Sardis Lake is a 98520 acre reservoir on the Tallahatchie River in Lafayette, Panola, and Marshall counties, Mississippi. Sardis Lake is impounded by Sardis Dam, located 9 mi southeast of the town of Sardis. It is approximately an hour drive from Memphis, Tennessee. The dam is 15300 ft long, has an average height of 97 ft, and a maximum height of 117 ft.

History

Sardis Dam was the first of the Yazoo River headwaters projects to be built by the federal government for flood control. Authorization for the project came when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Flood Control Act of 1936. Construction took four years and required thousands of men to clear 14 mi along the Tallahatchie River, which was characterized by dense woods and undergrowth, and meandering sloughs. The dam was constructed using a "hydraulic fill" technique that required soil to be dredged from below the dam site and pumped to form the earth fill, which forms the majority of the dam. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built and operated the "Pontotoc", a special dredge powered by two 3000 hp electric motors to accomplish this task. The 425 acre "Lower Lake" on the downstream side of Sardis Dam was created by the dredging operation. It has numerous recreation facilities, including John W. Kyle State Park. Mississippi Highway 315 splits while crossing the dam, with one route crossing the top and the other half crossing the base. Sardis Lake has a maximum storage capacity of 1512000 acre-feet of water. The lake is gradually drawn down during the fall and winter months to a "conservation pool" of 9800 acre. This permits spring rains across the lake's 1545 mi2 watershed to fill the reservoir without flooding downstream. Since the dam became operational, the dam's emergency spillway has been overtopped only three times by high water - in 1973, 1983 and 1991. The lake's typical "recreation pool" is 32500 acre. The lake is popular with anglers and has a reputation for its abundant bass and crappie. Other recreation activities include hunting, camping, boating, skiing, swimming and picnicking.

Marina

The Sardis Lake Marina services the lake with access to fuel docks, 140 wet slips (both covered and uncovered), a restaurant, and a ship store. The Marina offers rental boats as well as rental skis, tubes, and knee/wake boards.

Fish

The main fish that live in the lake are Largemouth bass, Spotted bass, Blue catfish, Channel catfish, Flathead catfish, Black crappie, White crappie, Bluegill, Redear sunfish, White bass.