Trout

Trout are not native to Arkansas. Arkansas’s trout fisheries are the result of cold-water discharge downstream from many U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams.

Before these dams, the White River was full of smallmouth bass and other warmwater fish. The coldwater discharge wiped out the smallmouth fisheries.

The federal government mitigated the damage through the annual stocking of trout, which can handle much colder water temperatures. Brown trout can reproduce successfully in Arkansas, but rainbow trout populations require annual stockings.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will hold a series of public meetings around Arkansas as part of its process to develop a new statewide plan to guide trout management in The Natural State.

These seven public meetings will be held in an open house format to allow individuals to meet with fisheries biologists and other AGFC staff one-on-one to learn about trout fishing and trout management efforts and how the new plan will influence future decision-making regarding Arkansas’s world-famous trout waters.

Important Trout Resources