THE
FRONT PAGE
Edited by Justin Onslow
Bass Fishing
Hall of Fame
Class of 2020
Five new inductees to the
Bass Fishing Hall of Fame
have been announced. Each
was voted in by a 30-member
panel of sport-fishing industry
leaders and will be formally
inducted on Sept. 24, 2020.
The 2020 class includes:
Bryan Kerchal, who was
the first Bassmaster Classic
champion to come from the
B.A.S.S. Nation ranks.
Jay Yelas, who topped $1
million in earnings with both
Bassmaster and FLW, to go
along with a Bassmaster
Classic win and Angler of the
Year title as well as two FLW
Angler of the Year titles.
Steve Bowman, a journalist
who, among many other
things, helped orchestrate
ESPNoutdoors.com.
Ron Lindner, a teacher,
entertainer and innovator, who
is already a member of the
National Fresh Water Fishing
Hall of Fame. He co-owns the
“Angling Edge” TV show with
his brother, Al, and sons James,
Daniel and Bill.
James Heddon, inventor of
the first wooden artificial
lures in the 1890s. He was the
originator of the Zara Spook,
and the Heddon lure company
remains his namesake to
this day.
A LONG WAY FROM HOME
If you thought a 32-mile run in a bass boat was a decent
haul, try doing it without one.
A recent tagging survey of crappie in Arkansas returned
some surprising results, at least for one crappie in particular.
The 12-inch female black crappie in question was caught near
the Petit Jean River Wildlife Management Area, and, as it turns
out, that crappie was tagged as part of a 2018-19 Arkansas
Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) Fisheries Division survey
– in Lake Dardanelle, some 50 miles of winding water away.
AGFC fisheries biologist Nick Feltz surmises that the
crappie didn’t quite travel 50 miles, but most likely went over
the Dardanelle Dam into the Arkansas River and then
through the Holla Bend levee breach (instead of all the way
down the Petit Jean River), ending up about 32 miles away,
perfectly healthy and full of eggs, ready for another spawning
cycle a long way from home.
While it might not happen often, such a journey is an
encouraging sign for biologists who want to know more
about how major flooding can impact fisheries in a given
region. Though flooding might impact spawning success, it
doesn’t seem to do much to adult fish populations.
That same 2018-19 AGFC study involved tagging 800 crappie
in Dardanelle to allow biologists to get a better understanding
of what percentage of Dardanelle crappie are caught
and harvested in a given year. According to the study, that
number is about 44 percent, which is right in line with figures
for other local Arkansas fisheries.
ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MAHLER
Simplifying for Safety
The National Weather Service (NWS) is looking for boater feedback on a new proposal to change the term “Small Craft
Advisory” to “Small Craft Warning,” a move the NWS hopes will help clear up confusion about terminology involving boating
conditions. They’re calling the project the NWS Hazards Simplification, or “Haz Simp.”
Currently, the NWS issues watches, warnings and advisories for small craft based on wind speed and wave size. This new
proposal would eliminate the term “advisory” and simply leave “watch” and “warning” as the two flagship terms, thereby simplifying
the process and making it easier for boaters to understand the conditions they might face on the water.
To learn more about the proposal and give your feedback, visit weather.gov/hazardsimplification.
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FLWFISHING.COM | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | JUNE-JULY 2020