Officials: Fish from new county lake won't be ready for harvest for up to three years

The dry lake bed in Cape County Park South in Cape Girardeau won't have harvestable fish for up to three years after it's stocked, said an official with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Jason Crites, fisheries biologist with MDC, said via email the lake will be open for fishing as soon as it is stocked, but the fish need time to grow before they can be harvested.

This lake will be stocked with larval, or baby, fish, and it will likely be three years before their growth will reach sizes appropriate for harvest, he wrote.

Anglers will be able to fish, Crites wrote, but must release any caught fish not large enough to keep.

County parks superintendent Bryan Sander said at the county commission regular meeting Thursday the lake-rebuilding project is moving right along.

The lake was drained earlier this year.

Earlier in 2018, MDC had teamed up with Cape Girardeau County parks department as part of a statewide program to improve fisheries habitat in city or county ponds, according to previous reporting.

Planned improvements include fishing jetties, a new fishing dock, an island with a gazebo and lighted sidewalks, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Sander said the contract with MDC requires the county's expenses to be reimbursed by MDC, and Sander is putting together the first payment request -- about $25,000.

Commissioner Paul Koeper noted the lake project is coming along. "When things freeze, we will do more rip-rap [rock] lining around the lake," he said, adding that the handicap-accessible parking is getting closer.

"We have two years to finish the project. Our goal is to finish next year," Koeper said.

Sander agreed, and said he would like to have the rock in around the lake by the end of this winter. That doesn't affect sidewalk construction, also planned as part of the project, he said, and allows the lake to be refilled so MDC agents can restock the lake with fish as soon as possible.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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