LITTLE ROCK — Stocking threadfin shad is a relatively new endeavor for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. These tiny, silvery minnows may not be glamorous, but they have a big impact on your favorite sport fish, be it bass, crappie or walleye. They also are somewhat delicate, making them not only difficult to raise in a hatchery, but also to harvest, haul and stock.
Despite these difficulties, AGFC started raising them in 2016 — with great success. Staff have annually stocked between 1 million and 1.5 million threadfin shad in waters around the state ever since.
AGFC hatchery staff stocked a variety of lakes last year with threadfin shad, from some of the AGFC’s smallest lakes like 100-acre Horsehead Lake near Clarksville to Upper and Lower White Oak lakes in Ouachita and Nevada counties that equate to 1,700 acres combined. Brewer Lake near Plumerville saw a direct stocking of shad last year, and Lake Monticello was loaded down with more than 350,000 fingerling threadfins to help jump start this historical heavyweight largemouth bass destination as it rebounds from a recent renovation.
In addition to direct stocking, AGFC uses nursery ponds to stock shad. Each spring, thousands of adult shad are introduced to small ponds adjacent to larger lakes that have few if any aquatic predators or competing species. After spawning, both adults and their offspring are released into the lake in the fall, further bolstering the shad population. This innovative approach maximizes stocking efforts and strengthens the aquatic food web. Two larger lakes, Maumelle just west of Little Rock, and Greers Ferry near Heber Springs, saw a boost to shad populations through nursery ponds devoted to those lakes last year. Another nursery pond, this one on Lake Conway, also was stocked, but it is being used as a temporary fishing destination during that lake’s renovation and the shad stocked there are helping keep game fish in that pond at healthy weights for anglers until construction on Conway is complete.
