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A ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil a new mural honoring fly-fishing legend Dave Whitlock is scheduled for March 26 from 5:30 to 6 p.m. at 627 Central Blvd. in downtown Bull Shoals.
The mural was painted by Mountain Home artist Duane Hada of Rivertown Gallery and funded through private donations from more than a dozen regional and national fly-fishing organizations and individuals. The ceremony will recognize those donors.
Whitlock, who passed away in November 2022, spent more than 40 years living and working along the White River near Mountain Home. He is credited with developing the Whitlock-Vibert Box System, an in-stream egg incubator that allowed wild brown trout eggs to hatch directly in Arkansas tailwaters. Volunteer plantings using the device over more than a decade produced what many experts consider the best wild brown trout fishery in the world. The program is now used worldwide.
Fly Fisherman magazine named Whitlock to its “Mount Rushmore of Fly Fishing” in 2021. He was also inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame, the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Hall of Fame, among others.
Hada, who was inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame in 2022, is one of the region’s most prolific public artists, with murals across northern Arkansas and beyond.
For more information, contact Rivertown Gallery at (870) 425-3898.
