The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission today released their findings on their fall bass and crappie sampling events on Felsenthal Reservoir.
During the bass sampling event in November, three days of electrofishing were conducted and over 300 bass were weighed and measured. As usual, Spotted Bass were more plentiful in river sites and locations east of the Ouachita River offered slightly higher catch rates for Largemouth Bass than sites to the west. A majority of the bass collected during the samples were in the one to three pound range, but several fish over 20 inches were also picked up throughout the reservoir.
Crappie sampling was conducted six days per month in September, October, and November. Lead nets were utilized to collect crappie in locations through the reservoir. By the end of the sample, nearly 2000 crappie were gathered in their efforts. Almost ninety percent of the crappie caught were Black Crappie. Average size of the fish collected was around 8 inches, suggesting there should be lots of good harvestable size fish next year. They also sampled numerous larger crappie, with individuals up to 16 inches in total length and nearly 2 pounds being collected throughout Felsenthal.