Why is the Fishing So Hot this Spring in Hot Springs?

CONTACT:  Paul Johnson 501/231-3817

                        pj72205@comcast.net

Prize fish are being caught at a record pace in the 2019 $101,000 Hot Springs Fishing Challenge, and fish experts at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission think they know why.

As of Wednesday, 14 prize fish worth $16,500 had been caught in the first 15 days of the 2019 Challenge, a pace that could easily outstrip the record 16 prize fish caught during the entire three-month duration of the 2014 event.

“We’ve never seen this pace of prize fish being caught,” said Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs, which sponsors the annual Fishing Challenge with the G&FC. “As of Wednesday 19.7 percent of the 71 prize fish we placed in Lakes Hamilton and Catherine had been caught by participants. We wondered why this year has been so productive, so we asked our friends at the Andrew Hulsey Fish Hatchery, who tag and release the prize fish, why fishing has been so hot this spring.”

“They took a look and offered some explanations, some obvious and some not so obvious,” Arrison said.

Colton Dennis, black bass coordinator; Jeff Newman, manager of the Andrew Hulsey Fish Hatchery; and Brett Hobbs, District 8 biologist, with the G&FC, offered seven factors that they believe could explain why so many fish are being caught this spring:

1) What they called a “streamlined stocking protocol” used in selecting and tagging the 71 prize fish. This results “in less stress to the fish, thus enhancing the survival of released tagged fish.”

2) No crappie or walleye were among the species tagged for the 2019 Challenge. “These species are more sensitive to the rigors of handling versus the fish used this year: largemouth bass, channel catfish, and bluegill, which were tagged in higher numbers,” the fish experts said. White bass and redear sunfish also were included in the five species tagged for the Challenge.