Lake Hamilton Drops Only 3 Feet This Winter. Where Do You Launch Now?

"The one courtesy dock we have now can become inaccessible when the lake undergoes winter drawdown, but these floating docks should be usable throughout a longer portion of the year."

Andy Yung, the regional fisheries supervisor in the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's Hot Springs office, said that in a July 2026 AGFC announcement about the Andrew Hulsey Lake Hamilton Access. Most of the public's winter use of Lake Hamilton runs through that ramp beside the state fish hatchery. The agency's new design takes the low winter lake into account, which says a lot about how this season will work for anyone who launches from shore.

Three feet is the shallow year

Entergy Arkansas alternates its winter drawdown on Lakes Hamilton and Catherine. One year the lakes drop 5 feet, and the next year they drop 3. Entergy says the cycle balances aquatic vegetation control against long-term fishery health. This is a 3-foot year.

The schedule posted on Entergy's hydro operations page runs like this:

• Nov. 1, 2026: Both lakes start dropping about 6 inches a day until they reach winter level.
• Around March 1, 2027: Refill starts, depending on rainfall.
• No later than March 15, 2027: Both lakes are back at full pool.

At 6 inches a day, a 3-foot drop takes about six days. Lake Hamilton should reach its winter level within the first week or so of November and stay there for about four months. Entergy's summer target for Lake Hamilton is 399.7 feet, within an operating range of 398.9 to 399.9 feet. For four months, every bulkhead, courtesy dock and ramp on the lake sits next to water about 3 feet lower than the level it usually serves.

That's why the condition of a launch's dock matters this winter.

Hulsey was redesigned around the low lake

AGFC calls the Andrew Hulsey Lake Hamilton Access "likely one of the most heavily used fishing access points" it owns in central Arkansas. Yung said multiple fishing tournaments launch from the ramp every week. The ramp also serves pleasure boaters heading out to tube or ski, and kayakers and canoeists use a launch area on the opposite side of the parking lot. The access sits beside the Andrew Hulsey State Fish Hatchery and AGFC's regional office in Hot Springs.

AGFC's July notice laid out the renovation in phases:

1. The old wood courtesy dock beside the ramp was removed, and new bulkheads and sidewalks were poured for the floating docks that replace it.
2. Two floating docks are part of the finished project. One goes near the ramp and the other at the back of the cove next to the parking area.
3. The parking area and ramps were scheduled to be repaved and restriped during a July 13 to 17 closure. The new layout gives trailers more room so they don't get boxed in.
4. Contractors moved a transformer out of the parking area in an earlier phase to free up more space.
5. New directional signs keep power boats away from the paddlecraft launch area, and keep cars from parking there.

The restrooms, weigh-in facility, fishing pier and fish attractor site all stay. The fish attractors remain in deeper water, away from the bank. Yung said that's so anglers can keep beaching boats there when traffic is heavy, and so tournament-released fish have a place to recover.

AGFC's July announcement described the two floating docks as planned for the end of the project. Anyone counting on a dock at Hulsey in November should check the current status first with the AGFC Hot Springs Regional Office at 833-356-0933. The design goal is still the one Yung stated: a dock that stays usable when the lake is down.

Drivers who trailer a boat before sunrise in early November should also know about another schedule. The Arkansas Department of Transportation announced nightly lane closures on Highway 7 between Grand Avenue and the Lake Hamilton Bridge. The closures run from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., started Sunday, Sept. 27, and were expected to last about two months while crews resurface the highway. ArDOT points drivers to IDriveArkansas.com for current conditions.

Two more public ramps on Lake Hamilton

When AGFC planned the July closure at Hulsey, it named two free public launches as alternates. Both are city facilities on Lake Hamilton. Here's how they compare with Hulsey:

Hill Wheatley and Sunnybrook still use traditional courtesy docks. AGFC has said the old fixed dock at Hulsey could become unreachable at drawdown, which is the problem the floating docks are meant to fix. Neither the city nor Entergy publishes a winter-level rating for any particular ramp. The safest plan for a November trip to Hill Wheatley or Sunnybrook is to look at the ramp and dock in person before backing a trailer down. Each site has its own strengths. Hill Wheatley is the best-equipped for a day with a group on shore, with a pavilion, grill and beach. Sunnybrook is the only one of the three that the city lists as ADA accessible.

Electric Island is 0.8 miles from the Hulsey kayak launch

AGFC's interim chief of operations, Reid Phifer, tied the Hulsey paddlecraft launch to the island in the renovation announcement: "With Electric Island having a great hiking trail nearby, we have a lot of paddlers who enjoy this ramp as well."

According to AGFC's trail page, the Electric Island Nature Trail is 2 miles long and can be reached only by boat. The western trailhead is a 0.8-mile paddle or boat ride from the Andrew H. Hulsey State Fish Hatchery Access. The 118-acre island is owned by The Nature Conservancy and managed as a nature preserve. Hunting and camping aren't allowed, and AGFC lists wildlife viewing and fishing as activities there. AGFC also publishes a georeferenced trail map that works in the free Avenza Maps app. The map uses the phone's GPS, so it still works where cell reception is weak.

A small boat can get you from a parking lot to an island trail with no road access, which makes this one of the more unusual short outings on the lake. AGFC's safety guidance for paddlers is specific. Canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards are the lowest, slowest and most exposed boats on the water. The agency recommends brightly colored life jackets and clothing, paddling in groups when possible, staying close to the shoreline when you can, and carrying a whistle, especially when traffic is heavy.

Heavy traffic at Hulsey isn't limited to summer, which is the reason for the last date on this winter's calendar.

Feb. 6, 2027 belongs to the bass boats

Phifer said AGFC engineers and fisheries biologists consulted major bass tournament trails before planning the upgrades, because weigh-in and access facilities "play a really big role in tournament selection location for major circuits." Hulsey has hosted the FLW Cup and the All American, both run by Major League Fishing, and it's the home of the annual Commissioners' Cup youth bass tournament.

Lake Hamilton is on the 2027 circuit while the lake is still at winter level. Major League Fishing's Phoenix Bass Fishing League schedule lists a Lake Hamilton event in Hot Springs on Feb. 6, 2027. The event page sets takeoff for 7 a.m. from the Andrew Hulsey Fish Hatchery at 350 Fish Hatchery Road.

The event falls about three weeks before Entergy's refill window opens around March 1. So the tournament launches from a ramp redesigned for low water while the lake is down. For a recreational boater or paddler planning a February Saturday, that morning is a good one to launch from Hill Wheatley or Sunnybrook. Electric Island will still be there on Sunday.

Tammy Browning lists and sells lake homes on Lake Hamilton. Whether a home has its own dock or sits a short drive from Hulsey, Hill Wheatley or Sunnybrook, she can show you how that home works from November to March as well as in summer. To talk through Lake Hamilton property with someone who follows the lake all year, reach out to Trademark Real Estate, Inc. Let's Connect.