Williams issued a call Tuesday to anglers who frequent the river to harvest the warm-water species when they're caught. Of particular concern are several big walleye that have discovered a virtual trout buffet at the mouth of Dry Run Creek near the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission's Quarry Access Area just below Norfork Dam, Williams said.

"Enforcement officers have observed several big walleye stacked up at the mouth of Dry Run Creek. Being predator fish, we know they're eating trout. We want anglers to harvest those fish," said Willliams.

Dry Run Creek is the stream constructed to refresh waters in the U.S. Norfork Trout Hatchery. It has long been a trout sanctuary fishable only as a catch-and-release stream to anglers 15 or younger or anglers who are mobility impaired.

Williams said reports of anglers catching walleye and other warm-water predator fish are frequent. The other species that should be harvested include largemouth, smallmouth, Kentucky and striper bass, he said.

Anglers who want to participate in the harvest should abide by AGFC regulations on stringer limits. Anglers may harvest six walleye or stripers per day without length limits. The daily catch limit is 10 for largemouth and Kentucky bass with no length limit.

The catch limit on smallmouth bass is four with a length limit of 12 inches or longer.

While not a predator threat to the 7- to 11-inch fish that are the mainstay of the managed trout program, native bream species also are present in the tailwaters and should be harvested within constraints of a daily limit of 50, Williams said.

George Peters, president of the North Arkansas Fly Fishers association, said many of the same lures that appeal to trout will make a sucker out of a walleye, too.

"The walleye and bass should strike at a Countdown," said Peters.

The minnow-like lure sinks at a rate of about a foot per second and should be retrieved within a second or two after it hits the water. The angler can adjust the retrieve speed on sequential casts.

Anglers who don't mind tipping the tables substantially in favor of the angler can bait up with live night crawlers — the bigger the better.

Peters said he hasn't caught any of the warm-water visitors to the North Fork and White rivers, but the anecdotal evidence of the fish abounds. Peters was not without a fish story, though. The March and April floods brought a plastic garbage can to an eddy below his Roundhouse Boat Dock near Cotter. He had been watching the can for days waiting for the water to bring it close enough to shore to make the retrieval an easy one.

"When I could finally get to it I hauled it out, dumped it over and out plopped a big old catfish, a three-pounder or better," said Peters. "I couldn't believe it. I think she had made a nest in there. They like that kind of cover.

"Some of the old guys around here have been telling me for years there's still catfish in this river," said Peters. "I hadn't seen one around this dock until that one."

Although the presence of warm-water species is a particular concern now for the North Fork of the White River, those species consume trout and compete for habitat in the White River, too, and may be harvested within constraints of the law, Williams said.

The biologist said the warm-water fish species won't spawn successfully in the cold tailwaters and, therefore, won't thrive as a species in cold water. Individual fish, however, that come to the cold tailwaters by flood or chance will consume trout until they're harvested, he said. An angler harvest is a viable way to remove those species, Willliams said.

All of the warm-water species are tasty fare, particularly walleye. The harvest request is not an invitation for anglers to leave the fish to decompose on the riverbank, he said.

"That would be an abuse of the resource," said Williams. "All of these fish are tasty to be cooked and eaten. Walleye are my favorite."

fwallis@baxterbulletin.com