THE FLIP SIDE

First float in Ozarks a good time on river

Lisa and Kevin Coakley on the War Eagle River.
Lisa and Kevin Coakley on the War Eagle River.

There's one thing that's more fun than going on an Ozarks float trip. That's taking someone who has never canoed down one of our rivers.

For a few years now, Alan Bland of Rogers and I have donated a guided river trip to the University of Arkansas journalism department's benefit auction. The online auction raises money to fund travel and other study needs of UA journalism students. Our guests get a nice float trip. Bland and I get to see the joy in their eyes as we drift downstream.

Lisa and Kevin Coakley of Hot Springs were the successful bidders of this year's float. They drove up to Fayetteville and we padded the War Eagle River on May 21, a sun-splashed Saturday. To sweeten the deal, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette donated a $100 gift certificate to the War Eagle Mill that the Coakleys also received.

Bland is an Army Corps of Engineers ranger at Beaver Lake and had to work that Saturday, so he couldn't make it. My pal Tom Mowry, an expert paddler from Nob Hill, was happy to fill in. Our trip was a five-mile float on the War Eagle starting at the low-water bridge on Gar Hole Road.

My favorite thing about this adventure is that we get to float with people we've never met before. By the end of the day, we're all good friends. That was definitely the case for this trip.

On the drive to the river it turned out Tom and Kevin are in the same line of work, so they hit it off right away. Kevin got into the front seat of Tom's canoe. Lisa was brave enough to paddle with me. Off we went down the War Eagle.

First thing the Coakleys noticed was there were no other people. They've floated the Caddo River down their way and said it's a busy stream on a Saturday in the spring. Here it was a perfect day and we had the War Eagle to ourselves. The fact that there are no outfitters (that we know of) on the river and little public access has something to do with it.

Lisa and Kevin brought some Rooster Tails and other lures for fishing. Those will work, but we fixed the couple up with two little baits that will catch the fire out of fish on any Ozark stream -- a small Rebel crawdad crank bait. They started catching fish from the get go.

Lisa got hold of a dandy 14-inch smallmouth bass and caught several sunfish. Kevin was busy catching smallmouths and goggle-eye with the little crank bait. Later, Kevin switched to a small green tube bait with gold flecks to try catch Mr. Big.

The bluffs, forests and countryside unfolded during their first Ozarks float trip. The Coakleys are hard workers who run their own business and don't get to float or fish as much as they'd like. It was good to see them catching fish, taking pictures and having a grand time.

By the end of the trip we vowed to get together and float again. They invited us down to their place in Hot Springs on Lake Hamilton for some lake fishing or boat cruising.

An email from the Coakleys last week made my heart laugh. Lisa said they'd forgotten how much fun fishing is, but now they go fishing off their dock almost every evening. We hope to see them again soon for another float trip adventure.

Flip Putthoff can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAFlip

Sports on 05/31/2016

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