AGFC stocking tiger trout

MAMMOTH SPRING – Tiger trout, a hybrid of brown trout and brook trout often stocked in waters in the western and northwestern United States, will be stocked for the first time in Arkansas within the next couple of weeks, according to Christy Graham, trout program coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

The stocking of 2,500 tiger trout is experimental, with no promises of additional stockings in future years. But Graham is encouraged by the hybrid’s possibilities in Arkansas waters. The fish will be stocked in the Bull Shoals Catch-and-Release area below Bull Shoals Dam. They were acquired via trade as fingerlings from a hatchery in Wyoming in April 2019 (the AGFC sent Wyoming channel catfish and crappie) and grown at the Jim Hinkle/Spring River State Fish Hatchery to a length of 10-12 inches.

“One of the things we always hear is people wanting to have different, unique opportunities for trout fishing in the state,” Graham said. “So, introducing this new species is just one way for us to add to that diversity of their experience.”

Though the AGFC has never stocked tiger trout, Graham said trout biologists “have seen wild tiger trout hatched on the Little Red River, where both brown and brook trout have reproduced in the wild.

The goal of the experimental stocking is to determine how well the tiger trout can survive and grow in Arkansas trout waters. With anglers having to release the fish after catching them, the AGFC biologists can survey how well the hybrid holds up below Bull Shoals Dam and whether it is something the agency wants to pursue in the future.