
Youthful Hot Springs teams dominate Commissioners’ Cup divisions
June 22, 2022
ROYAL – The Hot Springs youth fishing duo of Xander Cobb and Eli Rowton hauled in 10.52 pounds with a five-bass stringer to win the Senior Division of the 4th Annual Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation Commissioners’ Cup presented by Xpress Boats, held last Saturday on Lake Ouachita.

Crappie broodstock added to Lake Ouachita nursery pond
April 20, 2022
JOPLIN — The William H. Donham State Fish Hatchery in Corning recently supplied 250 adult black crappie for fish production in Lake Ouachita’s nursery pond in the south fork of the lake.

AGFC biologists win awards for Florida bass research in Hot Springs area lakes
March 23, 2022
HOT SPRINGS — In the world of bass fishing, all eyes are on Florida, well at least Florida largemouth bass. Biologists from Arkansas, however, claimed this year’s Jack Dequine Award for Fisheries Outstanding Technical Paper for work about how these Sunshine State fish have fared in two Natural State reservoirs.

Arkansas hatchery convoy completes 2,200-mile striped bass stocking
July 7, 2021
SPRINGDALE — Striped bass on the Atlantic Coast may travel hundreds of miles from the ocean to freshwater bays to spawn, but thanks to the efforts of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists, some landlocked stripers in Beaver, Norfork and Ouachita lakes can claim a spawning run measuring thousands of miles. Last week, hatchery staff transported a load of striped bass fingerlings from Watha, North Carolina, on a 2,200-mile road trip that lasted nearly 72 hours from start to finish.

Arkansas Wildlife Weekly Fishing Report
July 15, 2020
Elizabeth Farr, 13, landed a catfish on noodles baited with goldfish at Lake Ouachita recently. Elizabeth's mom, Cassie, said Elizabeth and her sister (in a previous week's photo) caught eight catfish all this size in one trip. Photo provided by Lisa Spencer of Lisa's Bait Shop in Benton.

Youth bass fishing team earns $1,000 without wetting a line
Oct. 23, 2019
MT. IDA — The anglers of Lake Ouachita High School Fishing Team may still be a few years from taking on the challenge of top-level tournament angling, but they already are showing the character of true sportsmen and women through their conservation actions. The team netted a $1,000 grant from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to help fund their organization after successfully completing a fish habitat project on Lake Ouachita this summer.

Aquatic vegetation greets Forrest Wood Cup anglers on Ouachita
Aug. 1, 2018
HOT SPRINGS - August can be a brutal time to bass fish on a clear-water lake in Arkansas, but hopes are high that 56 anglers competing in the Forrest Wood Cup, Aug. 10-12, will crack the code and bring some impressive weights to the scales. The Cup is the championship event for the Fishing League Worldwide bass fishing tour, one of the largest professional fishing organizations in the country.