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William Robinson of Rogers today was announced as the winner of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s 2022-23 winter tagged trout promotion. He will receive a free half-day guided fishing trip on the White River for up to six anglers, including a free night’s stay at White River Family Fishing of Arkansas’s lodge and a traditional shore lunch fish fry on the river during the day of angling.
Robinson caught his prize-winning fish from Lake Atalanta on Feb. 11, but the winner was not determined until names were randomly drawn from all anglers who submitted a tag from a fish caught during the last three months.
In addition to the grand prize winner, three more lucky anglers boated fantastic guided fishing trips thanks to the generous donation by Sore Lip ’Em All Trout Guide Service. The following anglers will be able to bring up to three additional anglers for a day of fishing fun on the Little Red River below Greers Ferry Lake.
- Eric Pace of Conway, who caught his trout from Lake Valencia in Maumelle;
- Tom Gattin of Hot Springs, who caught a tagged trout from Entergy Park Pond in Hot Springs; and
- Hugh Kynerd of Bartlett, Tennessee, who came over to West Memphis to catch his prize-winning trout at Tilden Rogers Park Pond.
The staff at the AGFC’s Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery raised and delivered roughly 50,000 catchable-size rainbow trout to Family and Community Fishing Program ponds throughout the state last winter. The Jim Collins Net Pen Facility on the west end of Lake Ouachita provided an additional 3,500 keeper-size trout to program ponds. In addition to the excitement and delicious meals these fish provide, 335 were given special tags that anglers could mail in to be eligible for the special drawing to claim one of these amazing fishing experiences on Arkansas’s famed trout tailwaters.
Clint Coleman, FCFP assistant coordinator for the AGFC, was excited that the winners came from different locations throughout the state.
“It doesn’t always work like that, because it’s a totally random draw, but it was really neat to see that happen this year,” Coleman said. “We always have people return tags from across the state, so we know the trout stockings are popular everywhere we can offer them.”
Anglers who didn’t catch a tagged fish won’t have long to wait for their next opportunity. The AGFC will begin stocking catchable-size catfish at FCFP ponds in the next few weeks, and there should be a brand-new batch of tagged catfish swimming in program ponds by the second week of May.
“We have a couple of events planned for March, too, but the majority of our first stockings of the catfish season will take place by May,” Coleman said.
Keep an eye on the FCFP webpage at www.agfc.com/familyfishing for the latest stocking and fishing events planned for anglers in Arkansas.
Visit https://fb.watch/jhM4Sxdb98/ to watch the draw online.
