About Us and Our Beginnings
In 2022, two fishing buddies Jim Chitko and Marty Sierocki, while fishing for Walleye, talked about forming a Walleye club because of the difficulty of catching Walleye within Greers Ferry lake and gaining any information on locating the Walleye within the lake. Many local anglers kept information to themselves and refused to share it.
After coordinating with AGFC biologists, 10-walleye fisherman met in October 2022 at the West Side Baptist Church in Greers Ferry. At this meeting the AGFC biologists outlined the challenges facing Walleye anglers who fish for Walleye within Greers Ferry Lake; moreover, the biologists took an action item to review the age and growth data of Walleye within Greers Ferry Lake in comparison to other Arkansas White River impoundments and come back at a later date to provide the result of their analysis.
In Feb 2023, 100+ anglers met at the Fairfield Bay Lions club; the anglers received a survey and 84% requested a fishing club be established and 77% requested to form a Walleye club. At this meeting, Marty Sierocki invited the Twin Lakes Walleye Club (TLWC) representatives to share their club processes and procedures. Dave Higgins and Fred Gordon from the TLWC shared their club’s processes which focused on education and sharing information. The TLWC is a successful club with close to 400 members. Because of the TLWC’s success, Marty Sierocki and Jim Chitko decided to use the TLWC as a good model to build the Greers Ferry Walleye Club.
At the Feb 2023 meeting, the biologists returned and shared with the anglers it took twice as long to grow a walleye within Greers Ferry lake as it does in other White River impoundments. From this revelation several of the anglers wanted to know why no Walleyes have been stocked in Greers Ferry lake for the last 10- years. From this meeting, the biologists took an action item to come back again to explain their Walleye stocking strategy and development of their strategic planning for Walleye within Greers Ferry lake.
From the Survey of Feb 2023 several respondents agreed to help form a club and a meeting was held in Greers Ferry in March 2023. 10-positions were filled establishing the initial Board members for the Greers Ferry Walleye Club. Marty Sierocki and Jim Chitko because of their vision in forming the club became the two first-presidents of the GFWC.
Note: Greers Ferry Walleye Club focuses on Walleye BUT it is a multi-species fishing club, thus we have seminars and information on more than walleyes.
Learn More about The Club and how to become a GFWC Member.