LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission unanimously voted at Thursday’s monthly meeting at AGFC headquarters to adopt limits on four of Arkansas’s famous trout tailwater fisheries. Trout anglers on the White River from Bull Shoals Dam to the Norfork Access and on the North Fork River from Norfork Dam to the Norfork Access will be able to keep two rainbow trout under 14 inches. All other trout species must be released immediately in these waters. On the White River from the Norfork Access downstream to the Arkansas Highway 58 bridge, the daily limit will be two trout of any species, with only one over 14 inches allowed. On the Beaver and Greers Ferry Tailwaters, the daily limit will be two trout of any species and any trout longer than 14 inches must be released immediately. All of these regulations will become effective Feb. 1, and will remain in effect until further notice.
This change was enacted to encourage trout fishing on these waters following a temporary emergency order to reduce trout harvest on stocked Arkansas waters in response to shortages at federal and state hatcheries last year. Both the Norfork National Fish Hatchery and the AGFC’s Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery underwent unforeseen die-offs and infrastructure failures due to natural events, nearly wiping out their production. Commissioners placed a temporary restrictive limit system on the waters dependent on these stocked fish as a proactive measure until the scope of the loss could be evaluated.
The Commission also unanimously approved fishing limits on Lake Monticello in southeastern Arkansas. Effective Feb. 1, anglers will once again be able to keep a few fish from the recently renovated lake that’s known for trophy-sized largemouth bass and plentiful crappie…