Wow, has it really been 3 years since ive last posted a blog? I’ve been good about getting newsletters out at least a few times a year .. but I guess that’s not the same thing…. lots of clickity clack on the keyboard this Week instead of the usual chapped skin, frozen tears and snot, blisters from the cold and a rush of chores before it gets below freezing again… I’ve had all that this winter but this week… this week we are under 8’ of snow and it hasnt been above freezing in 4 days.. so Clickity Clack we go.
So what’s going on? If you’ve been paying attention to trout fishing in Arkansas, then you know we had an issue with our hatcheries this last spring / fall of 2025. lots of rain after periods of dry weather have moved silt into the pipeline infrastructure for our hatchery under the dam, resulting in a flood, and above the dam it got even worst. Up on the lake the levels were low this fall, and our lakes typically flip in the fall. When the lake flipped the poor oxygen was closer to the surface than before. The infrastructure to draw water from the lake to the hatchery sat inside that low oxygenated water and ruined the efforts to grow fish. Now our hatcheries are mainly just for rainbow trout, not our trophy brown trout… but when one leg of this rive gets hurt the other suffers. Brown trout rely on rainbow trout for protein just as much as they rely on bugs, baitfish, crawfish, and shad.
The alarms went off across the nation from “Chosen Apostles” (The one’s that dont fish that much") that the White River is in Trouble… The reality? Business as usual. 20-30 rainbow trout and good opportunities for 1 -4 browns on a slow day and 3-8 on a good day. usual fall / early winter numbers for the last 4 years. There just wasn’t enough fish being produce to keep up with harvesting. What did that announcement do? take away a lot of pressure from anglers looking to keep fish - Bolstering the catch & release angler’s opportunities.
Don’t get me wrong - if one of us is struggling out here we all are, its a community and takes everyone to build a healthy fishery - even the catch & keep anglers. What is encouraging is the conversations about conservation going on at the local level and the state level with our current elected officials and AGFC personnel. It’s a breath of fresh air for all of us that have been here long enough to see a pre & post covid fishery. Baby steps are better than no steps. If you’ve been waiting for a time to join a non-profit for trout fishing in Arkansas now is your time to join and let your voice be heard. There will be a day in the coming years that we will have an opportunity to gain serious miles of catch & release, and WE NEED YOU to get that job done.
How is spring/summer looking? Good. Water levels will spike again with spring rain in March/April and well be watching bugs hatch before too long! do not wait to get on the books for some of the best dry fly fishing in the country. If you are sitting inside waiting for the snow to melt give us a holler and lets talk about fishing in flip flps in July.
Thats enough Clickity Clack for now..
See ya when i see ya! Hopefully it’s on the Water.
Ben Woodard
