September Stock

According to Mark Oliver, chief of fisheries of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, AGFC crews stocked more than 333,200 fish in Arkansas lakes and rivers during September. The total stocking of fish weighed more than 132,800 pounds. While most of the fish were catchable channel catfish, there was a healthy distribution of new rainbow trout in rivers and streams across Arkansas:

• Cotter Big Spring, Baxter County, 350 catchable rainbow trout
• Little Red River, Cleburne and White Counties, 11,200 catchable rainbow trout
• Mirror Lake, Stone County, 2,440 catchable rainbow trout
• Spring River, Fulton County, 13,288 catchable rainbow trout
• White River, Baxter, Marion, Izard and Stone Counties, 65,955 catchable rainbow trout
• Little Red River, Cleburne County, 10,940 catchable rainbow trout
• Beaver Tailwater, Carroll County, 10,233 catchable rainbow trout
• Norfork River, Baxter County, 10,090 catchable rainbow trout
• White River, Baxter, Izard, Marion and Stone Counties, 41,100 catchable rainbow trout

So what does this mean for you? Well, for one it means there are a lot of new rainbow trout in Arkansas rivers and streams. It is expected that many of these fish in the monthly tailwater stockings are caught soon after they enter the stream. After stocking from the hatchery, it's typical to see pods of trout numbering in the hundreds. These fish are easy pickings for a novice angler because they're accustomed to gulping anything that lands on the surface of the water, thanks to life in the hatchery.

But for the more experienced angler, this can also improve your brown trout fishing opportunities as well. In the Norfork Tailwaters and other hotspots, it is not uncommon to sometimes hear large browns ripping through the shallows, chasing these newly stocked rainbow trout, which they swallow like a fat kid snacking on a snickers. If you're adventurous enough to night fish the North Fork, throw on a 2X - 4X leader and tippet and throw out a No. 8 black Woolly Bugger to test your nerves against the bruiser brown trout that roam the river after dark. You may be surprised with your results.