Nice spring catches cointinue all across the state

Anglers all over Arkansas finding fish

By Jim Harris

Arkansas Wildlife Editor

The recent spring break and the good weather brought visitors to Arkansas for some fun fishing. Duston Sherwin (pictured in both photos) and his dad traveled from West Monroe, Louisiana, to spend four days fishing the Little Missouri River and Lake Greeson. 'We caught plenty of fish and made some good memories,' Todd Sherwin related.

'I've fished the river several times, but this was our first time on Lake Greeson. It is a beautiful place, and I don't understand how so many trout can fit in the Little Mo …

We're from West Monroe, Louisiana, but we head to the clear waters of Arkansas every chance we get.'

We love receiving photo submissions of great catches around The Natural State, and we encourage everyone to send them. You can always submit them via askagfc@agfc.ar.gov. You can send them directly to jim.harris@ agfc.ar.gov. Or you can submit them directly to your local paper (news@theeveningtimes.com) . Your photo op awaits.

• Stocking has begun at Lake Poinsett. The first to go in were bluegill, fathead minnows and golden shiners, according to Brett Timmons of the AGFC Fisheries Division, who supervises the district in which Lake Poinsett (near Harrisburg and south of Jonesboro) resides.

Another stocking was completed on April 6. To date AGFC has stocked 41,282 bluegill, 86,940 fathead minnows, 10,234 golden shiners and 1,995 pre-spawn threadfin shad. AGFC plans to stock for prey species in the lake periodically this summer with the addition of more golden shiners and redear sunfish as the lake fills to full pool (left).

These fish, it is hoped, will reproduce multiple times this summer and provide a great start to the forage base of the lake.

• One management tool AGFC staff use to collect data from a fishery is what is known as a creel survey. Creel surveys have two components: interviewing anglers and counting anglers. There are several ways of counting anglers, and this information is used to estimate fishing

See FISH, page A9 FISH

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pressure.

Since 2018, fisheries staff in west-central Arkansas have been using game cameras to collect this data. Not only does it allow the staff to collect count data, but it also informs them on how to most efficiently collect interviews based on when and where anglers launch.

This year these cameras are being used as part of a spring creel survey on Lake Nimrod. Anglers at Nimrod should anticipate the possibility of being approached for an interview by an AGFC employee this spring, and the AGFC FIsheries Division appreciates angler participation in these interviews.