The Rapala lure that closely resembled a river shiner plopped into a rapidly flowing White River near the shoreline. It was a robin's egg blue, warmish day in early April.
Two seconds later, the water beneath that plastic bait roiled as it vanished.
Six-pound-test monofilament line pulled taut against the rod in my hand. Golden sides of an eight-pound trophy brown trout flashed just beneath the surface in the afternoon sun as line began humming from the reel.
Nine tedious, river-guide-mentored minutes later, the magnificent 24-inch-long treasure freckled with dark outlined spots lay staring back from a net Roger Hicks still held in the water to keep this prize invigorated.
What a welcoming day for the ninth spring writers' retreat at Gaston's White River Resort below Bull Shoals Dam. Writers from six states had gathered here again for three days of comparing yarns and reuniting friendships forged over nearly a decade.
On this afternoon, Hicks had guided me upstream from Gaston's to fish the currents and shorelines of this nationally renown trout river. Now 48, Hicks is as experienced on this river as a man could be.
The effusive Hicks lives five minutes from Gaston's. He's either worked or guided on the White River for most docks from the dam to Mountain View since he began washing boats at 10 years old.
"I'd dropped out of school," he said. "Dad told me if I'd go back and get my GED, he'd let me begin guiding on the river. I did. That's now been 34 years ago."
Two decades of his guiding career have been at Gaston's. In that time he's been featured in national sporting magazines such as Field and Stream and Southern Living, as well as doing various guiding programs for ESPN. Much like the renowned resort's veteran guide, Frank Saksa, Hicks has specialized in introducing anglers to trophy brown trout.
"Keep your pole out away from the boat," he urgently instructed as the muscular fish was racing back and forth beneath me. "Don't pull back at all. The line will break. Just let him take drag and run. Then take up the slack as he comes back toward you. Be patient. Keep him away from the boat. Don't get in a hurry. No, no, stop pulling back. He'll get tired soon and we can get him close enough to net."
And lo the reeling and coaching went until Hicks finally could slip the net beneath the magnificent creature and give me a closer look. "He's so fat, he couldn't jump out of the water even though he tried three times," he said. "Wow! Great job! That's the fish of a lifetime for most folks."
Hicks gained local-legend status a few years back when he eased his boat alongside what appeared to be a deer swimming across the river. "I thought the man and woman in the boat would find it interesting to be that close to a deer in the water," he said. "But what happened next was the darnedest thing I've experienced on the water."
He said the animal he thought from a distance to be a deer turned out to be an enormous bobcat. "It was more like the size of a small cougar," he said. "And the next thing I knew it was pulling itself into the boat with us.
"The lady began shouting. I told her to be real still and quiet as it sat near her feet just staring at her. I didn't really know what to do next, so I started motoring toward the shore hoping that big cat wouldn't start attacking."
A few minutes later, the standoff ended when Hicks steered the boat near the shore and the frantic big cat leaped out and swam several feet to dry land. "I've since seen it wandering the banks," he said. "That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure."
The writers from surrounding states and beyond, as always, spent evenings pickin' and grinnin' together on the guitars they'd brought with fishing gear. And, yet again, all 20 of them were unanimous in agreeing Gaston's is one of the most peaceful and enjoyable getaways in America.
The resort's popular restaurant perched above the river has had a significant change in chefs during the past year since Clint Gaston has assumed management of the resort with his grandmother, Jill Gaston, widow of the late Jim Gaston.
Rick Gollinger, an accomplished and congenial chef in Chicago and finer restaurants across the Northeast, has brought renewed elegance to the Gaston's menu. "The idea behind bringing Rick here was to set a new standard and higher expectations for our food and overall," said Clint Gaston.
And did Gollinger, a native of the Flippin area, ever flap his new wings. Why, I even became a fan of duck after he served the French dish, duck confit, for dinner. The remarkably tender and tasty bird melted in mouths around the tables. His custom salad featuring fresh raspberries, and a dessert of perfectly caramelized creme brûlée convinced me and others why Clint recruited this chef.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 04/17/2016