New Game and Fish initiative angles to grow Arkansas fishing tourism

When the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) dedicated its $16 million renovation of the nearly 100-year-old Joe Hogan State Fish Hatchery in Lonoke in mid-July, officials launched a program that could cast sport fishing in The Natural State to a new level.

The Arkansas Legacy Lunker is a new program that incentivizes anglers to bring over 10-pound bass to the hatchery for breeding purposes. After spawning larger fish, they will eventually be restocked in lakes across Arkansas to attract more big fish trophy anglers. The program, which will also include an annual banquet and major prizes, will start Jan. 1, 2026.

AGFC Chair Anne Marie Doramus said she’s excited for what the new Arkansas Legacy Lunker program will do for the sport of fishing in the state.

“Have you ever reeled in a 10-pound bass?” she asked. “I’ve reeled in a 6-pound bass, and that’s about as big as it’s gotten. But I want to reel in a 10-pound bass because if that 6-pound bass was fun, I know that 10-pounder is going to be incredible.”

FISHING ECONOMY
Fishing in Arkansas has a $2.1 billion economic impact on the state, according to AGFC. It contributes 18,000 jobs and over $66 million in state and local taxes. Programs like the Legacy Lunker hope to increase those numbers.

“Bass fishing is ingrained in our DNA as well, from the first Bassmaster tournament held at Beaver Lake in 1967 to Rick Clunn’s record-setting Bassmaster Classic victory on the Arkansas River in 1984, big bass are a big deal to Arkansas anglers,” said new AGFC Director Doug Schoenrock. “The Legacy Lunker Program is one of the most exciting initiatives I’ve ever been a part of, designed to harness that passion and elevate our trophy bass potential.”

The program is modeled after a successful initiative in Texas. The Toyota ShareLunker program hosted by Texas Parks and Wildlife offered the blueprint for Arkansas officials.

“We worked alongside Texas to learn how we can maximize the results of Legacy Lunker in Arkansas,” said AGFC Black Bass Program Coordinator Jeremy Risley.

The Arkansas Legacy Lunker program is touted as the “ultimate angler involvement” program, combining citizen science with recognition of bass angling as a top recreational endeavor. It aims to collect essential data, including crucial genetic information, to guide future management strategies and conservation efforts, ultimately producing more trophy bass.

Anglers will be able to donate any 10-pound-plus largemouth bass caught from public water in Arkansas from Jan. 1 through March 31 each year. If the fish is deemed healthy enough to survive spawning, AGFC will transport it to the Joe Hogan Hatchery, where it will be housed in its own raceway to prevent any contamination or possible disease transmission. The lunker will then live in comfort until she is ready to spawn.

“That’s when the fisheries biologist nerd in me really gets excited,” Risley said. “Instead of placing the lunkers in with males from previous generations, we’re partnering with Red Hills Fishery in Georgia to match up our females with male Florida bass that have been identified on a genetic level as having the genes to grow big bass. We’re actually cutting down the curve and putting only the best bass together without waiting for progeny to develop into broodstock five years down the road.”

After spawning, each donated bass and its offspring will be released back into the bodies of water where they were caught, boosting the genetics of that lake with fish proven to grow to trophy potential.

“That’s the other thing that’s so cool about Legacy Lunker,” Risley said. “These are fish that have proven to grow to trophy size in that Arkansas lake where the fish will be stocked. We’re not just adding fish that may not take to the habitat. We plan on expanding to other lakes in the future, but we want to focus on the lakes where we know they’ll grow in these first few years.”

EXTRA INCENTIVES
For Arkansas anglers, there is extra incentive to participate in the Legacy Lunker program. For starters, those who donate a bass larger than 10 pounds will eventually receive a replica mount of their fish from Harper’s Pure Country Taxidermy in Mountain Home.

AGFC Deputy Director Ben Batten said all anglers who donate to the program will be invited to a banquet next fall to collect their replica mounts and celebrate the program, where one of the participants will walk away with a brand new, fully decked out 21-foot Xpress Boats boat with a 250-horsepower Yamaha outboard valued at $80,000.

“Not only is one of these anglers going to catch the fish of a lifetime, but they may be fishing out of a dream rig thanks to Xpress Boats right here in Arkansas,” Batten said.

Rory Herndon, president of Xpress Boats, said his company has been waiting a long time for a program like this.

“This program isn’t just about big fish — it’s about building a legacy for future generations of anglers,” he said. “We’re proud to stand beside AGFC in making Arkansas among the top destinations for trophy bass fishing.”

Late last fall, Dr. Hugh “Lin” Burnett of Little Rock pulled in an 11.14-pound monster of a bass at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs. AGFC fisheries staff happened to be available immediately after the catch and used Burnett’s fish as one of several test cases for the program.

“We were able to take Lin’s fish and successfully run it through all of the stages of the program, including a release of its offspring earlier this year,” Risley said. “Lin came down to release his lunker back into Hamilton, and she was in even better shape than when he caught her, just a slight bit lighter from being post-spawn.”

Burnett’s bass wasn’t the only lunker to be collected through the soft opening. Five largemouth bass greater than 10 pounds were collected through word of mouth earlier this year, all of which were successfully released after the spawn.

“Big fish make big memories, and anglers remember those big bass for years, no matter when they caught them,” Risley said.