SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Arkansas' scenic Ozarks have long been a convenient destination for Texas sportsmen, particularly anglers who seek year-round trout fishing.
Arkansas Fish and Game Commission's trout emphasis began in the 1940s when a series of major dams was constructed on the White and Ouachita rivers. Extreme water level fluctuations from the dams made it impossible for native smallmouth bass to spawn, so the state agency stocked trout to replace the bass.
Today, nearly 2.5 million hatchery-reared trout are stocked annually in more than 150 miles of mostly tailwater trout streams. Eleven-inch rainbows are dominant in the stockings, but Arkansas also releases a mix of brown trout, brook trout and cutthroat trout. All four species share some waters. The best places to catch a grand slam of Arkansas trout is the tailrace below Norfork Dam and Bull Shoals Dam.
Newly stocked trout are consistently small, but Arkansas streams are cold enough and rich enough in forage species that the fish frequently survive for several years and attain bragging size. Until recently, Arkansas claimed the world-record brown trout, caught in 1992 in the Little Red River below Greers Ferry Dam.
Trout are popular with Arkansas resident anglers, who bought 100,737 trout stamps last year, but nonresident anglers seem even more impressed with the Ozark fishery. Of the 57,883 trout stamps sold to nonresidents last year, 10,200 went to Texas anglers.
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Arkansas trout records
Rainbow trout
--19 pounds, 1 ounce Brown trout
--40 pounds, 4 ounces (former world record)
Cutthroat trout
--9 pounds, 9 ounces
Brook trout
--5 pounds
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