By Randy Zellers
As temperatures rise, trout in Arkansas’s famous tailwater fisheries face a bit more stress than usual. Anglers looking to catch their share in the cool water should add a little more precaution to their catch-and-release regimen.
Christy Graham, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Trout Management Program supervisor based in Mountain Home, says summer is always a time to caution anglers who wish to practice catch-and-release, but this year is especially critical because Arkansas’s trout fisheries are still seeing decreased stocking levels from losses in trout production that occurred last year.
“The great news is that [Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery] is back to 100 percent production, so that will help us make up some shortage from the Norfork National Fish Hatchery,” Graham said. “They have worked really hard to bring in fish to replace what they lost the last two falls, and they’ve been able to stock the White River, Norfork tailwater and Beaver tailwater at about 50 percent of their normal rates using fish that were cut from other stocking locations to balance the load. But we’re still limited compared to a few years ago.”
Continue reading at agfc.com.
