Being a native of northwest Arkansas and now a southwest Missouri resident, Mike McClelland loves the White River chain of lakes in the Ozarks – Beaver, Table Rock and Bull Shoals. Deep, clear man-made impoundments feel comfortable. But deep – emphasis on “deep” – clear Carters Lake is another animal.
“I was really hoping it would be a little more like Table Rock than it is,” McClelland said after yesterday’s practice. “It’s so steep and deep everywhere you go. You keep thinking the next point you go around you’ll find some of those more gradual, run-out points, like I’m familiar with in the Ozarks.”
Carters Lake is reportedly the deepest lake east of the Mississippi River. It’s average depth is 200 feet and it’s maximum depth is 450 feet. It has only 3,200 surface acres and 62 miles of shoreline, which has no private development.