Howard Calhoun

The Little Red River From A Buyers Perspective

Part Eight: The Best Place For You

I was with a client recently looking at riverfront property, talking about the usual things; good places to fish, wadable and dockable waters, ease of river access, the distance to the hospital...........What??????????

It never occurred to me that the time it takes to get to the hospital would be a consideration for picking the perfect spot on the river. Then it occurred to me what a first class hospital we have here in the Baptist Medical Health Center-Heber Springs.

The hospital moved into a new 60,000 square foot facility in June of 2007. The new facility includes an expanded ER, OR, outpatient clinic and in-house MRI services. Ed Lacy, vice-president and hospital administrator is especially proud of the new eICU which provides 24-hour access via two-way interactive technology to ICU physicians and nurses in Little Rock who assist with patient care in our hospital's ICU.

If you are a fisherman and a heart patient you have to be impressed with that info. Plus, if you are as far from town as Lobo Landing, and have the big one, you are only seven miles and less than nine minutes to the hospital. If you are fishing Cow or Winkley Shoals, you are only a couple of minutes away.

All of this makes Heber Springs a great place to live. Why don't you come live it with us?

Howard Calhoun

501-362-4219

The Little Red River From A Buyer's Perspective

Part Seven: The Best Spot For You.

I get a lot of questions from clients as to where is the best spot on the river. Having navigated the river's first 29 miles, I can honestly say that I like all of it.

If you know what you really want out of the resource, the decision may not be as difficult. If you are a sho'nuff fly fisherman, you might not need a boat dock and would like to be able to just wade in from your back yard. There are spots on the Little Red where one can do just that.

One should not expect to pay a premium for a lot on skinny water, or for that matter, for a lot on the river that is dockable. A dock with a slip certainly gives you more options, depending on just where on the river it is located, but being able to wade in is not much of a disadvantage for a diehard fly fisherman.

I think that it is important to know as much about the river as you can before you make a purchase, and what better way than to just come up and see how we live on the Little Red.

Better yet, come live it with us.

Howard Calhoun

501-362-4219

Part Five: The Best Spot For You

Well, up until about a week ago the dam had been running continuously for weeks with at least a half a generator online. Problem: Not enough dissolved oxygen in the water to sustain the needs of the fish. This was caused by the record levels of water in the Greers Ferry Lake.

Besides the continuous generation to stir things up, Game and Fish was not stocking Rainbows upstream of Jon's Pocket. Their thinking was that it would stress current stock plus the stockers they were adding with the dissolved O2 being so low.

Drift fishing was still good, but of course, wading was, for the most part, not an option. This situation has passed for now, and as I was inspecting a great little cabin down on Mossy Shoals I encountered a guide in the river with a couple of "hires", and as I was visiting with him, his clients were hauling them out.

It was a good day for being outside, a good day to be on the water, and a good day to catch a limit of trout.

Why don't you take a day and come up to Heber Springs and find your perfect spot on the Little Red River.

Come live it with us.

Howard Calhoun

501-362-4219