52 Nebraskaland • April 2025
MIXED BAG
When reservoirs are new, and creekbottoms and draws
that once led to the river that was dammed fi ll with water,
they can be incredible fi sheries. As the reservoirs age and
shorelines erode, however, the mouths of those bays can
become fi lled with sediment, disconnecting them from the
lake. That was the case with Methodist Cove on the north
side of Harlan County Lake.
Thanks to a $9.25-million aquatic ecosystem restoration
project set to be completed this spring that removed 150,000
cubic yards of silt and dredged a channel between the cove
and the lake, connection between the two will be more
frequent. The result should provide a spark to the lake's
fi sh populations, especially crappie, and provide more
opportunities for anglers.
At Harlan County Lake, ice heaves and wind-driven waves
had no trouble moving light, eroded soils up and down the
bank. That lateral movement of sediment had formed berms
across the mouths of all but two of 29 coves, Patterson Harbor
and Gremlin Cove, both at the east end of the reservoir near
the dam, separating them from the reservoir except when it
was at or near full pool.
Prior to the habitat project, Methodist Cove became
disconnected from the reservoir when water levels dropped
less than 4 feet, and 11 times since 2000, the lake did not
rise enough in the spring to spill into the bay. When it did
and fi sh were able to spawn there, falling water levels when
the irrigation season began often trapped and doomed their
young.
Now, a 200-foot-wide channel connects the cove and the
lake when the lake is 9 feet from full pool. It was designed to
facilitate access to and from the cove in most years with two
critical time periods for crappies in mind: mid-April to mid-
May, when adults are looking for spawning habitat; and early
July, when young of the year are large enough to head for the
reservoir.
Additionally, the bay was less than 6 feet deep. After
100,000 cubic yards of sediment was removed — enough
to cover a football fi eld 50 feet deep — water will be up to
17 feet deep when the lake is full, much closer to the depth
found there when the lake fi rst fi lled in 1957. Even when it
becomes disconnected, water will be 8 feet deep, enough for
fi sh to survive the winter. More than 150 artifi cial structures
A HARLAN RECONNECTION
By Eric Fowler
Artificial structures and cut cedar trees will serve as fish habitat in the area where sediment was excavated from Methodist
Cove at Harlan County Lake. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
Harlan County
Reservoir
