Been fishing the Little Red for a number of years now. I have seen and heard some pretty rude things from these people but this takes the prize. Two new fly fishers were near us and asked a fella how the fishing was. The guy they asked was a local and the guy told them “Well it was good until just 2 weeks ago. You just missed the best fishing of the year. Nothing much from here on out”. This is was obviously a lie, intended to give out misinformation, as the best fishing is to come in the next month there. We pulled the guys aside and explained things to them. I guess the locals(retirees in this case) don’t rely on tourism $$. I’ve heard more. I been scolded by these people before (for nothing) and just wanting to say this…S T O P I T!! Sick of the B.S. and the attitudes of these people. You don’t own the river. The next time I hear something like this, you will get an earful and possibly a facefull!!
I will say this however, the REAL locals are as nice as can be. Great people that realize the impact tourism has on their lives.
The Exxon station near the entrance to Cow Shoals has the nicest staff. They are there VERY early every morning to help us. Always good stuff there to eat and to pack for lunch and even some nice flies. The restaurant workers are great and always glad to see you.
These retirees that have made a fortune and bought up most of the land near the river, all I have to say is…don’t push people around. You are rude and total pains in the xxx! YOU MAY OWN THE LAND, BUT YOU DON’T OWN THE RIVER! This goes for some guides also.
That’s the very reason I try to spread how my fishing is up here. The Wind Rivers have been published twice in the past year in various magazines, yet our rivers and lakes see very little pressure. I know a few people who keep everything secret around here.
I’m not going to post exactly where I catch the fish on an open forum, but if you plan on making a trip here and ask, I am more than happy to point you to some quality fishing.
Paul
I’ve experienced the same in Arkansas & other states but if you talk to folks & ‘NOT’ down to them, they’re generally cordial & helpful.
Big Bad,
You are dead on regarding the Exxon station. I consider the Little Red my home waters and fish it as regularly as possible. After a drive from my cabin on the North Cadron to the Lil Red that Exxon is a becon in the dark for my pit stop. Great coffee, friendly staff and a fine biscuit. You are right about some of the transplant curmudgens, it appears that " they wern’t raised right".
If the corp dosen’t screw up generation and the rains don’t blow us out this could be a great fall and winter fishing year.
Grandado
You will find these kinds of people on most any popular river.
I have had guys try to run me off certain sections of my home water by faking that they were calling someone who they said gave them sole rights to fish this section. I just laugh at them and tell them to get them down here and we will have that discussion face to face. All the time knowing I got permission from the people who actually own the property and have already checked in with them that morning.
That is pretty much where it ends, then they go stomping off in a huff because they got blocked from poaching on private water…
Alot of people don’t like it when I say: If I were born back in the day when rules were being made in this country ( and I had the authority) I would have put a set-back/ easement/ access on every pond, lake. stream, crick and river that would allow the public full use of these water sources for recreation. It used to be that private land owners would only keep you off if they didn’t want you hunting (gun issues) and never cared one way or the other if you were “only” fishing!! It’s a sad state of affairs - the times we live in - me - me - me! If I had the money I would buy it all and open it all up - once and for all - for all Americans to enjoy! We are a VERY selfish nation! If you could never have owned a water source (by law) then we would be a much happier nation, after all - you can’t miss owning something you never had (by law) in the first place. It never seems to amaze me when people try to take possession of water front when they have no legal right to do so and bar the public from access from the public’s right to use a stream or whatever. My state of Pennsylvania has potentially hundreds of miles of streams that have been closed to the public (illegally) for a long time! You have to petition the courts to contest every last one of these thefts of public stream access - a daunting task, and the perpetrators know it! This is a soapbox I probably will never get down from, so I’ll just give it a break for now!
Best regards, Dave S.
The Exxon IS great! I was there a few weeks ago. I picked up a few flies and some great coffee. The fishing was SWEET!!!Im going back in a couple weeks.
Chris,
I was beginning to think the hogs ate you. Speaking of hogs, you’re not going to Little Rock next week are you, then over to NW Arkansas?
I have heard this argument go both ways for years. I know of a visitor to the North Branch of the Ausable who got so upset over the fact that someone would dare hunt grouse in the area around his personal stretch of stream that he drove all the way back to Ohio in a huff. I have been called names by locals thinking I was from down state and by down staters thinking I was a local. I have even been chased off a path around deep water at gun point. There are always people who look for someone or something to complain about from either side. But the vast majority of fishermen I encounter are gentlemen and just work around the situation. Everyone is better off that way. I was told by a very wise person, “It is always the gentleman that gets out of the water and walks around another fisherman.”
Bob
Well said Bob, I agree it is the exception that we get upset about most of the time. But while motoring down the interstate we have to be aware of the steel angle iron that will blow the tire and cause us to wreck.
BBW,
You are right, we do not own the river. Several times while I have been fishing a river in Montana my guide and I have come across people who are trying to fish the river without a guide (considering the size of the river, this usually is not very productive, guides really help out). We have asked several of these people how they were doing and a couple of them have indicated that they had not been able to catch hardly anything. My guide asks them if they have any xxxx flies (the flies that were hot that particular day) and if they say they don’t then we have drifted over to them and he will hand them a few of that particular fly and tell them how best to fish it.
That to be is being a great sportsman.
Larry —sagefisher—