Cotter Trout Festival

Jill M. Rohrbach

jillsjourneys@gmail.com

Fishing, family and fun go hand in hand at the Great Cotter Trout Festival, which will take place on Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18. Cotter is known as Trout Capital USA and the event is in its eighth year. Festivities will begin at noon on Friday at Big Spring Park on the banks of the White River. This river is famous around the world as an excellent place to fish for brown, brook, cutthroat and rainbow trout.

For children 15 and under, one of the highlights of the festival is the Kid’s Fishing Hole. Open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., it is stocked with 500 keepers by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. Also for the kids will be inflatables, games, face painting, and Lowe’s Tic Tack Toe and Seed Grow Planter building project.

For adults there will be casting and fly tying demonstrations and instruction. You can also talk fish with representatives from major fishing and conservation groups, such as the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Mid South Fly Fishers, North Arkansas Fly Fishers, Damsel Fly Fishers, Mountain Home Rod and Reel Fishing Club, Arkansas Outfitters & Guide Association, White & North Fork Rivers Outfitters, Trout Unlimited, Friends of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery, and the Federation of Fly Fishers.

Other fun includes a barbecue and blues night on Friday, and a parade with prizes for best float on Saturday. About 75 arts and crafts booths will sell their wares from noon to 5 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. New this year is a youth pageant and Artist’s Paint Out and Quick Draw. The festival ends Saturday evening with an Arkansas Game & Fish Employee Appreciation Catfish Dinner at 4 p.m. ($6) and the bluegrass sounds of Crooked Creek.

To find out more, visit www.cotterarkansas.com or www.troutcapitalusa.net.