Arkansas fisheries....

[woppercatcher]

I agree 100%. It just seems like many are willing to pay double for a yearly fishing license if they would just be willing to put portions of that back into our states fisheries. Ive caught a handful of smallmouth too. All around 3 sisters. I've never been able to understand how hamilton and greers can have them but they struggle so badly on ouachita.

I've also caught some pretty nice sized Smallmouth around the Dam area and as far east as Little Blakley. Don't quote me but someone from the AGFC came to a fishing club meeting once and said they had put Smallmouth from Tennessee or somewhere like that instead of the strain that gets larger. Since then they haven't put much effort into it since the demand wasn't that strong. Look, we can all complain about the "Bass" fishing on some of our lakes but there are plenty of lakes in Arkansas where you can catch a pretty big Bass. Maybe not on Ouachita, DeGray or other highland lakes but if you ask the Walleye fishermen they will tell you the AGFC has done a great job on managing the Walleye fishing. So it's a matter or opinion not so much fact. Starting Jan 1st on Ouachita there will no longer be a length limit for "spotted" Bass in the effort to thin them out which might improve the LMB fishing. You can bet though that not many people will be keeping those small Spotted Bass so time will only tell. Remember when the slot was in effect on DeGray? How many "overs" did people catch? You could catch some pretty big spots along with a ton of 12 1/2" Largemouth. Has the lake improved since then and with the slot gone? As the person above pointed out highland lakes are not going to be known for real large Bass and our Game and Fish have a very diverse lake system unlike Texas and other states where there isn't as many other types of fish in demand. In the meantime I'll be on Ouachita, DeGray or Hamilton having fun catching a lot of small to medium sized Bass.

[Silkstringz]

I can remember them taking the 10" slot limit off of the crappie at lake nimrod. Now there are BILLIONS of small crappie in that lake and the great bigger ones seem harder to come by. I know lakes go through cycles. It seems years ago the average sized bass on ouachita was bigger. I know degray has struggled the last couple of years. Bad. Maybe its just been a poor spawn. Seems like the shad spawn has been good, they are everywhere.

[Jfish]

In my opinion, the key to optimizing centers around good habitat. For bass, I would much rather see the AGFC focus on habitat (structures, vegetation, etc.) than on stocking. I live near Lake Maumelle and it is decent right now and better than past years, however, I would assume that eventually it will see another down cycle. Rather than waiting for that down cycle and then reacting (like at Greers Ferry) AGFC and local fishermen should be putting in more structure. I have contacted AGFC and Central Arkansas Water about this possibility, but have received very little response. Another problem is that we as bass fishermen do not unite and petition the AGFC and congress people when there is a problem. We do our own thing or we are a member of a small club that does its own thing. Just my thoughts, good discussion.

[Zoomworms]

Maumelle's only purpose is to provide clean water to the treatment plant which it does very well, I wouldn't look for any change in lake policy there.

[Jfish]

Yeah Zoom I realize that, however, a few years ago AGFC did plant some artificial pvc structures in the lake, so I thought that they should keep building on that with the approval from Central Arkansas Water. I totally agree with their policy, drinking water quality comes first. My suggestion was to put approved materials there at the marina and let fishermen pick them up and sink at their convenience.