Its rise and fall are rapid and uncertain, and it is shallow and full of sandbanks and snags.
Its course is very tortuous, the current rapid, and the channel much obstructed by snags.
This backwater, where it meets and checks the current of the Arkansas, occasions the precipitation of enormous alluvial deposits, and vast quantities of snags.
Whilst working round the lake I was lucky enough to spot a few of them just basking under some of the snags.
Much of the fun found in watching comes from spotting these snags.