Fly-Fishing Nets State Sales

(Additional infographics are available here and here.)

Tim Snell spends some time fishing about every two weeks. Much of that is fly-fishing and usually with flies, the artificial bait, he’s meticulously tied with his own hands.

Snell, who also happens to be the associate state director for water resources for The Nature Conservancy, said the activity is a great way for him to engage with the very environment he’s concerned with protecting. He frequently takes time for a few casts while he’s out in the field. His personal best to date has been a 6-pound largemouth bass he caught in Oklahoma.

But what makes the fly-fishing sport so appealing to many?

“It relates to the element of the chase and fooling the fish and getting them to strike,” Snell said.

“It’s a very artistic form of fishing,” said Emily Whitlock, an avid outdoorswoman and fly fisher for the past 20 years. “It’s really rewarding” even if you’re not catching anything.

With about 600,000 acres of lakes, there’s ample opportunity to fish in the Natural State, but sometimes overlooked are the 9,700 miles of streams and rivers, which includes about 153 miles of tailwater streams, which are perfect for trout fishing.

Angling of all kinds in Arkansas is estimated to be a $420 million-plus industry.

According to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, about 655,000 anglers enjoyed nearly 11 million days of fishing in Arkansas, spending an estimated average of $639 per person on the sport that year.

About 225,000 of those anglers were non-residents, who spent about $100.96 million in the state just on fishing-related activities.

Total U.S. retail sales of fly-fishing gear totaled $804.8 million dollars during 2007, with most categories declining from 2006 sales, according to a survey done for the Colorado-based American Fly-Fishing Trade Association. Retail sales in the AFFTA’s southern region, which includes Arkansas, were about $83.1 million. That was about 12.6 percent of the total industry in 2007.

Revenue Stream
It’s impossible to say how much of that spending is directly tied to fly-fishing or fishing on the state’s rivers, but the Trout Management Plan, compiled in 2004 and published by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, reckoned trout fishing makes up about 17 percent of all angler days in the state. The plan also states the percentage of trout permits sold continues to increase even as overall fishing license sales have slipped. A survey done in 2000 showed 43 percent to 52 percent of non-residents were fishing for trout. Trout fishing alone had an economic impact in Arkansas of about $133 million in 1994.

The Greers Ferry National Fish Hatchery estimates its trout program’s economic impact in Arkansas and Oklahoma to be about $45.7 million, while it operates on an annual budget of less than a half-million dollars. That’s a whopper of a return on investment.

Though trout programs are an indicator of fly-fishing on Arkansas’ rivers and streams, it’s certainly not comprehensive. Many expert fly-fishers said they just as readily fish for smallmouth bass in warmer streams, and several said they even prefer the native fish to trout because it’s more of a fighter.

“The public attitude is that most people value them as a sport fish rather than an eating fish,” said Ron Moore, district fisheries biologist for the AG&FC in Rogers. “They are highly sought after fish. I can’t put a monetary value on that. There are anglers out there that pursue smallmouth and nothing else. Stream fishing in general is very valuable to Arkansas.”

Guidance
Emily Whitlock’s husband is Dave Whitlock, a northeast Oklahoma native who spent most of the last 40 years fly-fishing, writing, illustrating, tying flies and teaching others how to enjoy the sport in Arkansas. Dave Whitlock designed and directed the L.L. Bean Fly Fishing Schools for 10 years, and has written and illustrated five of his own books on different aspects of the sport and illustrated about 26 books for other authors. He’s a regular contributor to Fly Fishing and Tying Journal and Trout Unlimited magazines.

He’s internationally recognized as a designer of flies and long ago designed “Dave’s Hopper” and reaped the benefits of royalties on the grasshopper fly. Whitlock said income from the Hopper helped him transition away from his career as a research chemist and back into his work as an artist and fisherman.

The couple lived in Midway in north Arkansas up until 2005, but are now about 55 miles west of Fayetteville near Tahlequah, Okla. They offer one-day fly-fishing instruction for one to four people beginning at $650. His latest book, “Trout and Their Food: A Compact Guide for Fly Fishers,” is due out this fall.

Whitlock said when a fly fisher begins to tie their own flies, it can be as much as 50 percent of the activity of the sport. It’s incredibly gratifying, he said, to catch a fish on a fly tied by your own hands.

Snell, an admirer of Whitlock’s work, said he ties his flies more in a suggestive style than for realism. Then he can adjust to what the fish are biting by trimming it up.

Whitlock said there’s something to the self-sufficiency angle. A fly fisher can adapt to his surroundings and sometimes tie what’s needed, especially on an overnight camping trip.

Whitlock recalls his personal best as a 75-pound alligator gar he caught below the Fort Gibson Dam in northeast Oklahoma.

Emily Whitlock said another enjoyable aspect of the sport is the opportunity for travel it presents. The two were headed to Bolivia at the end of September to fish for Golden Dorado, a river fish with razor-sharp front teeth that can reach 60 pounds.

Michael McLellan, owner of McLellan’s Fly Shop in Fayetteville, spent the last part of September in Alaska, hosting a trip for a few area fishers.

He offers hosted one-week trips to Mexico as well, and charges between $3,100 and $5,200 per person, not including transportation, depending on the location.

McLellan offers area guide trips for smallmouth and trout as well. Rates start at $395 for two people. His shop has done about 40 area trips in the last year, down from a high of “50 to 60” a couple of years ago. The trips aren’t as profitable as the retail sales that typically accompany the trip and the relationships built during those, he said.

Ken Richards, owner and head guide for Just Fishin Guides, has recently added two guides to his business due to demand and a desire to slow down personally. Full-day area trips begin at $350. This spring Richards and three other guides took a Springdale corporate team of 14 to the Beaver tailwaters.

“I do about 100 trips per year. It’s not that I couldn’t have more, but I don’t want it to become a job for me,” he said.

Snell said it’s not likely he’ll lose interest in the sport. He’s been doing it since he was 10 years old.

“You get pleasure at so many levels [with it],” he said. “I’ll be fishing as long as I’m healthy enough to hold the rod.”