Despite a long, hard summer that greatly reduced trout numbers at many coldwater fish hatcheries, TWRA is set to release trout into several small public lakes around the region Tuesday.

If nothing changes, these lakes will receive trout in west Tennessee:

Cameron Brown Lake, 8628 Farmington Rd., Germantown
Collierville City Park
Martin City Pond
Reelfoot Packing Site, Union City
McKenzie City Park
Bartlett City Park (two lakes)
Munford City Park
West Fork Red River, Billy Dunlap Park, Clarksville

I’ll make a few calls Tuesday afternoon to make sure it all came off OK.

I’ve gotten a couple of e-mails lately from people who want to know what became of the two 100-pound-plus catfish caught during the tournament on the Mississippi River back in mid-November.

I THINK the fish were released back into the river, but I’m not 100 percent sure.

I’ve got a call in to Ken Freeman, the organizer of the Big Cat Quest Tournament Trail, right now.

I’ll give you an answer as soon as I have one.

University of Memphis football fans will enjoy getting to know Arkelon Hall.

The former Washington State quarterback, who played last year at the College of the Sequoias (Brent Schaeffer’s junior college), is an engaging, straight-forward, confident athlete. For a quarterback, those are ideal attributes. While he’s not blessed with outstanding speed, he is 6-2 and 215 pounds and possesses the ability to pick up yards when necessary.

He’s also looking forward to a return to the South, where he spent a portion of his childhood. His time at Washington State was limited. He was redshirted his first year and injured during his redshirt freshman season before transferring to the College of the Sequoias.

U of M fans shouldn’t be too quick to annoint Hall as Martin Hankins’ successor, even though Hall was rated the No. 8 quarterback prospect in the nation by ESPN.com coming out of high school. While he threw for 13 touchdowns in junior college, he was picked off 14 times.

But he gives the position a needed boost after losing the record-breaking Hankins, whose final game will be the Dec. 21 New Orleans Bowl. Hall said during his official recruiting visit to the U of M campus last weekend that he would sign with the Tigers next week. He didn’t hesitate when asked if he’d take other visits, saying once he reaches a decision, it’s final.

Having Hall in the mix at quarterback in the spring will be interesting. He’ll battle for the position with returnees Will Hudgens and Matt Malouf. If those three are locked in a solid competition, look for the Tigers to possibly move 6-5 Dallas Walker, a freshman from Ridgeland, Miss., to tight end.