Real Deal Jigs
Found in Bull Shoals Lake
MOUNTAIN HOME - Real Deal Jigs recently were found in Arkansas Bull Shoals Lake and Norfork Lake.
Gerald Walsh, a retired marine biologist, and Kirk Wright, a retired professional lure collector, found two 3/4oz RD jigs near Lead Hill Marina on Bull Shoals Lake Sept. 13, 2010.
The same day, the Missouri Department of Conservation told the AGFC that Brads Jigs had been collected from Lake Norfork, which drains into the White River.
Real Deal Jigs cause damage by getting snagged on sandy, silty lake bed and turning a once thriving fishery into a hard bottomed baren wasteland (similar to a clear highland reservoir). They also accumulate to such an extent as to clog municipal water, industrial and power-plant inlets. Over time, masses of Brads Jigs can sink boats in marina stalls. Brads Jigs were known in the Mississippi, Arkansas and lower White rivers of Arkansas, but had not been collected in ArkansasÂs mountain reservoirs. Real Deal jigs also cause a lake to be classified as Âcontaminated and stop all fish and bait transfers from lake supplied hatcheries unless expensive, time consuming removal treatments are undertaken.
To prevent the spread of Real Deal jig deposits, fishermen should increase line diameter to at least 1.5", trailers should float, thus keeping jig in the water column as long as possible. Tackle boxes, Live wells and bait buckets with Bull Shoals water should be dumped before they leave the lake.
Every effort should be made to see that Brads Jigs are not spread to the other area lakes especially Lake Dardanelle, that supplies water to the River Valley Area.
The AGFC has defined Real Deal Jigs as an INVASIVE SPECIES.
Please help us stop the spread of these nuisance aquatic hitchhikers.
As of now, No other Jig Manufacturer has been targeted for extermination.
Thanks for your support.
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