Outdoors: Trout Unlimited effort aims to establish cutthroat trout below Beaver Dam

Trout Unlimited volunteers didn't put all their eggs in one basket. They used 56 baskets in the first step to establish a population of cutthroat trout in the White River below Beaver Dam.

About 20 members of the Arkansas chapter of Trout Unlimited waded into the cold trout stream June 13 to plant 56 baskets of cutthroat trout eggs in the riverbed. Each plastic basket is the size of an index-card box and holds 500 to 600 eggs. Around 21,000 eggs were planted.

Arkansas chapter, Trout Unlimited

The Arkansas chapter of Trout Unlimited is based in Northwest Arkansas. It is the state’s largest Trout Unlimited chapter. Regular meetings, conservation work and fishing trips are held. Much of the group’s work is focused on the White River below Beaver Dam.

Information: www.arkansaschapter….

The fertilized eggs were obtained in Wyoming, shipped to Arkansas and kept at near freezing temperature.

It's the first year of a five-year program to get cutthroat trout going in the river, said John Sturgis, chapter president. The Trout Unlimited group aims to place egg baskets in the river each June through 2019. If eggs planted last month hatch, cutthroat trout of 10 to 12 inches could be swimming in the river in four years.

Could is the operative word. The project is an experiment, Sturgis said. But a similar effort started four years ago below Lake Norfork Dam by the TU chapter at Mountain Home has grown cutthroat trout of 10 to 12 inches. Trout Unlimited members here hope for similar results.

Trout Unlimited obtained the fertilized eggs in Wyoming, Sturgis said. They were shipped to Arkansas and kept at near freezing temperature.When they arrived, volunteers combed through the thousands of eggs and removed any dead eggs. Dead eggs are identified by their color.

Volunteers pulled on waders and walked into the cold river near the Parker Bend access. A table was set up in waist-deep water. Each plastic egg basket was placed into a larger basket made of wire mesh. The mesh baskets were filled with gravel from the river. The mesh lid was shut with cable ties and each cradle was buried a few inches in the stream bed.

Area Trout Unlimited members did all the prep work to ready the eggs and bury them in the stream. The chapter spent about $1,200 on the project this year, Sturgis said.

Eggs to fry

Plans are to dig up the cradles in about five weeks. If the project is a success, tiny cutthroat trout fry will be released from the plastic baskets. Volunteers are crossing fingers and toes.

Fry are tiny fish, measuring a fraction of an inch. Surgis will be happy if 10 percent of the eggs hatch. That's about par for a natural spawn in the wild, he said. About 8 percent of the fry will grow to adult size, Sturgis said.

Establishing cutthroat trout below Beaver Dam has the approval of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, said Christy Graham, the agency's trout program coordinator. Graham was waist-deep in the river June 13, readying egg baskets and digging holes in the gravel to bury them.

"We're always looking for the opportunity to improve things for the anglers. Cutthroat trout are a species that aren't here," she said.

That tug from a trout could be from a cutthroat a few years from now.

Sports on 07/02/2015

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