It’s been about 20 years since I took my first couple of trout-fishing trips. Those outings, however, were centered more on fun and fellowship than fishing. They were journeys where several work buddies tried to forget the blues of the retail world while occasionally dunking a worm or spinner into the waters of the Spring or White River.
Nearly 10 years later, as a guest of the Billy Lindsey family, I cast my first line into the Little Red River. As I had been with the White and would become with the North Fork, I was enthralled by the surroundings.
How could this place of wonder be less than a two-hour drive from the flatlands of east-central Arkansas, where I’d spent my childhood?
A fog hung low on the chilled river that summer morning. There was a scent in the air I would come to recognize as indicative of grass beds and trout waters. An eagle flew from its nest on an island just upstream. The river before me was ultraclear with a green cast and a mix of rippling shallows, rocks, shoals and deep holes.
The land was vastly different — almost foreign — and the fishing was definitely different, too.
Call it a cliche if you will, but I was hooked.
Something has changed on the Little Red in the last decade, though. Some businesses centered on trout-fishing tourism have faded. A few guides have even decided to dip their waders in other running waters. Many of the people with whom I’ve become friends are no longer so inseparably tied to the Little Red.
So, a few weeks ago, I set out to meet a new friend on the Little Red near Pangburn.
Falling for a fish
At the suggestion of one of those longtime Little Red friends, David “Mountain Man” Mitchell, I joined Lowell Myers in his boat for a few hours of fishing on the river, departing from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Dripping Springs Access.
I soon began to get acquainted with Myers and what has drawn him to this ribbon of water in north-central Arkansas.
“I’m 54 years of age,” he said. “I started fly-fishing in my early teens. I literally grew up on a river, spending much of my life fishing and boating.”
That background led Myers to work as a part-time fishing guide on the Little Red. Then fate intervened in the form of Jeff Smith and the Trout Magnet.
“I decided to go into full-time guiding five years ago when I started working along with Jeff Smith,” Myers said, then explaining how the Trout Magnet is one of the lures produced by the company — Leland’s Lures — owned by Smith.
The Trout Magnet, in fact, is the cornerstone of Smith’s business, as it was the first lure his company produced when he began Leland’s Lures in 1997. The far-reaching effects of the Trout Magnet on anglers and fish alike prompted Field & Stream to name the bait in 2011 as one of the top lures of all time.
The marriage of Myers’ guide service and Smith’s Trout Magnets adopted one of the Leland’s Lures mottoes as its moniker — Sore Lip ’Em All.
None of this would have occurred for Myers had it not been for his love of trout and trout fishing.
“As many [anglers], I grew up fly-fishing for bream and bass. I still enjoy catching bream and bass on ponds and rivers, but I found the ‘lure’ of trout fishing to be enticing,” Myers said, adding that he also occasionally chases striped and hybrid striped bass on lakes like Greers Ferry.
Now, he guides exclusively on the Little Red River and supplements his trout-fishing diet with trips to the White or North Fork River in northern Arkansas.
His fishing tactics and tools will vary — spinfishing with a Trout Magnet or fly-fishing with one of the flies he hand ties specifically for the Little Red River — depending on how the fish are acting and the needs and desires of his clientele.
Why guiding?
For Lowell Myers, he sees his work as a fishing guide providing a service to both the customer and himself.
“As a guide, I’m on the river almost every day. Several things, such as river conditions, what the fish are biting and bug hatches, change continually,” he explained. “Being on the water regularly allows me to be aware of the changes and to know how to offer my clients the best fishing experience possible.”
While his experience and familiarity with the water serve to enhance fishing opportunities for clients, the equipment he utilizes can also make the difference in a guided trip being about fishing or catching.
“Guides are able to take anglers to areas that are not always accessible without specially designed riverboats,” Myers said, adding, “Getting away from pressured areas around walk-in accesses and boat ramps puts you in areas where fish are less pressured. We use custom-built, 21-foot-long riverboats with jet outboard motors.
“This allows us to run shallow water, providing access to less-pressured parts of the river to drift fish out of the boat or wade, if desired, some of the beautiful shoals. These boats are stable, allowing the option of standing or sitting while Trout Magnet or fly-fishing.”
Of course, no one pursues an endeavor so heartily if he is not realizing some return. For Myers, that return reaches far beyond the guide fees and any tips his customers may provide.
“I enjoy getting to meet people from all over the United States who come here to go fishing with us. Through guiding, I have had fishing clients become close friends,” he said.
“I also enjoy seeing people catch fish and the interaction of friends or family members spending time on the water.
“I’m a service-oriented person. So guiding allows me to serve those in my boat by making their day relaxed and carefree while they have a blast reeling in fish. I enjoy providing casting instruction, helping people read places where trout would normally live and teaching others how to have productive fishing experiences when fishing on their own.”
Why the Little Red?
Like many who have fished the Little Red River, Myers finds it to be “a world-class fishery.” That is just the beginning, however, of why he chooses to call this river home, whether he is fishing or not.
“I believe that individuals, businesses and organizations in this area realize the importance of the river for tourism. In turn, we need to respect the river that gives so much to us,” the guide said.
“Treat it with care, and attend to its challenges and concerns. I’m excited about the formation of the Little Red River Foundation, which can be a voice to agencies, the government and organizations to support and protect the river.”
While the economic downturn earlier in the 2000s has taken its toll on the tourism trade in the area, Myers remains upbeat about the river and its possibilities.
“I’m still positive about the future of the Little Red River,” he said. “The Little Red is a great river that provides not only great fishing, but great canoeing, kayaking and wildlife viewing as well. People travel here from all over the United States and the world to fish. That, in turn, brings revenue to the area.”
Myers, however, said his respect for the river goes beyond the fish that swim in it, the activities the river provides and the money it generates.
“I’ve been a guide, a fly-fishing competitor, the person who wants to catch a lot of fish and the person who wants to catch big fish,” Myers said of his pursuit of trout.
“Now I find myself just being a person who simply loves to fish. God put trout in beautiful rivers with beautiful scenery. Henry David Thoreau said, ‘Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.’
“I think I’m there, but since my wife, Nancy, and I live in our fishing cabin on the river, if I’m not guiding, I spend most of my days on the water catching fish.”
Staff writer James K. Joslin can be reached at (501) 399-3693 or jjoslin@arkansasonline.com.