ITTLE ROCK - Thanks to a proclamation by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, anyone may fish in Arkansas without a fishing license or trout stamp from noon Friday, June 9, through midnight Sunday night, June 11.
Arkansas Game & Fish Commission Director Austin Booth read the proclamation during the May AGFC meeting.
The weekend presents an excellent opportunity for people to try fishing for the first time, or maybe try a new form of fishing, without investing in an Arkansas fishing license or trout stamp.
For anglers who fish primarily Arkansas's warmwater lakes and rivers, the weekend also provides the opportunity to try out some of Arkansas's famed coldwater fisheries below the Norfork, Bull Shoals and Greers Ferry dams or the Spring River for trout. The proclamation also applies to residents and nonresidents so that visiting friends and family can join in on the fun.
The biggest events during the weekend of free fishing are expected to be the AGFC's annual hatchery fishing derbies, being held June 10 at all four of the agency's warmwater fish hatcheries. These derbies are for youth 18 and younger and their families who would like to fish alongside them.
"We have changed the focus of these derbies to include the family members of those youth in the last few years and the response has been incredible," J.J. Gladden, assistant chief of education for the AGFC, said. "The best fishing trips are those where people can share the experience with family and friends, and we want to foster that tradition from the first cast of a young angler's experience." People interested in fishing at one of the derbies must register in advance.
"We want to provide a great experience for the anglers who are registered, but the hatchery ponds can only have so many guests before they become crowded or cause possible safety issues," Gladden said. "So we have to have a limit to the number of participants. The required registration wi...
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