Fishing Guide Services in Hot Springs

For the past few weeks, we’ve been working daily on our This Week in Hot Springs website. We’ve put in hours and hours of time, doing research and building pages. I guess we’re about half-way there…or maybe a little less. As with everything worth doing right, it takes a lot longer than you think it would.

I spent this morning building a new fishing page and I got it up on the web this afternoon. I think it’s a pretty good page. I’ve listed all the information that I can find on Fishing Guide Services in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and I can tell you that after spending the morning reading about them, I really want to go fishing….and I don’t fish.

Apparently, the big sport fish on our local lakes is Striped Bass or “Stripers.” According to the web sites I visited this morning, they get to be huge and they really put up a fight. One guy talks about having the rod ripped right out of his hands by a striper. Another guy calls them the best game fish there is in fresh water. Lake Ouachita, a big, beautiful lake just a few minutes from Hot Springs, is evidently one of the best striper lakes in the country.

Most of the Hot Springs area guide services take groups of 2-4 people out on one of our local lakes (we have five) for 4-5 hours. They provide fuel, tackle, bait, water, soft drinks and snacks, and they clean and package your fish for you. Some will take bigger groups if you give them advance notice, and many take kids along for free. A morning of fishing is not cheap, plan to spend around $300-$400 for two people, but if you think about it, that’s a lot cheaper than buying your own stuff. Plus, you get to fish with a guy that really knows what he’s doing.

Visit our new “Fishing in Hot Springs” web page and let us know what you think.

The Hot Springs Concert Band

The Hot Springs Concert Band will be performing the last of their Summer Park Concerts this evening at 7pm in the Whittington Park median. Bring lawn chairs and check them out.

This band has been around since the 1970s, first as a senior citizen band, and then later as a community band. Their membership is volunteer and ranges from amateur musicians to seasoned professionals. They have over 120 members, and perform in a variety of different groups including the New Horizons Band, the Hot Springs Village Big Band, Village Carillons, Village Dixielanders, Village Polka Dots and various Chamber Music Ensembles. Their next performance as a full band will the their fall concert on October 19th.

International Dance Classes at the Quapaw Community Center

I spoke with Pearl Roth on the phone yesterday. Ms. Roth is the instructor for International Dance Classes at the Quapaw Community Center in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Classes are every Monday night from 7pm to 9pm. Beginners are welcome. The first hour of each class is beginning level, and the second hour is intermediate level. Cost is $3 per class for non-members, no additional charge for members of the center. Call 501-623-7753 for more information.

Terry Martin’s Swap Meet & Poker Run

Terry Martin’s Swap Meet & Poker Run

I got an email reminder this morning about Terry Martin’s 2nd Annual Swap Meet this Saturday at Terry Martin’s Lounge & Bike Shop in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The event runs from 9am until 5pm and includes a bike show, vendors, food, drawings and the AARSS 5th Annual Charity Poker Run.

The Poker Run, sponsored by the Arkansas Association of Rehabilitation Support Staff will start at 9:30am and end at 2pm sharp. Cost is $5 per hand for both riders and non-riders. Contact Mac at 501-624-4411 ext 396 for more details.

The Ride-In Bike Show is sponsored by The Antique Motorcycle Club Diamond Chapter of Arkansas. Registration is from 9am-12:30pm with a $10 entry fee and final voting at 3pm. There will be four classes: Antique-Custom, Domestic-Foreign, Best of Show and People’s Choice. Contact Mike at 501-525-9833 for more info.

This promises to be a great event. We hope to see you there.

Poker Run Giveaway

The Poker Run last Saturday was a big success with around 70 participants. It’s always something to hear that many bikes pulling up at one time. We were set up at Slim’s Hideaway to deal cards and talk to people about AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants, and we had lots of fun visiting with folks.

We had a fishbowl drawing at our table for a prize package that included a can of AMSOIL Metal Protector, a can of AMSOIL MPHD Heavy Duty Metal Protector and a bottle of Mother’s Chrome Polish. Congratulations to Vera Abbott of Hot Springs who won the prize.

We also had lots of requests to receive our weekly This Week in Hot Springs email updates.

We’re looking forward to the next Poker Run coming up in September.

Poker Run – August 16th

Bikers take note! The Poker Run season gets going tomorrow with a benefit ride for Mark D. Cusick. Participants will start the run at 12:00 noon at Pop-a-Top Tavern on HWY 5 (Park Ave). Each hand is $10, with an option to buy up to four cards more at the last stop. The run includes around 25 miles of nice riding, and four stops for food, drink and a card. Stops include Bar 50 Ranch, Slim’s Hideaway Lounge, Terry Martin’s Lounge and the final stop at the Long Shot Saloon. There will be live music at the last stop with “Mustang Sally” performing. Robin Davis has more details at 501-655-2277.

Charles and I will be dealing the cards at Slim’s Hideaway Lounge, so stop by and visit us. We look forward to meeting you.

The Malco Theater – Haunted?

I ran across a website yesterday about the Malco Theater and the ghost that allegedly haunts it. Back in the 1880s there was a vaudeville theater on the site called The Palace. According to the story, a magician pulled a local girl from the audience, made her disappear, and then couldn’t figure out where she went to, or how to get her back. Hmmm!

The Palace was torn down and replaced by an Opera House; the Opera House was torn down and replaced by the Princess Theater; the Princess burned and was rebuilt as the Malco in the 1930s. Now people claim that the ghost of the magician’s lost girl haunts the theater, appearing in the basement and screaming at the most inopportune times. Hmmm!

The Malco was a big deal back in the 1960s when I was a kid. I had a wonderful aunt who always took me to see all the Disney movies. I remember standing in line to see movies at the Malco lots of times. When we went to see “The Jungle Book” the line from the box office on Central stretched so far around the corner of the building it went halfway to Broadway. Imagine all those kids packed into the theater.

Today, The Malco is called the “Historic Malco” and it houses the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute and their library of over 17,000 documentary films. Be sure to mark your calendar for the 17th Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, October 17th through 26th, 2008. It’s sure to be a screaming success!