Kelly’s Slab Makeover on Crooked Creek

Kelly's Slab on Crooked Creek _ Arkansas Outdoors image

THE popular Kelly’s Slab access on Crooked Creek west of Yellville will receive a major facelift including removal of the low water access, a new elevated bridge and handicap accessible fishing spots. AGFC says that the works, will allow more natural flows on Crooked Creek, for the betterment of the fishing.

Here are some excepts from the article in the Arkansas Outdoors Newsletter.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission plans to remove a big chunk of the slab to allow Crooked Creek to flow the way nature intended, to the benefit of both fish and anglers. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has awarded a $250,000 contract to the Commission to remove the middle part of the slab, convert parts of the remaining structure to handicapped accessible fishing spots, rehabilitate the eroding steam banks and build a new bridge upstream from the current slab. The new upstream bridge also will make it much safer and more reliable for school buses to be able to take students to the Fred Berry education center.

The AGFC will remove the center section of the slab, about 60 feet across, which will allow Crooked Creek to flow freely. The remaining slab sections on each bank will be converted to fishing spots that will be open to the public and will also meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements. The Commission will repair parts of the creek banks that have eroded and build a new elevated span upstream from the current slab that will allow the public to cross, but will not interfere with the creek.