Photo courtesy of Arkansas.com
Fisheries for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission kick off the spring electrofishing season in North Central Arkansas every year by sampling walleye populations in the Twin Lakes. After recent samples, Game and Fish officials believe walleye fishing on Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes should remain good for more years to come.
According to Game and Fish, mature walleye in the reservoirs spawn in one of two ways. Some walleye swim up the large tributaries, and others spawn on main lake points or gravel flats
Game and Fish staff target the main lake spawning walleye population at Bull Shoals and Norfork dams when the water surface temperature is anywhere between 52 and 55 degrees. Electrofishing sampling efforts have been conducted since 2003, and it allows staff to monitor changes in abundance and size of spawning walleye over time.
This year, staff sampled 110 walleye on Norfork Lake ranging in size from 16 to 24 inches, and 83 are at legal size (18 inches or greater). Another 156 walleye were sampled on Bull Shoals Lake ranging from 15 to 27 inches, and 140 are at legal size. The abundance of spawning and legal-sized Walleye on Bull Shoals and Norfork Lakes remains higher than these reservoirs’ long-term sampling averages likely due to the numerous high water years.
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