Fisheries staff researching alligator gar on the Arkansas River for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission rescued two anglers and their boat Sept. 13 near Pine Bluff, according to a commission press release.
The two anglers, both in their 70s, had launched their boat in the Arkansas River at Tar Camp Park and had traveled through Col. Charles D. Maynard Lock and Dam to fish for catfish near the lock wall below the dam. The boat was anchored at the bow and stern, when a sudden increase in turbulent water capsized the boat and threw both men into the water.
Chad Wicker, assistant hatchery manager at the Joe Hogan State Fish Hatchery in Lonoke, and Aaron Kern, assistant fisheries biologist at the Game and Fish regional office in Camden, were assisting local biologists by sampling an area downstream of the lock when they noticed a debris field passing their location in the current. They decided to leave their sampling station and check where the debris was coming from.
During their search, they found one angler floating down the river and another who had made it to a rock pile along the edge of the current. They were able to get both men safely aboard and drove upstream to the flooded boat.
Once at the capsized boat, Wicker and Kern were able to drain it and tow it back upstream through the lock to the men's waiting trailer.
"The current and unpredictable nature of the Arkansas River can make it extremely dangerous at times, and I have no doubt that the swift thinking of Chad and Aaron saved lives today," said Chris Racey, chief of the Game and Fish fisheries division. "I am extremely thankful that they were in the right place and had the equipment needed to help these two gentlemen, and I'm extremely proud of their heroic actions."
Sports on 09/20/2016