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The final step of the Arkansas Legacy Lunker program’s first year is in the books, and roughly 295,000 fingerlings spawned from donated 10-pound-or-better largemouth bass have been stocked in lakes throughout Arkansas.
According to Jason Miller, assistant chief of the fisheries over the agency’s hatchery system, the “lunkerlings” were on top of the 2 million-plus largemouth and Florida bass fingerlings stocked by the AGFC’s hatchery system this year.
“The Joe Hogan State Fish Hatchery in Lonoke and Andrew Hulsey State Fish Hatchery in Hot Springs have already contributed 1.5 million Florida bass to lakes around the state,” Miller said. “The Charlie Craig State Fish Hatchery in Centerton and William Donham Hatchery in Corning added 405,320 largemouth bass to the tally as well. Add in the 295,000 fingerlings created through the Legacy Lunker program, and we’re producing as many largemouth and Florida bass as we ever have.”
Instead of using broodstock at the hatchery to produce the lunkerlings, fisheries biologists with the AGFC collected trophy bass caught by anglers from January through March and spawned them with bass selectively chosen by Red Hills Fishery in Georgia that have genetic markers indicating their potential to create trophy-sized bass.
Will Lancett, AGFC Legacy Lunker Program coordinator, said he was extremely pleased with the production of the fingerlings and credits the expertise of hatchery staff and the recent renovations to the Hogan Hatchery that made the program possible.
“We collected 22 spawns from angler-caught lunkers,” Lancett said. “A few fish spawned multiple times, while a few chose not to spawn at all. This is pretty common in an indoor hatchery setting. One fish spawned a total of four times between April 13 and April 30th. All this was going on while hatchery staff continued their regular spawning schedules for Florida bass and other species, which really makes it tricky to grow everything out.”
Lancett explained that bass fry born indoors must be stocked in outdoor grow-out ponds with others that hatch within a two- to three-day window, otherwise the first to hatch begin to feed on their younger roommates. They remain in these outdoor ponds for six to eight weeks until they reach lunkerling size.
“Hatchery space is already at a premium in spring, so raising these fish to fingerling size without them cannibalizing each other was a challenge the hatchery staff managed extremely well. We had to time stocking of some fingerlings with our regular Florida bass fingerlings, and we had an additional 50,000 or so ‘bonus fish’ that came from later spawns of the Lunkers before they were returned.”
The lion’s share of the lunkerlings, the initial 250,000 hatched, were stocked in the lakes where this year’s Legacy Lunkers were caught.
“We based the number of lunkerlings stocked on the number of Legacy Lunkers the lake yielded, which boiled down to about 15,000 fingerlings per lunker donated at that lake,” Lancett said. “The exception is Lake Austell. To ensure our stocking program is as effective as possible, we adjusted the number of fish stocked there to match the lake’s smaller size. It would not make biological sense to stock the same number of lunkerlings in Lake Austell as in a much larger waterbody like Lake Ouachita, even if the donations were equal. By stocking at the right density, we ensure the fish have plenty of forage to grow into future Legacy Lunkers.”
The 50,000 “bonus fish” went to other bodies of water, primarily in southern Arkansas that were already slated to receive Florida Bass stockings.
“In total, nine additional lakes apart from the donation lakes received some of the 50,000 ‘bonus fish,’” Lancett said. “Those were Bear Creek Lake, Cane Creek Lake, Grand Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Lake Chicot, Lake Wallace, Wilson Brake Lake and Coal Pile and Merrisach Lake on the Arkansas River.”
The Arkansas Legacy Lunker program will wrap up its 2026 campaign with the end-of-year Legacy Lunker Banquet, which will take place Oct. 29, at the North Little Rock Event Center. At the banquet, all anglers who donated fish for the spawning effort will receive high-quality replicas of their fish, courtesy of Harper’s Pure Country Taxidermy and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation. The highlight of the evening will be the drawing for a fully rigged 21-foot Xpress Boat donated by Xpress Boats of Hot Springs to go home with one of the anglers who donated a Legacy Lunker. Gear and prizes from sponsors such as PRADCO, AFTCO, Bass Pro Shops and Arkansas Chevy Truck Dealers also will be available at the event. More information on the banquet and how to be a part of this groundbreaking event is available at https://onecau.se/lunker.
Visit www.agfc.com/legacylunker for more information on the Arkansas Legacy Lunker Program, including details of each catch from the inaugural season.
