When spring is in the air, the thoughts of outdoors people turn to wild turkeys, white bass and morel mushrooms.
April is the month for all three, so lets take a look at the chances of bagging this trifecta of spring delicacies in this most wonderful time of the year. First, the turkeys.
WILD TURKEYS
Spring turkey hunting season opens Saturday in most of the state. Western portions of Benton and Washington counties are closed. Wild turkey numbers remain low in Northwest Arkansas, said Ray Wiggs, regional wildlife biologist with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.
A string of springs with cold, wet weather has led to poor nesting success, according to information from Game & Fish. That means fewer birds. Nesting success has improved the past couple of springs. There has been some increase in numbers, but not much.
"We're still in recovery mode," Wiggs said Wednesday.
The region doesn't have enough turkeys to produce a significant rise in the wild turkey population.
"There are some pockets that had birds and continue to have birds. We need good weather, but we've got to have enough birds to start with," Wiggs said.
North central Arkansas is doing fairly well, Wiggs continued. Good numbers of jakes are being seen. These young turkeys indicate good nesting success, he continued.
The area between Boone and Fulton counties should see decent hunter success this spring. Be sure to read all the regulations for spring turkey season if you plan to hunt.
WHITE BASS
The $64 question in April is: "Are the white bass running?"
Ladies and gentlemen, the starting pistol has fired. The white bass run is on.
Schools of white bass are migrating up the tributaries of Beaver Lake to spawn. The Twin Bridges area of the White River at Goshen is the hot spot at this point in April. Reports of good catches are coming in, and there's no limit on white bass at Beaver Lake or its tributaries.
Tomek Siwiec of Rogers totes a fly rod when he goes fishing for white bass. He and a buddy caught 50 to 60 good-sized white bass while fly fishing with Clouser minnows on the White River near the Arkansas 45 bridge Tuesday evening. They found them in the shallows.
"Spawning was in full swing and you could almost walk on their backs. I hope this cold snap and rain doesn't mess it up," Siwiec reported.
Word is the fishing is hit and miss in the War Eagle River. Your faithful outdoors reporter has been fly fishing for white bass downstream from the War Eagle Mill. Fishing is fair one day, poor the next. My neighbor, James Cox, reports similar fishing from his trips to the War Eagle.
White bass fishing is good on the White River below Beaver Dam. Jeff Fletcher of Eagle Rock, Mo., and I had a great day catching white bass near the town of Beaver on Tuesday. We caught 15 whites and all were good-sized, in the 2- to 3-pound range. We'll have a story about our trip here in Outdoors in a couple of weeks.
We caught our fish mainly on jerk baits and single-tail, shad-colored grubs.
MOREL MUSHROOMS
There's nothing like a platter of fresh-cooked white bass fillets with a side of morel mushrooms. Are the mushrooms popping yet?
Mushroom sleuth Sheila Edwards of Alma does a share of her mushroom hunting in Washington and Madison counties. Sheila says she found some small morels this week, but mushroom time is just starting.
"Saturday there were some little ones up. We found them under sycamore trees and dead elm trees. People tell me they're finding six to 10 a trip," she said. The big ones haven't really started popping yet, she added.
Mushroom hunting will improve steadily over the next couple of weeks, Sheila predicted.
Ah, April in Arkansas. Time to bag yourself a wild turkey gobbler, catch a mess of white bass and sack up a mess of morels.
FLIP PUTTHOFF IS OUTDOORS EDITOR FOR NWA MEDIA. FOLLOW HIM On TWITTER @NWAFLIP.
Outdoors on 04/17/2014