September 30 2020 Archives

Central Arkansas Fishing Report

By ARKANSAS GAME AND FISH COMMISSION

CENTRAL ARKANSAS

Craig D. Campbell Lake Conway Reservoir

NOTE: Employees and contractors with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have conducted herbicide applications to Craig D. Campbell Lake Conway Reservoir through September. The herbicides will cause no harm to wildlife, people or aquatic life, but will kill gardens, flowerbeds and lawns if used on neighboring lands. By federal law, these herbicides have up to a 120-day irrigation restriction after application. The AGFC asks adjacent landowners to NOT irrigate for lawn or garden use with water from the lake until Feb. 1, 2021. The use of herbicides is necessary to control the current problems with alligatorweed and other invasive vegetation species that have infested the lake, restricting access to boathouses, ramps and fishing locations and hindering native wildlife and fish populations. For more information, please contact the AGFC Fisheries Office in Mayflower at (877) 470-3309.

(updated 9-30-2020) Bates Field and Stream (501-470-1846) said the lake has its normal Conway stain and is at a normal level. Bream are good on redworms and crickets. Crappie are also good. Try crappie minnows or go with a jig in white/chartreuse or black chartreuse. Baby shad is another good bait. Black bass are good. Spinnerbaits, plastic worms, Gitzits, frogs, buzzbaits and tube jigs are all working. Catfishing is good. Stink bait continues to be the go-to, along with nightcrawlers, goldfish, dough bait and trotlines baited with bass minnows and those other mentioned offerings.

Lake Beaverfork

(updated 9-16-2020) Angler Dennis Charles reports that bass are excellent all hours of the day. Anglers are finding success using anything in the box. Bream are slow all over. Crappie are showing their fins along the grass lines. Catfish can be found all over; go to deep water for your best chances.

Little Red River

(updated 9-30-2020) Greg Seaton of littleredflyfishingtrips.com (501-690-9166) said the river remains clear and low with minimum generation in the afternoons. The last two days the schedule has been one unit for 2 hours beginning at 4 p.m. Rainbows are taking small flies in the 18-to-20-inch range with mayfly nymphs, emergers and midge pupa being good choices. Small tippet and good presentations are required in the low-water conditions. The river is the lowest it has been in some time, so use care when motoring. The rocks always win!

(updated 9-30-2020) Fish ’N Stuff (501-834-5733) in Sherwood reports that trout are good on Rooster Tails, Buoyant Spoons, small maribou jigs and No. 5 countdowns.

(updated 9-30-2020) Lowell Myers of Sore Lip’em All Guide Service (501-230-0730) said the Little Red River is receiving a couple hours of afternoon generation each day. This pattern provides wading opportunities on the upper river in the mornings and lower river in the afternoons. For fly-fishing, Lowell recommends midges, pheasant tails, hare’s ears, sowbugs and streamers. Cotton candy colored bodies on chartreuse jigheads are recommended for Trout Magnet spin-fishing. Be safe while enjoying the river. Always check before heading to the Little Red River by calling the Army Corps of Engineers Little Rock District water data system (501.362.5150) for Greers Ferry Dam water release information or check the Corps of Engineers website (swl-wc.usace.army.mil) for real-time water release and the Southwestern Power Administration website (swpa.gov) to see forecasted generation schedule.

Greers Ferry Lake
As of Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers reports the lake’s elevation at 459.88 feet msl (normal conservation pool: 462.54 feet msl).

(updated 9-30-2020) Tommy Cauley of Fishfinder Guide Service (501-940-1318) said the water level at Greers Ferry lake is at 459.87 feet msl, down from normal level of 462.54 feet msl by 2.67 feet. “I hope everyone learned something from the electronics tip and have used it this past week. Just keep using those. Practice makes perfect.” Tommy says black bass are schooling at every chance they can on top and down as well. Big groups from large to small chasing bait all over the lake. Loner fish and structure fish can be caught dragging something or moving baits, and lots of fish are shallow. Crappie are eating well day in, day out even with cold fronts. Troll crankbaits, jigs and/or use live bait. Walleye have not got in our boat, but some are being caught dragging something or on crankbaits or caught under schooling fish. Catfish are being caught but are a little slow some days, as they are in transition as well. Some are being caught under schooling fish. Bream and black salties are working well. Bream are doing their thing as the moon starts down; lots to be caught on a lot of different baits. Hybrid bass and white bass are eating on and off all day and night; use spoons, inline spinners, Largo Muskie baits, swimbaits and topwater plugs all over the lake. Just stay with shad; fish are close from 35-60 feet.

(updated 9-30-2020) Fish ’N Stuff (501-834-5733) in Sherwood says the water is clear and a little low. Bass are fair on drop-shot in 15 feet of water. Also use Carolina rigs, and try a topwater bait early in the morning or late in the evening. Walleye are good. Drop-shotting and nightcrawlers is working on the main and secondary points in 15 feet of water

Harris Brake Lake

(updated 9-30-2020) Harris Brake Lake Resort (501-889-2745) says the water is clearing up. It’s at a normal level this week. Bream are good on redworms and crickets. Crappie have fallen off; this week had poor reports. Black bass are good around the shoreline. Use a plastic worm. Catfishing is good. Chicken liver is working nicely, and trotlines baited with shad, goldfish or worms are taking their share.

Lake Overcup

NOTE: Employees and contractors with the AGFC have conducted herbicide applications to Overcup through September. The herbicides cause no harm to wildlife, people or aquatic life, but will kill gardens, flowerbeds and lawns if used on neighboring lands. By federal law, these herbicides have up to a 120-day irrigation restriction after application. The AGFC asks adjacent landowners to NOT irrigate for lawn or garden use with lake water until Feb. 1, 2021. The use of herbicides is necessary to control the current problems with alligatorweed and other invasive vegetation species that have infested the lake and, if left uncontrolled, could restrict access to boathouses, ramps and fishing locations and hinder native wildlife and fish populations.

(updated 9-30-2020) Randy DeHart at Lakeview Landing (501-354-5309) said the lake is fairly clear and has taken a jump upward with the level 6-8 feet high. Crappie are fair and appear to be moving up. Fish with minnows or with black/chartreuse jigs. Black bass are fair on crankbaits. Catfishing is good; Randy reports that the AGFC recently stocked 1,200 channel cats into Overcup. Bream are slowing down and reports are poor.

Brewer Lake

(update 9-30-2020 ) David Hall at Dad’s Bait Shop (501-977-0303) had no report.

‘Wings Over Arkansas’ takes flight for birdwatchers

By RANDY ZELLERS/Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

LITTLE ROCK – With the fall migration of many bird species beginning, birdwatching enthusiasts and educators are just as excited as the most avid waterfowl hunter, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has a great way to bring more birders into the watchable wildlife ranks. After 20 years the AGFC’s Wings Over Arkansas program has been revamped and is ready to share the outdoors with more people than ever before.

The program rewards birdwatchers for the number of different species they document in their birdwatching adventures with special certificates of recognition and pins they can display as they move up in the ranks.

Program materials include brochures, certificates, bird lists and a newly redesigned Backyard Birds pocket guide.

“There are six levels of advancement to the program,” Kirsten Bartlow, Watchable Wildlife Program coordinator for the AGFC, said. “You start at 25 species with the Carolina chickadee level, and top out at the swallow-tailed kite level when you record 300 separate species sightings.”

Participants in this free program receive an Arkansas Bird checklist as well as a free Arkansas Backyard Birds pocket guide to help them identify common species in The Natural State.

“We also have a brochure filled with handy information to help you get started, including links to popular websites and apps to make your birding efforts more rewarding,” Bartlow said. “Smartphones were not as prevalent as they are today when the program was last updated, so we’re excited about telling people about all these resources at their fingertips.”

Bartlow worked with Karen Rowe, the AGFC’s Nongame Migratory Bird Program coordinator, to refine the list for the program and help beginning birders with the species they are most likely to encounter.

“It is not a complete list of every bird ever confirmed in Arkansas,” Rowe said. “We removed those species that had 10 or less recorded occurrences in the state to cut down on confusion for beginning birders. The complete list is curated by the Arkansas Audubon Society, and we include a link to it in the program documents for interested people.”

According to Bartlow, the program is great entertainment for people from all walks of life. Educators can also adapt the materials to their classroom studies to help engage with students who may be learning on virtual platforms. Bartlow has seen great success introducing everyone from school-aged children to retired individuals at assisted-living communities to the outdoors with the help of the program.

“Everyone can enjoy birdwatching,” Bartlow said. “Whether you get out and visit parks and remote areas, or just want to sit by a window and watch a bird feeder, you can find many species of birds to participate in the program.”

Bartlow says the new Arkansas Backyard Birds pocket guide is filled with new, colorful images of the most common species found in Arkansas and interesting tidbits about their behavior and habits.

“The pocket guide, brochures and publications were all given a fresh new look by AGFC Graphic Artist Kristen Hodges, so even if you’ve participated in the program before, you may want to order a new book just to see the new look,” Bartlow said.

Visit www.agfc.com/wingsoverar for more information on the program and downloadable materials, or you may call 501-223-6352 to request free printed guidebooks and brochures to get started.

Alligator harvest sets state mark

Image courtesy of Travis Bearden via TMZ.com

By JIM HARRIS/Managing Editor Arkansas Wildlife Magazine

MONTICELLO – Arkansas hunters harvested more alligators than ever before in the 2020 alligator season, which was held the third and fourth weekends in September in three hunting zones in the lower half of the state. Included in that harvest was the longest alligator taken since the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission began setting an annual alligator hunting season.

Collectively, 170 alligators were taken in the state on both public and private land. The previous record for alligator harvest was the 98 taken in the 2017 season, according to Mark Barbee, an AGFC wildlife regional supervisor in southeast Arkansas and coordinator of the alligator hunt.

“This has been our first season going to a quota system for our private land hunting and it went great,” Barbee said. “People followed the protocol. Everybody did what was asked to make it a successful hunt. You couldn’t have asked for better weekends to hunt either with the weather. The nights were cool and the days did not get too hot. So, the season went great and the weather was perfect for it as well.”

An alligator believed to be the longest ever harvested in Arkansas – and definitely the longest since the state has had an alligator season – was taken on Merrisach Lake near Arkansas Post last weekend. The AGFC does not maintain an official state record on alligators but has recorded data on length since beginning the annual alligator harvest in 2007.

Travis Bearden, Gary Bearden, Cody Bearden and Tommy Kelley took an alligator that measured a half-inch shy of 14 feet and weighed 800 pounds. The length and weight were verified by AGFC personnel. The Bearden clan – Travis with his dad and one of his brothers – and Kelley were hunting from a boat and spotted the gator in the water of one of Merrisach’s coves.

Travis Bearden said, “We had gone there the week before. I went with my other brother and some other friends but we didn’t get one. I don’t know if the cold front had messed with them or what. My other brother had gone back to Florida. I had invited them all back, but going out two weekends in a row with everybody having family is tough for folks. They were definitely bummed they couldn’t make it again.”

Kelley was back, though, along with Travis’ dad and another brother. “Our expectations weren’t real high. But we were only out there two hours before we saw him and were able to get close enough to harpoon him. We had no idea how big it was. You can see their eyes but you can’t see their whole body under the water.”

Then, the fun really began. The alligator “was pulling us around like we had a motor on the boat. We didn’t get it to the boat until 11 o’clock before we could shoot it.”

Bearden had been on a hunt with friend John Spradlin to take an alligator that was 10 feet, 2 inches in 2015. He said, “Once you get one, all the wait is worth it. It can be grueling waiting it out, though.

“Just having them, my dad and brother, with me was special,” he said. “It was my dad’s first alligator. We camped at Merrisach and a lot of bowhunters were there. My dad was walking around telling story after story to stranger after stranger. When another person came up, he’d tell them about it.”

Alligator hunting is by permit only in Arkansas. The AGFC issued 38 public hunting permits, with hunting allowed only on designated areas of the Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois D’Arc WMA, Sulphur River WMA, Little River below Millwood Lake, Millwood Lake, Lake Erling and the Lower Arkansas River Wetland Complex. All other public areas are closed to alligator hunting.

The AGFC created more opportunity for hunters pursuing alligators on private land this year. Hunters who own or had permission to hunt on private lands within the three Alligator Management Zones were able to hunt through a quota-based system similar to private land elk hunting and bear hunting in Arkansas. They were required to obtain a permit through the AGFC’s online licensing system. Harvested gators had to be reported as soon as possible to the AGFC.

“We don’t want to go over the quota, but with the call-in system, it is like with the bears,” Barbee said. “People called in each day to see it was open, they were told the zones were still open for that day and they went out hunting. To my knowledge, there were no violations of the harvest.”

In Management Zone 1, in southwestern Arkansas, 72 total alligators were harvested. Eight were taken on public land and 64 were harvested on private land. In Zone 2 in the middle south portion of the state (there are no public permits issued), three alligators were taken. In Management Zone 3, which includes Merrisach Lake and all of southeast Arkansas, 95 total alligators were harvested, with nine of those being taken on public land. The harvest on private land was six more total than the planned quota for the zones.

“We had planned on a total harvest limit of 164 gators for public and private land,” Barbee said. “We harvested 170. So we’re looking at six animals over. That’s acceptable.”
Zone 3 reached its quota on Saturday night of the first weekend. Zone 1’s quota was not reached until Saturday of the second weekend.

He added, “I’ve talked to a lot of hunters this year, and all were supportive of the quota system. It worked out well for everybody.”