On October 16th, 2004 some three dozen concerned "fisher-people" gathered at the On The Square Deli in Murfreesboro to discuss the organization of The Friends Of The Little Missouri and the reasons for the interest.
Most of them were fly fishers interested in creating a truly year-round trout fishery on the Little Missouri spurred on by the recent loss of the bulk of the trout population in the river in August, 2004. While that was an unfortunate occurrence it did focus a lot of attention on the potential and the future of the trout fishery.
In 1995 the AGFC and Corps completed the Little Missouri - Lake Greeson Enhancement Project, frequently referred to as the "1135 Project". The intent of 1135 was to recreate on the lower Little Mo' the same conditions found on the Upper Little Mo', above Lake Greeson, at the same time. The hope was to appease all the anglers who frequented the lower river by not doing away with either the warm water fisheries or trout fishery in preference of one or the other.
For decades it was the conventional thinking that the trout fishery was purely seasonal because the fish disappeared in the summer as the river got too hot! And for years many of us tried to convince people otherwise. The fact was that there was a limited number of fish stocked each season and the great percentage of them were caught out by mid-summer, leaving only a handful of denizens in remote areas of the river!
Finally, in 1998 a summer Catch & Release Area was established and it was highly successful as trout survived the summer quite easily! After two years a Permanent Catch & Release Area was established and the Lower Little Mo' now had a hold-over "resident" trout population.
In 1995-97, as part of the "1135", fingerling and nine inch smallmouth were stocked further downstream below the traditional "trout water". Their success has been substantial but, probably, less than what was desired. This is certainly another area of concern as is the quality of the other fisheries of the lower river.
In light of the success of the Catch & Release system, and with the possibilities of adjusting water flows, the Friends of the Little Missouri have organized the effort to promote year-round trout stocking in the first six miles below Narrows Dam and enhancement of the "warm water" fisheries further below!
While the initiative for The Friends came primarily from the fly fishers who call the Little Mo' home it was quickly recognized that the fisheries of the entire river are co-dependents and care for each was critical! With all the anglers using one voice for all the interests we believe the best of the cold, cool and warm water fisheries can be realized!
This is the reason that The Friends is not just a trout organization, or a fly fishing organization.
June, 2006 - There will be a BBQ gathering at at the River Ridge access on Saturday June 10. In the meantime I got a newsletter put together and you can reach it on-line:
Click here for an Adobe PDF
Saturday -January 16, 2006 - A general membership gathering was held in Murfreesboro with 22 people in attendance. The membership grew to nearly 60 in 2005. At this meeting the existing Board of Directors was shuffled a bit. Yours truly, Jeff Guerin (Murfreesboro, AR) was set as President, Johnny McJunkins (Mineral Springs, AR) as Secretary/Treasurer, and the other three Board Members are Tim Hughes (Murfreesboro), Mike Duggan (Shrevepeort, LA) and Glen "Catch" Cormier (Baton Rouge, LA).
In addition to a new slate of Directors, discussions ranged from land acquisition for public access to limestone placement in the river for PH enhancement. I think we'll get a better idea of projects and initiatives we'll be able to develop as we find out more what AGFC has in mind for the Little Missouri Management Plan. That second workshop is Monday, January 16, 2006. More on that as it proceeds.
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