Fishermen and boaters are slowly trickling back to Chotard Lake as the only resort on the oxbow lake north of Vicksburg has finally cleaned up and restored its flooded bar, store and cabins.

Jerry Johnson, owner of Chotard Landing Resort, said about six people are putting boats in at his landing each day, and about half of his 20 cabins are taking in guests regularly. He reopened the resort bar and store last week after it had been closed for more than 2 months, Mississippi River floodwaters reached near the 10-foot ceilings of the ground structures at the peak of the flood.

“You couldn’t imagine what this place looked and smelled like when we first got back in here,” Johnson said while walking into the remodeled and refurnished bar Wednesday. “The mud was the worst I have ever seen in any of the floods; about an inch thick over everything.”

On Saturday, Johnson said about 90 locals and tourists packed into the bar, chalking cues by the new pool tables, flipping the pages of the new jukebox and chatting around new tables. This Saturday the first band will return to perform at the bar. They are signs of better times, said Johnson, though the river is still breaching the lake’s banks and creating a high-water situation in which the fishing remains poor.

Normally, the months of April, May and June are Johnson’s best of the year, said Johnson, with more than 200 boats landing at his resort each day.

“It’s coming back slowly, but we’ll get through,” he said. “If the river would cooperate a little more, the fishing would be good and we’d really be in business.”

Heavy rains causing widespread flooding in Midwestern states over the past 10 days has the Lower Mississippi River on the rise again. Cairo, Ill., rose above flood stage Tuesday and is forecast to crest June 20 at 4 feet over flood stage. The river at Vicksburg is at 35.6 feet today, and it is forecast to rise through the middle of next week and begin falling after it reaches 38.4 feet. Flood stage at Vicksburg is 43 feet.

The river at Vicksburg – about 25 river miles south of Chotard Lake – peaked out at 50.9 feet on April 19. It was the highest recorded river stage in Vicksburg since 1973, when the river topped out at 51.6. Johnson said he believes the Chotard Lake water stages were slightly higher this year than in 1973.

He raised his equipment and furnishings before the flood, but not high enough as the forecast crest kept rising throughout April. In the end, he lost nearly everything inside the bar and spent about $100,000 replacing everything from chairs and televisions to cases of beer and refrigeration units.

In addition to his rental cabins, Johnson owns 162 acres around Chotard Lake and leases land to owners of the 60 fish camps creating a small community on the lake. About six of the camps are occupied by residents year-round, while other camp owners are primarily weekend residents. The camps are all raised about 7 to 10 feet, and most took on floodwaters from less than an inch to as high as 3 feet.

Johnson is tearing down three ground cabins on the property and rebuilding more upscale rentals. In 2006, he put the finishing touches on 15 such cabin-condos, and said from here on out he aims to create a more aesthetically pleasing environment around the Lake Chotard community.

“We’re going more upscale; moving away from a little fish camp with trailers on stilts,” he said. “I’m not going to make anyone rebuild, but as they move out I’m going to build modern, rustic-looking cabins. It’s what people want to see – and are paying to see – when they vacation here. I think it will catch on as a few people begin to do it.”

The first resident to take to Johnson’s vision of a better Lake Chotard is Ed Suthoff, who has made the lake his permanent home for seven years when not working on offshore oil drilling rigs. He is in the process of tearing his old camp down and plans to begin rebuilding this summer.

“We’re going bigger, better and higher,” he said, pointing to a waterline about 3 feet up on his gutted home, “definitely higher.”