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LITTLE ROCK – Reduced black bass daily limits on four north Arkansas lakes and a ban on "chumming" in some trout waters were proposed Friday by fisheries biologists of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Chumming is the practice of scattering food in an area to attract fish that may also strike a baited hook. Whole kernel corn is commonly used for chumming in Arkansas trout waters.
Allen Carter, the Commission’s chief of fisheries, said the recommendation on banning chumming was only for the catch and release areas of Arkansas trout streams. These designated areas are on the White River, North Fork River, Little Red River and Little Missouri River.
A number of trout anglers, including many organized fly fishermen, had asked for an end to chumming for trout.
Carter also presented a recommendation to reduce the daily limit on largemouth bass and spotted bass from 10 and raise the limit of smallmouth bass from 4 to 6 a day on Beaver Lake, Table Rock, Bull Shoals Lake and Norfork Lake in the northern part of the state. Except for Beaver the lakes are also in Missouri. The change would make Arkansas limits match those of Missouri. The bass limits apply to the individual species or a combination of them.
The chumming and bass limit issues will be voted on by the Commission at its Sept. 23 vote and will go into effect Jan. 1, 2000 if approved.
The commissioners asked Carter to solicit public comments on establishing additional trout catch and release areas and for moving the present Rim Shoals catch and release area on the White River upstream from its present location.
Two other suggestions are scheduled for the Sept. 23 vote:
* Restrict fishing on 300-acre Lake Greenlee at Brinkley to hand-held rods and poles only.
* Make seasonal catch and release rules on the White River at Bull Shoals State Park apply to all species of trout, not just brown trout.
Several other recommendation changes will be voted on by the commissioners at their Aug. 20 meeting in Little Rock. These are:
* Make bass fishing catch and release only on Lake Greenlee, which is being extensively renovated.
* Remove the 15-inch minimum length limit on largemouth bass on Lake Hamilton at Hot Springs.
* Set a protected slot limit of 16 to 21 inches on largemouth bass on Mallard Lake near Manila (Mississippi County). Bass fishing currently is catch and release on the lake.
*Alter trout limits on Bull Shoals Lake to match the statewide limits.
* Clarify the catch and release area boundaries on the White River near Jack’s Resort.
* Open Lake Overcup to commercial fishing for scaled rough fish from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31 this year, with a free permit required in addition to a commercial license.
* Close Dardanelle Bay on Lake Dardanelle in Yell County to commercial fishing from March 1 through Nov. 30.
* Change Lake Nimrod’s commercial fishing to open Sept. 1 and require monthly reports by commercial fishermen working Nimrod and Blue mountain lakes.
* Allow commercial fishing on Lake Chicot during its 1999-2000 drawdown.
* Close Island 40 Chute in Crittenden County to commercial fishing except from Nov. 1 through March 30 except when the chute is accessible by boat from the Mississippi River.
* Limit fishing on Wattensaw Wildlife Management Area ponds and lakes, excluding oxbow lakes, near Hazen, to hand-held rods and poles.
*Limit fishing on North Fork Lake in Montgomery County to hand-held rods and poles.
* Reduce the daily fish limits on Lake Overcup and Lake Chicot to half the statewide limits during their drawdowns from Sept. 1, 1999, to March 1, 2000.
* Define the downstream end of Arkansas River fishing rules as Dam 2, also known as Wilbur D. Mills Dam.
* Limit fishing on Bob Courtway School pond at Conway and the Camp Robinson Shooting Range east of Mayflower to persons 15 and younger or 65 and older with hand-held rods and poles. Largemouth bass fishing will be catch and release only.
* Create community fishing programs for Searcy City Lake and Carol Ann Cross Lake at Fort Smith.
* Make sucker fishing rules include a daily limit of 20 and define legal methods as hogging, grabbing, gigging, snagging, sportfishing tackle in all waters and commercial tackle where waters are open to commercial fishing.
* Make Mississippi River fishing rules conform to those of Mississippi. These include a "hogging" season of May 1 to July 15, a limit on white bass of 50 and a limit on trotlines of 100 hooks. These rules apply between the main levees of the Mississippi.
Uploaded: 7/28/1999
Uploaded: 7/28/1999