Around the Boathouse…

Fishing news and notes from your neck of the woods

AGFC Northeast Regional Educator Twin Lakes Walleye Club out of the Mountain Home area is this year's recipient of the Arkansas Chapter of American Fisheries Society's Robert M.

Jenkins Conservation Achievement Award, given annually to organizations showing outstanding achievement or contribution to their field.

Since its inception in 2004 (chartered in 2009), the Twin Lakes Walleye Club has been a valuable partner of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Missouri Department of Conservation. The club has over 350 members who are passionate about walleye fishing, conservation and management in Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes. Since 2013, the Twin Lakes Walleye Club has actively collected dissolved oxygen and temperature readings on Bull Shoals Lake and assisted collection efforts on Norfork Lake. This time-consuming data, collected once or twice per month at multiple locations, helps us and the Missouri Department of Conservation understand walleye habitat usage, monitor the thermocline,

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and inform the public about where to fish, especially during the warmer months.

The Twin Lakes Walleye Club's contributions to walleye conservation and management are undeniable, according to the AGFC's Jeremy Risley. He says their impact extends well beyond Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes. 'Their passion, knowledge and enthusiasm exemplify why the Twin Lakes Walleye Club is the 2022 Arkansas AFS Robert M. Jenkins Conservation Achievement Award recipient,' Risley said 'We look forward to many more years of working

• The AGFC Fisheries staff based in Jonesboro is asking for help from anglers who frequent Lake Charles. Donated Christmas trees from across northeast Arkansas are available at the lake to become home for fish in Lake Charles.

AGFC staff prepared donated trees by attaching concrete blocks to trees to prevent them from laying down. Placing trees in this way provides vertical habitat in the water column benefitting baitfish and sport fish that live at different water depths.

The staff in northeast Arkansas left 50 trees at the lower boat ramp on Lake Charles, and anglers are welcome to place them in their favorite fishing spot in an effort to enhance fishing in those locations on the lake.

Every year, Christmas trees are donated to use as fish habitat, and in the past these trees were used to created over 20 fish attractor sites at Lake Charles.

• Lake Poinsett is in the process of refilling, but is rainfall dependent and the region hasn’t had a lot of rainfall lately. The fishing now is predominantly catch-and-release for bream. They seem to be biting on crickets and worms. Small boats, kayaks or canoes are the only watercraft that can launch at this time.

The gate at the dam at Lake Poinsett was closed a year ago, following the completion of a three-year renovation projection, and the lake began to refilling.

The lake has been undergoing an extensive renovation with a new water control structure, more than 10,000 linear feet of shoreline work, more than 100 habitat structures placed on the lakebed, and nearly 100 trees anchored for fish habitat.

Other forage species that were stocked this spring include fathead minnows, golden shiners and threadfin shad have been added in huge numbers to the lake to build up the food supply for the predators, which will be stocked this year.

Learn more at agfc.com.