Trout stocking chute repaired at Beaver tailwater

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission construction crews recently repaired and cleaned the stocking chute at Parker Bend access on the White River below Beaver Dam.

Extremely high water during 2015 caused the Army Corps of Engineers to open the floodgates at Beaver Dam five times. The force during these releases dislodged tons of gravel, which destroyed the parking area and undercut sidewalks at the access.

James Rogers, Game and Fish construction specialist, quickly hired a contractor to fill in the undercut sidewalks to ensure the safety of visiting anglers.

"There were places a person could almost walk under, so we needed to get those done as soon as possible," Rogers said.

Gravel also blocked the trout-stocking chute at Parker Bend.

"Parker Bend doesn't have a boat ramp that hatchery trucks can back down and they can't back down on the gravel without getting stuck," said Christy Graham, Game and Fish trout biologist. "The stocking chute is essentially a long pipe that runs from the river channel to a parking area that hatchery trucks can connect to and release their fish all the way to the water."

The same number of trout were stocked in the Beaver Tailwater, Graham said, but trout normally destined for Parker Bend were diverted to one of four other accesses. Anglers noticed an apparent lack of fishing success near Parker Bend.

Damage from the flooding was considered a natural disaster, eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, but work to restore the pipe and fishing access could not begin until the money was federally approved.

Rogers said the access was closed for a few days and the parking lot was repaired and resurfaced with gravel. Signs that had been torn down by the water were replaced, including a bilingual Spanish-English sign explaining length limits for trout on the tailwater.

"We were also able to get the stocking chute cleared out with the help from a hatchery truck from Centerton," Rogers said. "We scraped a path in the gravel to the channel with a backhoe, then the hatchery truck flushed the chute with water to blow out all the gravel that had accumulated in it."

Rogers said the only items left to replace on the access are an interpretive sign and a parking space for hatchery trucks to use while connecting to the chute.

"The floods ripped up the old asphalt drive hatchery trucks used to back down," Rogers said. "Right now they still need to be careful backing in on some river gravel, but I'm hoping to find the funds to pour a concrete pad to make it much better for them to get in, drop off their trout, and get back safely."

Sports on 08/23/2016

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