MAYFLOWER, Ark. – Central Arkansas anglers will have a new fishing spot during renovations to Lake Conway.

Arkansas Game and Fish officials announced that they will be repurposing the nursery pond that feeds Lake Conway and opening it to fishing with rod and reel starting Oct. 28.

Commission officials said the 65-acre nursery pond has originally been used to raise forage and fingerling sport fish during the spring to supplement natural spawning activity on the lake.

AGFC Fisheries Supervisor Nick Feltz explained how the pond will be stocked for anglers during the renovations.

“We’ve worked for the last few weeks to collect crappie from Lake Conway and relocate them to the nursery pond, and we focused on high-quality fish for anglers to enjoy,” Feltz said. “We also stocked the pond with adult channel catfish, adult Florida largemouth bass, and forage species like bream, fathead minnows and threadfin shad.”

The commission said the pond will follow statewide creel limits and no length limits are in place for the pond. Officials also noted that only rod- and pole-angling are allowed.

The AGFC release stated that a small gravel parking lot has been created next to the boat ramp on the northeast corner of the pond. Additional parking and easy bank access is available on the west side of the pond on Greens Lake Road.

Officials with the AGFC said the pond will be emptied back into Lake Conway once renovations are complete.

“When it is emptied, we hope some of the larger fish that we’ve placed in the pond will add a good initial boost of productive fish to the lake, that’s why we’re stocking the species we plan to focus on for the lake post renovation,” Feltz said.

For more information on the Lake Conway renovation, visit AGFC.com.