Trout fishing was virtually unknown in Arkansas until U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams at Norfork, Bull Shoals, Greers Ferry and Beaver were built and created ideal habitat downstream. Since the beginning, National Fish Hatcheries at Norfork, Greers Ferry and Mammoth Spring have supplied stocking trout for one of the state’s most successful fishing industries. The combined in-state hatcheries produce over two million trout for Arkansas waters each year.
Arkansas boasts over 150 miles of trout-filled streams for fishermen. The White provides over 90 miles of habitat downstream from Bull Shoals, the Little Red offers 30 miles below Greers Ferry Dam and the Spring River adds another 20 miles, south of Mammoth Spring. Trout are also found in several lakes, including Bull Shoals, Ouachita, Hamilton, Catherine.
Not only does Arkansas provide lots of trout-fishing destinations and species, its waters provide some big ones, too. On May 9, 1992, the late Howard "Rip" Collins of Heber Springs went on an impromptu fishing trip with a neighbor and returned with a 40-pound, four-ounce brown from the Little Red River. It still stands as a world record.
