LAKE VIEW, Iowa (KTIV) -
Along the shoreline of one Northwest Iowa lake, you'll see plenty of sand, docks, and dead fish.
It's apart of Iowa's biggest lake restoration project in more than 25 years.
"You hate to have a beautiful lake this close to home and to have it so tough to fish. Now, I think it's going to be great. I think it's going to be really fishable," said Robert Belt, Fisherman.
Robert Belt has been fishing at Black Hawk Lake in Lake View, Iowa all his life. But now that the fish are all dead, he'll have to take a bit of a break.
"Getting rid of the rough fish, such as the common carp, the mouth buffalo, and the gizzard shad," said Ben Wallace, Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources spent Thursday morning dumping toxin into the lake to get rid of the fish and freshen up the muddy water.
"The carp, they stir up the bottom sediments, re-release phosphorous, and really contribute to the poor water quality that we have," said Wallace.
Wallace says right now, you can only see 4" below the water's surface. He hopes that number will eventually increase 13.5 fold.
"Our overall goal for this project is an average water clarity of four and a half feet throughout the open water season," said Wallace.
By Spring, the DNR will restock the lake with fish. But it'll take a while for them to grow into something fishermen can catch.
"People should hopefully be out here catching some quality fish by year two," said Wallace.
But this fisherman says it'll be well worth the wait, not only for him, but others too.
"It'd be great for the kids and the people to swim and boat, jet ski, tube, everything," said Belt.
Along the shoreline of one Northwest Iowa lake, you'll see plenty of sand, docks, and dead fish.
