Bowfishing – Taking fish with bow and arrow (on line). Rough fish [gar, bowfin, common carp, Asian carp (grass carp, bighead carp, silver carp), sucker including buffalo), bullheads and drum] may be taken by bowfishing. A daily limit of two alligator gar may be taken from noon to the next noon, year-round. A daily limit of two catfish may be taken from noon to the next noon between July 15-May 1.
Bream – any species of the genus Lepomis including bluegill, redear, warmouth and other sunfish.
Catch-And-Release – The requirement that fish of a designated species must be released immediately into the water where caught.
Commercial Fish – Bowfin over six inches, buffalo, catfish, carp, drum, gar, paddlefish, suckers, white amur and shovelnose sturgeon. Catfish and paddlefish may be considered either commercial fish or game fish depending on the type of tackle used to take these fish.
Daily Limits – A daily limit is the number of fish of one species (or group of species) allowed to be taken from midnight to the next midnight. Fishermen are allowed to have only one daily limit of fish while fishing or returning from a one-day fishing trip.
Dip Netting – Dip nets may be used only when fish are caught first by hook and line or bow and arrow. Dip nets may be used to take baitfish for personal use while sportfishing. This use is limited to dip nets with mesh one inch or smaller.
Fish Cleaning – While fishing in waters designated as having a length or slot limit on sportfish, you may not possess a fish that has been filleted or had its head or tail removed while fishing from shore, boat or while being transported by boat. Check your destination on pages 55-76 to see whether length or slot limits apply.
Fishing Below Dams – It is illegal to fish within 100 yards below any dam and within the outlet channels of Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative Hydroelectric Plant at Barling and the Murray Hydroelectric Plant at North Little Rock. The exceptions to this include individuals fishing with only one hand-held rod or pole, taking rough fish with bow and arrow or taking shad with hand-held dip nets for personal use. Additional Corps of Engineers restrictions may apply.
Free-Floating Fishing Devices – A floating fishing device not attached to a stationary object or boat. Up to 20 jugs or similar devices may be used per person and must be clearly marked with either the user’s name and address, driver’s license number or current vehicle tag number. These may be left unattended only from sunset to sunrise.
Gaffing – Taking or attempting to take fish with a hand-held hook. Gaffing is not allowed unless the fish is caught on a hook and line first (or with bow and arrow).
Game Fish – Alligator gar, black bass, white bass, striped bass, hybrid striped bass, crappie, catfish, trout, bream, sunfish, goggle-eye, walleye, northern pike, muskellunge, sauger, saugeye, paddlefish and pickerels. Catfish and paddlefish are considered commercial fish if taken with commercial tackle.
Gigging – Taking fish with a gig. Only rough fish [gar, bowfin, common carp, Asian carp (grass carp, bighead carp, silver carp), sucker (including buffalo), bullhead and drum] may be taken with a gig. Statewide gigging season is open between 10 a.m. and midnight, from Sept. 15-Feb. 15. A daily limit of two alligator gar may be taken from noon to the next noon by gigging from Sept. 15-Feb. 15. The daily limit of suckers taken by gigging is 20, the possession limit is 40. Unless otherwise noted on pages 55-76, gigging is not allowed in areas where fishing is limited to rod or pole.
Hogging – The grabbing of fish by hand only in or under the water. It is unlawful to raise any part of a natural or artificial device out of the water thereby aiding in the capture of enclosed fish. One-half daily limit on catfish.
Noodling – The taking of fish by the use of a pole-mounted breakaway hook that detaches at the time of the strike or catch, or snare type device with an attached line manipulated by hand when a person is in or under the water. It is unlawful to raise any part of a natural or artificial device out of the water thereby aiding in the capture of enclosed fish. One-half daily limit on catfish. Open season for hogging and noodling is as follows: that portion of the state north and west of U. S. Highway 67 open July 15-Oct. 31, and that portion of the state south and east of U. S. Highway 67 open June 1-Oct. 31. The Arkansas River will remain open from June 1 through October 31, and the Mississippi River will remain open from May 1 through July 15. Only buffalo, catfish, carp and drum may be taken. Hogging and noodling are prohibited on the Ouachita River upstream from the mouth of the Little Missouri River.
Length Limit – MINIMUM LENGTH LIMIT: The shortest length of a fish of a designated species that can be kept. MAXIMUM LENGTH lIMIT: The maximum length of a fish of a designated species that can be kept. PROTECTED LENGTH LIMIT: A species/size limit that prohibits anglers from keeping fish within a designated size group. Unless otherwise specified, all fish are measured from the front of the lower jaw with the mouth closed to the tip of the tail with tail lobes pressed together when laid flat on a rule. All fish not meeting The length limit requirements for a particular water or species must be immediately released into the water where caught.
Rough Fish – gar (except alligator gar), bowfin, common carp, Asian carp (grass carp, bighead carp, silver carp), sucker (including buffalo), bullhead and drum.
Snagging – fishing with conventional rods and reels where the fish is impaled by the forceful retrieval of one or more hooks. Snagging sportfish from a bank may only be done within 100 yards below a dam. Any sport fish snagged must be kept, applied to the daily limit and may not be sold. Half the sport fish daily limit may be taken by snagging, or the lesser whole number nearest one-half the limit, when the limit is an odd number, although a full limit of catfish and paddlefish may be taken. Snagging must cease whenever a limit of any species is attained. Suckers may be snagged between sunrise and sunset, from April 1 to February 15. The daily limit for suckers is 20, the possession limit is 40. Restrictions apply to some waters. Check your destination on pages 55-76.
Spearfishing – Spearfishing season for game fish is open from June 15 until March 15, sunrise to sunset, in lakes Beaver, Blue Mountain, Bull Shoals, Catherine, Conway, DeGray Reservoir, Erling, Greers Ferry, Greeson, Hamilton, Harris Brake, Millwood, Nimrod, Norfork, Ouachita, Table Rock and impoundments created by the locks and dams on the Arkansas River. Spearfishing for largemouth, spotted or smallmouth bass is not allowed in lakes Beaver, Bull Shoals, Millwood, Norfork and Table Rock. Spearfishing for smallmouth bass is not permitted on Lake Ouachita. Spearfishing season for flathead catfish is open from July 15 until March 15. Rough fish may be taken by spearfishing all year on the waters mentioned above. Only catfish, gar, bowfin, common carp, Asian carp, (grass carp, bighead carp and silver carp), sucker (including buffalo) and drum may be taken from June 15 until March 15, sunrise to sunset, on Gillham, Dierks and DeQueen lakes. On these lakes, flathead catfish may be taken from July 15 until March 15. When spearfishing, half the game fish daily limit (or the lesser number nearest half when the limit is an odd number) may be taken. Spearfishers must abide by length and slot limits and may not have a spear gun in public waters other than those specified above.
Spearfishermen must display a standard diver’s flag and spearfish no more than 100 yards from it. The flag must be at least 12 inches square and at least 12 inches above the water. Spearfishermen must complete spearfishing activities and leave the body of water here fish were taken before cleaning or dressing fish.
Sportfish – see game fish on Page 30.
Tackle – Rod, reel, pole, line, net, yo-yo, minnow seine or other devices used to fish. Commercial tackle such as gill nets, hoop nets, trammel nets, traps or snaglines may not be used to catch game fish.
To Fish – To take, catch, kill, collect, net, trap, spear or otherwise attempt to reduce fish to possession. Fish may not be taken with electrical devices, firearms, explosives, or toxic, stupefying or killing substances.
Trotline, Setline and Limbline Fishing Requirements – Trotline, setline and limblines are allowed for sportfishing in most areas. (Check pages 55-76). The drops or hooks may not be less than twenty-four (24) inches apart and the catch must be removed daily. All trotlines, setlines and limblines must be clearly labeled with the name and address, or vehicle operator’s license number, or current vehicle license number of the person using such equipment. Information must be attached on each line at the bank end. Cotton lines are no longer required.
Using Live Bait – Baitfish include bluntnose minnows, bullhead catfish, bullhead minnows, chubs, crayfish, dace, fatheads, common carp under six inches (Common carp may not be used as bait in certain waters. See pages 55-68), goldfish, shiners, stonerollers, logperch (also called sand pike or zebra minnows), shad, gar (other than alligator gar), drum, bowfin under six inches, skipjack herring, silversides (brook and inland), buffalo (bigmouth, smallmouth, and black), river carpsucker, sculpin (banded and Ozark) and bream under four inches long. Bream longer than four inches may be used as bait only if first taken by hook and line and are subject to daily limit restrictions. There is no length limit on goldfish. With the exception of taking shad with hand held dip nets, baitfish may not be taken in the area within 100 yards below a dam.
During daylight hours, baitfish may be taken using
-
seines no larger than 50 feet long and four feet wide with quarter-inch mesh;
-
square traps or lifts no larger than six feet by six feet by three feet with half-inch mesh and with
-
a throat size of two inches and round traps no longer than three feet in diameter and six feet in length;
-
cast nets with one-inch (or smaller) mesh;
-
shad trawl nets with one-inch (or smaller) mesh;
-
glass, plastic or wire mesh minnow traps no larger than one gallon with a one-and-a-half inch (or smaller) throat;
-
hand-operated dip nets or lifts with one inch (or smaller ) square bar mesh for use while sportfishing. This method may be used day or night. All other species of fish must be immediately released.
You may not use wild-caught baitfish on Norfork Lake unless said bait was caught on Norfork Lake. You can also use baitfish purchased from an Arkansas licensed dealer in Norfork Lake. Dispose of leftover bait properly. Dump minnows and other live bait in their original water source or in a trash receptacle. See pages 44 and 49 for more information on how you can protect Arkansas’s waters.
Yo-Yo Fishing – Up to 30 yo-yos (or similar mechanical devices) per person may be used as long as they are not left unattended (out of sight or hearing) during daylight hours, and no more than one is hung from a line, wire, limb or support. Yo-yos must be labeled with the owner’s name and address or vehicle operator’s license number, or current vehicle license number of the person using such equipment.