Fly Fishing in Arkansas

A regional note specific to this state: the trout fishery here is built on a series of tailwaters below cold-water reservoirs, and the state agency has invested heavily in those tailwaters, which is why the catch rate is consistently high and the average fish size is larger than the national average. Arkansas trout fishing is the most productive tailwater fishery in the southern United States, and the only state in the region where an angler can plan a year around trout water. The state has four major tailwaters: the White River below Bull Shoals Dam, the Norfork River below Norfork Dam, the Little Red River below Greers Ferry Dam, and the Spring River below Mammoth Spring. All four tailwaters produce trophy brown and rainbow trout, with the White River holding the world record brown trout caught in 1992. The state's trout program is administered through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and the agency stocks all four tailwaters seasonally with rainbows while maintaining a self-sustaining brown trout population on the White and Norfork. A regular Arkansas fishing license is required, and the cost is $10.50 for residents and $50 for non-residents, and the daily limit is 5 trout combined in most waters with special regulations on each tailwater. The unique regional quirk is that the White River tailwater has the only catch-and-release fly-fishing-only section in Arkansas — a 0.5-mile stretch below Bull Shoals Dam that requires artificial flies and lures only.