GREENFIELD, Iowa – The water level of Meadow Lake near Greenfield in Adair County will be lowered 3 feet starting June 14, to help improve the size of bluegills in the lake. The water will be released slowly over the next two weeks to avoid any downstream impacts.
A water level draw-down is a common fisheries management technique used to improve the size of panfish. Meadow Lake has an abundance of 6-inch bluegills that lack the quality anglers are looking for.
“Crowding the fish into a smaller area makes them more susceptible to predation by largemouth bass and reduces the number of small bluegills,” said Bryan Hayes, fisheries management biologist. The reduced number will improve growth in the coming year. “A draw-down in 2016 had this effect and we had good bluegill fishing in 2017 and 2018,” Hayes noted.
The draw-down is expected to have minimal effect on public access to Meadow Lake. The boat ramp will be usable and the lake will remain open during the draw-down. Meadow Lake will be allowed to refill starting in September.
Meadow Lake is a 34 acre lake in the middle of the 317 acre Meadow Lake Fish and Wildlife Area located in the north central part of Adair County. It has a maximum depth of 20 feet and an average depth of 7.3 feet.