See every public fishing venue in Arkansas on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
Mercer Lake is a public lake in Miller County, Arkansas, managed by Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (public fishing lake). It is public water managed for fishing by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. Public access confirmed via AGFC.
An AGFC-owned community or family fishing lake — largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, crappie and channel catfish, with rainbow trout stocked into a number of them through the winter (the Family and Community Fishing Program). Managed for bank and pier access; usually electric-motor or trolling-motor only.
Mercer Lake covers about 30 acres in the Timberlands region. Anglers here mostly fish for largemouth bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, black crappie; channel catfish, rainbow trout are also on record. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Sulphur River Pond 4 and East Fork Kelly Bayou.
Species from PiscaMaps water-type profiles, AGFC trout designations and hand research.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Arkansas. Some AGFC community lakes and state-park lakes gate at dark or post hours; the trout tailwaters and a few special-regulation streams are daylight-only in their catch-and-release zones. Trotlines, limblines, jugs, yo-yos and slat traps are legal on most warmwater lakes and rivers for licensed anglers with the gear tagged (not on trout water).
Boats: Bull Shoals, Norfork, Beaver, Table Rock, Ouachita, Greers Ferry, Dardanelle, DeGray, Millwood, the Arkansas River pools and the Mississippi have no horsepower limit; idle / no-wake zones are marked near ramps, dams and marinas. Most AGFC-owned lakes and community lakes are electric-motor or 10-hp only, and the trout tailwaters are drift-boat, jon-boat and wade water where the dam generation schedule dictates access. Arkansas requires a boater-education card for operators born on or after 1 Jan 1986.
Bank & bivvy camping: Camp at Arkansas state parks (which sit on the best lakes — Bull Shoals-White River, Lake Ouachita, DeGray Lake, Lake Dardanelle, Lake Chicot, Lake Fort Smith, Devil's Den), Corps campgrounds on all the big reservoirs and the Arkansas River, the Ozark-St. Francis and Ouachita National Forests (dispersed camping across most of their land), and the Buffalo National River (designated gravel-bar and developed camping). AGFC WMAs allow primitive camping in designated areas.
Tackle: Statewide black-bass daily limit is 6 (with a 12-inch minimum on largemouth on most water), but the highland lakes, the Buffalo, Crooked Creek and the Kings carry their own slot or minimum for smallmouth and spotted bass. Crappie 30 on most lakes (with a 10-inch minimum on many); walleye, white bass and striped bass limits vary; catfish limits are generous. Trout limits and tackle rules depend on the tailwater zone (general, catch-and-release, artificial-only, trophy). Check the current AGFC regulations for this water.
Anyone 16-64 needs an Arkansas Game & Fish Commission fishing licence — the resident annual Fisheries Conservation licence is about $11, the resident 'Resident Sportsman's' packages more, and the non-resident annual is about $50 (non-resident 3-day and 7-day trip licences are sold). A trout permit (about $10) is required to fish for or possess trout anywhere in the state, including the White, North Fork, Little Red and Little Missouri tailwaters and the winter-stocked lakes. Arkansas residents 65 and older buy a low-cost Resident 65-Plus lifetime licence; residents born before 1 Jan 1933 and disabled residents fish free. Buy from AGFC at agfc.com. An Arkansas fishing licence covers this water; a trout permit is also required to fish for or keep trout. Some community lakes have their own hours and gear rules.
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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