We got up early to drive to Lindsey’s Resort on the Little Red River, two-and-a-half hours away, in Heber Springs, Arkansas. Owner Billy Lindsey and his best friend, our guide Buddy Pate, were talking in the office when we walked in. We were in no rush to get on the water since the dam had “messed with the water levels and ruined the fishing,” said Pate.
The fish bite better when the water levels are stable or rising so we hit the water once it stopped dropping. We went to the first hole and didn’t have any luck. As we pulled into the next hole Pate said, “This is the most productive hole on the river. I was here one time and caught 75 fish without moving an inch.”
Within ten minutes of soaking a wax worm in the hole we started hooking up with rainbows. The first rainbow I caught, a 14 incher, Pate said, “Aw that’s a little baby trout.”
I looked at him with confusion and excitement. “That’s the biggest fish I caught yesterday,” I said.
“Well we’ll catch bigger ones than that, just wait,” he said, sending out another cast into the hole. in 1992, the World Record brown trout was caught by Howard “Rip” Collins in the Little Red River. It weighed 40lbs, 4oz.
The world record brown mount sits in Lyndsey’s Resort’s tackle shop.
Shortly after Pate hooked into another fish, “This one feels like a baby,” he said. As he reeled close to the boat the reel started pulling drag, the rod bouncing up and down. “All of a sudden this turned into a good fish,” he said.
As the fish surfaced I netted it. Pate taped off the fish at 18 ½ inches, the biggest rainbow of the trip. “That’s not a bad fish,” he said, “but we should do better than that.” I kept casting and hoping for something bigger, but the remaining fish we caught were either at that length or just shorter. The only other species we caught was a brown trout that was 17 inches long, which jumped clean out of the water three times.
The biggest rainbow of the trip, an 18 1/2 incher.
Fishing with Pate is like fishing with an old friend. I could’ve have listened to him talk all day about his travels in Iraq, India and Kuwait, his love for literature and the crazy things that he’s seen happen on the river. As a guide for more than 40 years, Pate has more than his fair share of stories about being on the river. His humor will kept me laughing the entire trip, whether I was catching fish or not. “A woman once compared me to a wise, all-knowing river sage,” he said, “boy was she wrong.”
The cabins at Lyndsey’s Resort are made for paddlers.
There are another two reasons kayak anglers should visit Lindsey’s Resort on the Little Red River: the headboards on the beds in each room are made from paddles; and the ribeye steak, hand carved to order, was one of the best I’ve had in my life.
The steaks are handcarved to order by Billy Lyndsey’s son.
This is Ben Duchesney’s last correspondence from the Ozark region of Arkansas. He has returned to New England, striped bass and clam chowder.
