Horn Lake still closed after 2011 flood, likely to stay that way

During late spring of 2010, the long-term outlook for Horn Lake was as bright as it had ever been.

Officials from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks had just stocked 75,000 hybrid bass fingerlings into the lake in hopes of building a trophy hybrid fishery just 30 minutes from Downtown Memphis.

The lake already had plenty of native species like catfish, crappie and bluegill — and considering its proximity to town, most people probably expected Horn Lake to be a viable fishing option forever.

Then the floods came, and everything changed.

The small oxbow off the Mississippi River that is sometimes referred to as “Lakeview,” exploded from its banks during the historic 2011 spring floods. The lakeside store that was operated for years by Jerry Walls was completely under water, along with many of the shoreline areas that local anglers had been fishing for decades.

The old Lakeview experience was literally washed away — and today, more than two years later, it seems unlikely it will ever be restored.

In the wake of the flood, MDWFP officials expressed their desire to keep Lakeview available to the public. Ron Garavelli, who retired earlier this summer as the state’s chief of fisheries, said the department started looking right away for a “patch of land adjacent to the lake” where a new boat ramp could be built.

The search has dragged on without any luck.

“We have tried to buy or lease land for public access at Horn Lake for a long time now,” said MDWFP fisheries biologist Keith Meals. “By law, we are only able to offer fair market value for such land. So far we have been unsuccessful in obtaining any land there.”

I don’t know if that means they haven’t been able to find any land at all or if someone has a little patch of land and they’re asking a gigantic price for it. But either way, it leaves Lakeview fishermen out in the cold.

At one point, I was convinced the lake would be reopened in some fashion.

I never really envisioned a repeat of the old scenario where you could park in a decent lot and walk into a marina store to buy ice, drinks, snacks and live bait before launching your boat on a good, solid ramp. I never expected to see boats available for rent at Lakeview again.

I know those hybrids can probably hear the music from Bourbon Street in New Orleans by now, and I never expected to see that plan come to fruition.

But I thought they’d at least be able to find some ground for the “concrete boat ramp and honor box” Garavelli envisioned back in 2011. I thought we’d at least be able to launch our boats, pay our $2 and do a little evening bass fishing once in a while or fish for bedding bluegill during the spring.

Now that even seems doubtful — and as more time goes by, I suspect the project will fall closer toward the bottom of the state’s to-do list until it finally gets lost in the shuffle entirely.

I think they’ve tried hard — and I believe they truly realize the value of having more public waters available to anglers. It’s just not doable.

“Loss of public access results in some anglers quitting fishing entirely or shifting their effort to other waters, increasing pressure on those waters,” Meals said. “MDWFP is always actively seeking willing sellers to acquire public access to public waters. But it doesn’t always work out.”

It’s an unfortunate thing.

I know some of you young anglers in the Memphis area fished Lakeview with your fathers and grandfathers, and I know you’d love to relive those moments with your own children and grandchildren someday.

Conservation officials in Mississippi know it, too — and they feel for you.

But barring an unexpected development in the real estate market, there just isn’t much they can do about it.