You may count on having turkey on the table for Thanksgiving, but you could also add some trout as well. The AGFC hatcheries and the Family and Community Fishing Program have been gearing up for “Troutsgiving,” the agency’s annual kickoff to fall stockings of rainbow trout in program ponds, with rainbow trout raised at the Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery in Mammoth Springs being delivered to many community ponds in Arkansas this week.
“The cold weather gives us the opportunity to bring these fish to some of our anglers who can’t venture up to Arkansas’s famous trout tailwaters,” Maurice Jacksonm the FCFP program director, said. “We’ve added these stockings to our program for more than a decade, and many of our anglers get excited to see the switch.” Jackson says specially tagged trout also will be released in program ponds later in December to offer even more incentives for anglers to get out and enjoy a day by the pond during winter. Great prizes await.
Anglers 16 and older must have a fishing license to fish in FCFP locations, and if trout are kept, a trout stamp also is required. The limit for trout in these ponds is three fish per angler per day. Licenses are available at sporting goods stores or online at www.agfc.com/license.
Click below for more information on the Family and Community Fishing Program and to find a pond stocked with trout near you. Even the few ponds that weren’t stocked with trout because they were just too warm will still have some stocked catfish for families to catch.
