing supplies, then distributes that revenue to state agencies to fund projects such as the one at Prairie Creek.
The remainder of the facility’s construction expense was covered by $32,500 of in-kind donations made by various organizations, Stein said. McGoodwin, Williams and Yates Engineering provided expertise for the site plan, Consolidated Improvement Services provided site preparation and demolition of the former shelters, Epps Plumbing and Tune Concrete provided services, and the Harps grocery store chain donated a table and sink.
Approximately 2.6 million people visit Beaver Lake annually for events and recreation. Day use, launch fees, camping costs and reservation of group shelters drum up $1.4 million in revenue a year, Trammell said.
Improvements to the Prairie Creek site have been in the works for some time. This winter, the Army Corps of Engineers replaced all water lines and hydrants within the park to improve the water system for area campsites, and it did timber work and screenings to upgrade the gravel tent pads, Trammell said. The area’s roads and campsites were paved and fitted with new utilities last year.
This winter’s mild conditions gave Corps staff more time and money to make improvements to Prairie Creek and other areas of Beaver Lake.
A total of 12 campsites at the War Eagle Recreation Area and Campground on Beaver Lake were rehabilitated and improved with timber tent pads. The old campsites had grills, picnic tables, electricity and other amenities, but they were on uneven, rocky terrain, Trammell said.
Some of Beaver Lake’s campsites will open April 1, and the remainder will open May 1.