By Randy Zellers
Anglers looking for a new honey hole may be able to score some fishing time at a few new private waters this year, thanks to three landowners who joined the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Public Access to Private Waters initiative.
Public access to water is abundant in Arkansas, but there’s always room to add a few more places to wet a line in The Natural State, so the AGFC developed a practice in its new Conservation Incentive Program to do just that.
Six of the nine practices in the AGFC’s Conservation Incentive Program focus on land management efforts landowners can use to improve the quality of wildlife habitat on their property, but three had fisheries-based components. The Public Access to Private Waters practice is the only incentive targeted at expanding access for fishing.
“It really serves two purposes,” Vic DiCenzo, assistant chief of the AGFC’s Fisheries Division said. “People who win a permit have access to a fishery that receives very little, if any pressure. And the landowner gets help with managing their fishery.”
DiCenzo explained that many private ponds can become crowded with too many predators, stunting the whole population.
“There are a lot of bass-heavy ponds that need more harvest, but the landowner can’t keep up with the number of fish that need to be removed,” DiCenzo said. “Anglers who win one of these permits will be able to harvest fish at statewide limits and help balance the fishery.”
In addition to the added harvest, landowners will receive technical assistance on how they can best manage their water, including advice on topics such as stocking rates, fertilization, water-quality issues and shoreline stabilization.
“We can’t stock the lakes directly, but we can offer the expertise on how much and what to stock,” DiCenzo said.
Anglers can gain access through a drawn permit system similar to the one used for the AGFC’s extremely successful Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement Program.
Descriptions of each available private access can be found at Public Access to Private Waters. To apply for one of the sites, visit agfc.com/licenses and click the “Fishing” Category. The CIP-Public Access to Private Fishing Waters Permit will be one of the options available. Permits are valid for a full Saturday-Sunday period, and applications are available Thursday-Sunday the weekend immediately before the one being applied for. Applications cost $5 each, and permit winners are notified each Monday to begin preparing for their weekend. Access does not include any camping or hunting privileges and permit holders must remove all belongings and litter from the area upon their departure.
This practice of the Conservation Incentive Program is a shared component of the AGFC’s Fisheries Division and Private Lands Habitat Division. The program is funded by set aside finds from the 2023 Arkansas General Assembly.
“We appreciate our partners in the Arkansas General Assembly and Arkansas Legislative Council expressing their support for this program and approving the transfer of funds to make this possible,” Garrick Dugger, Private Lands Habitat Division chief, said. “Their continued support is vital to the success of our mission.”
Greenway Equipment is a cultivating partner of the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division. Visit www.agfc.com/habitat for more information.
