Getting to know your Arkansas Game & Fish Office

Times Outdoor Columnist A while back, when the fish were really biting, Papa Duck talked my wife, Colleen into going with me. It had been several years since we fished and my favorite fishing partners are Colleen and Dr. Keith.

Just before we got ready, the thought hit… she does not have a fishing license!

Since she is a senior citizen, the best solution is to get the lifetime license for only $10.50. They are available in the AGFC regional offices. The closest to us are Brinkley and Jonesboro, and I chose Brinkley because our wardens are based there.

Date of birth, Social Security number, and driver’s license numbers are required. Armed with the required information the drive time was a little over an hour and the office is about a mile south of I-40. The office is a very interesting place to visit with all the species of wildlife displayed along with many plants. One of the first things you notice is a 13-foot alligator greeting you. Cyndi Doepel is the office manager and is very friendly and helpful.

The licensing process takes only a few minutes and the license is billfold- sized and laminated.

The regional office is the base of both the enforcement (wardens) and fisheries personnel. Micah Tindall is an 8 year fish biologist and has been in Brinkley for 5 years and helps manage the fisheries in 10 counties from Lake Maumell to the Mississippi River, both lakes and streams.

Micah has a BA from Arkansas Tech and a MA from UAPB. He feels conservation is the key for saving our natural resources for the next generation.

The populations of fish must be properly maintained. What do fishermen want in the way of fishing? Trophy fish, or a lot of smaller fish, or a happy combination of both. Size does not determine age.

Balance of predator to prey relationship is the key.

Micah says that most of the time, harvest improves fishing. There is only so much food available. A lot of food and few fish produces big fish, conversely, not much food and a lot of fish produces small and stunted fish. In the past the thought was to keep all the fish, subsistence fishing.

Now sport or trophy fishing is popular when all the fish are thrown back.

There should be a balanced harvest. Horseshoe Lake is known for its crappie fishing, but in the past much of the catch was small fish. Horseshoe Slabs! Crappie are a boom or bust species and harvest is the solution.

After many years of a 50-a-day limit, the size has greatly improved with many large fish being caught. The limit is now 30 per-day and the fisheries people feel that is the number to maintain both numbers and size. Because there is only so much food in a lake or stream, rough fish like carp, buffalo, and gar need to be controlled and removed. Horseshoe had 2 harvests by commercial fishermen last winter.

A balance of fish to nutrients is needed to sustain fisheries. While visiting, Micah told me that Tilden Rodgers Lake was stocked with catfish on Tuesday Sept. 24. The trout will be stocked when the water temperature cools, usually around Thanksgiving.

Autumn is officially here and while we have had an unusually hot and dry September, the mornings are becoming pleasant with light winds. The early teal and Canada goose season are closed with mixed results. Let’s hope regular duck season will be better.

Squirrel hunters report a good crop of busy tails while seeing a lot of deer signs.

The nation’s longest bow season opened Sept. 28 and goes till the end of February 2020. Depending on the zone, muzzle loading is next, starting on Oct. 19.

The crappie at Horseshoe have been biting better with good catches under the piers and in the pad fields. The bass are hit and miss with no particular pattern or lure. Catfish are consistent but very few bream are caught. Midway continues to be good late in the evenings for big bream and early mornings for bass. The trollers are taking a few crappie on jigs and minnows. Both trot lines and pole fishermen are catching limits of cats.

Fishing at Tilden Rodgers should greatly improve with the recent stocking by the AGFC of catfish but no bream. Apparently the word about the restocking is out because the banks were lined with fishermen this weekend. In the last couple of weeks monster cats of the 20 to 35 pound range that have been taken from Tilden Rogers, show that small lakes can produce very large fish. These fish were kept and provided a catfish supper for several people.

No one has reported catching fish at Wapanocca which will remain open through November. Cool weather should reduce the vegetation and also make the fish hungry.

As we go into fall, make sure you take the kids with you and make some good memories. Be sure to take plenty of pictures and send them to me, along with names and a few details of the trip. Lakeside Taxidermy appreciates your business and enjoys doing your trophies quickly, at a reasonable price, and you will have a trophy you can brag about. Andy the warden needs some questions.

Papa Duck Lakeside Taxidermy 870-732-0455 or 901482-3430 jhcriner@hotmail.com