FISHING FOR ANSWERS: FISHERMAN SAYS LAKE GIRARDEAU IS "DEAD SEA"

CRUMP -- Doug Flannery loves to fish, but these days he's fishing for answers as to why the fishing isn't better at Lake Girardeau.

He worries that the lake will become as dead as the Dead Sea.

The Whitewater man blames the Missouri Department of Conservation for the problem. He contends the agency has done a poor job of managing the 162-acre lake in Cape Girardeau County.

"It's just absolute mismanagement," said Flannery as he walked near the lake one afternoon.

"It's fished out and they are doing nothing to help it," he said.

Conservation Department officials insist the lake is in good shape, both for fish and fishermen.

Mark Boone, fisheries management biologist for the Conservation Department, said there are plenty of fish in the lake.

Boone said it is one of the best fishing lakes in the region, particularly for those seeking to hook a few bass.

Flannery couldn't disagree more.

Flannery lives near the lake. He has fished in the lake since he was a boy. The last four digits of his telephone number spell "bass."

"I've lived here 38 years. I've been coming here 34 years," he said.

But the man-made lake -- completed in late 1964 at a cost of more than $257,000 -- has fallen on hard times, Flannery said.

The Conservation Department has boarded up the handicapped restrooms and turned off the water. There are four privies at the lake, but none are handicapped accessible.

The floating fishing dock, designed to be handicapped accessible, is in disrepair. A concrete slab is missing from the walkway that extends out to the dock.

Flannery said a wheelchair-bound fisherman couldn't get to the dock.

A number of the wooden picnic tables are in bad shape. There are crumbling barbecue grills.

The boat ramp is no longer lighted.

There used to be a concession building at the lake. It was a place where people could rent boats and buy camping and fishing permits, snacks and bait.

The building burned to the ground in early 1984. It was replaced by a log-cabin style building in 1985.

But in late 1991, the Conservation Department decided to get out of the concession business and terminated the contract, Flannery said.

The cabin was sold. Today, all that remains are the concrete foundation and part of a brick fireplace.

The Conservation Department's Forestry Division manages the lake front, including campground, parking, boat dock, boat ramp and privies.

These days, maintenance is limited largely to mowing the grass, a job that is contracted out.

The department has budgeted $7,500 for the mowing contract and another $800 for maintenance items at Lake Girardeau this fiscal year.

In a June 4 letter to Flannery, forestry regional supervisor Joe Garvey said a number of items have been on the repair list for several years. They include an asphalt overlay on the parking lot, a picnic shelter in the area where the bait shop once stood, and additional privies.

There are currently four privies, two for men and two for women. Only two of the privies are near the dock and campground.

"We regret the appearance of the area," Garvey wrote. "The situation is especially frustrating for the department employees who have the daily responsibility for this lake.

"We have not forgotten this area," said Garvey, adding that the department intends to make improvements at some point.

But when reached at his Cape Girardeau office Friday, Garvey said no money has been budgeted for improvements to the lake grounds.

"We are doing the best we can," he said.

Flannery said the trash cans were removed from the lake grounds about four years ago because someone had been using them as their personal landfill.

Garvey said trash cans didn't eliminate the litter problem. Trash cans also have to be emptied and the closest landfill is at Dexter, he said.

Garvey said trash cans aren't needed at the lake. People, he said, should be good conservationists and take their litter with them.

"You pack it in, you pack it out," he said. Most people follow that practice, Garvey said.

The handicapped-accessible bathrooms have been boarded up for several years. Garvey said the Conservation Department boarded up the restrooms and shut off the water after repeated vandalism.

After someone shot out the pole light at the boat ramp, the department decided not to replace the light for fear it would be vandalized again, Garvey said.

The Conservation Department has been fertilizing the lake almost annually to promote the growth of plankton, which provides food for fish.

Flannery said he has had the water tested and it is too alkaline. Boone doubts that's the case.

Flannery also blames Boone and the Conservation Department for introducing muskies into the lake in 1995. He thinks that has led to fewer bass, bluegill and crappie in the water.

"They took the biggest freshwater predator and dumped it in there," he said.

Boone said Lake Girardeau is one of only two Conservation Department lakes in Southeast Missouri that have muskies.

The goal, he said, was to provide a "trophy fish" for anglers. "They have the potential to grow to a trophy size, 20 or 30 pounds," Boone said.

But recent Conservation Department inspections suggest the muskies aren't thriving in the hot climate. "Last March, we netted for two weeks. We caught no big muskies," he said.

Bass, on the other hand, are thriving, Boone said.

But Flannery said he and other fishermen are finding fewer fish on the end of their lines.