MAMMOTH SPRING, Ark. — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will host a public meeting at the Mammoth Spring School Complex, 410 Goldsmith Ave., December 16 from 6-8 pm to gather public input on a trout management plan specific to Spring River.
Although the Spring River is a popular trout-fishing destination and is home to the AGFC’s Jim Hinkle Spring River Hatchery, this is the first formal trout management plan ever developed for the fishery including public input.
The planning process will call for another public meeting in January, but anyone with an interest in the river’s management regarding trout should make plans to attend both meetings.
Unlike most of Arkansas’s other trout fisheries, which were created by cold-water discharges from large manmade reservoirs, the Spring River’s trout water along the Missouri/Arkansas state line is created naturally from Mammoth Spring. The spring releases roughly 9 million gallons of water per hour, all of which is between 58 and 62 degrees. The output forms a 10-acre lake, then feeds the river and supports a trout fishery for roughly 12 miles downstream. The river receives monthly stockings of rainbow trout as well as an annual stocking of brown trout for anglers to pursue.
Progress of the management plan will be posted on www.agfc.com throughout the process.
For more information, call 877-425-7577.
