Trout stockings return to community ponds for Thanksgiving

Nov. 20, 2019

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK — Looking for a great way to relax outdoors with the family after the turkey and dressing are finished off? The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Family and Community Fishing Program is releasing hundreds of rainbow trout in program ponds throughout the state, ready for anglers to come catch some memories.

Each year, rainbow trout raised at the Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery in Mammoth Spring are delivered to community ponds in Arkansas once the water temperatures have cooled enough to accommodate these cold-water fish. According to Maurice Jackson, AGFC Family and Community Fishing Program Coordinator, the fish will be delivered to program ponds this week, so families can enjoy a trout dinner after they’ve gobbled up all the holiday meals this Thanksgiving weekend.

“Trout fishing normally is reserved for cold sections of the Little Red River, North Fork of the White River and White River below dams that create Arkansas’s larger lakes,” Jackson said. “So this is always a special treat for anglers who cannot make the drive to those fishing locations. It’s become a bit of a tradition for many of our anglers in the city to have a family outing catching trout to bring home for a meal.”

Visit www.agfc.com/familyfishing to learn more about the Family and Community Fishing Program and to find a pond near you participating in the winter trout stocking schedule.