In the beginning, Donnie Hulse’s annual Lake Ouachita trotline camp was about the fishing. Now, 31 years later, it’s more about camaraderie, relaxation and food, especially food. The folks who show up to this event eat very, very well, and it isn’t your standard fishing camp fare, either. Each meal is a feast of Arthurian proportions. The camp doesn’t have a formal name, said Hulse, a White Hall resident who works at Stant Manufacturing. It changes annually, depending on what transpires from the week’s activities.
“We started putting together a yearly hat with an emblem and a symbol,” Hulse said. “We’d call ourselves ‘Team Gar,’ or whatever it happened to be, with Lake Ouachita and the year. Every year something comes up, and that ends up being the symbol on the hat.” The gathering began in 1977, when Hulse was a forestry major at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Instead of going to the Gulf Coast for spring break, he and four or five classmates went to Lake Ouachita.
“The next year it kind of grew,” Hulse said. “Some guys from the baseball team came along. It got up to about 10-12 people, but then it got down to two for awhile. This year, 31 people came. It’s turned into a pretty good thing. Guys come in from Texas and Florida. It’s the only time we get to see some of these guys. Some turkey hunt, some bass fish, and some do some trotlining.” Hulse mentioned a longtime fishing buddy who for years declined invitations to attend the camp. He finally came eight years ago and is now a regular. Then, one of that guy’s buddies came along.
“He planned on spending just one night on a Tuesday,” Hulse said. “He just could not believe the feast we had every night. He called into work sick every morning and finally went home the following Sunday.” Then there was the guy who showed up for his first visit. Hulse said that man was an inexperienced camper who packed light.
“At that time we only had one boat. We looked up, and the boat’s done floated out in the lake,” Hulse recalled. “It was kind of like seniority. We told that old boy, ‘This is your first year, so you get to swim out and get the boat.’ Well, he swam out there and brought it back, but of course he was sopping wet, and he’s wearing the only pair of underwear he’s got. He hung them up on a line, but of course, they just happened to burn up in the night. That kind of stuff goes on all the time.” In recent years, the camp divided into teams that hold a trotlining contest. Hulse said a lot of trash talking goes back and forth, and while the competition is intense, its daily bounty of fresh catfish fillets benefits the gastronomic good of the entire group.
“It kind of developed into this team vs. that team kind of thing,” Hulse said. “Everybody is anxious to get their hooks in the water and get baited up. The first morning you go out and check your lines, and it’s pretty exciting when the boats come rolling in. Everybody wants to see who caught what.” Of course, the early years were pretty lean. Nobody had any money, and the group had just one boat among them. Hulse said everyone slept in all manner of cheap pup tents. Now, there are more boats than campers, and Hulse said everyone always brings the latest tents from Gander Mountain.
“One guy brings a Honda generator that’s so quiet you can sit on it and barely hear it,” Hulse said. “We make homemade ice cream, daiquiris and margaritas. We do it up right.” Every year starts the same. The group assembles at Brady Mountain Recreation Area and then motors out to one of the islands. They used to set yo-yos, but when the standing timber rotted and fell, they began setting trotlines. Hulse said it’s not unusual to catch 100 pounds of catfish in a night.
A few guys turkey hunt, Hulse said. Their best year produced three turkeys, but one member, Mike Miley of Hot Springs, bagged a jake this year.
“The week we were there was on a full moon,” Hulse said. “I didn’t have a watch on, but I walked outside to relieve myself. I thought it was 2 or 3 in the morning, but it was really light outside. I thought I heard a turkey gobble. I went back in and lay on my sleeping bag, and I heard this turkey gobble again. It was 5: 05. Two or three of the guys are pretty serious turkey hunters, so I yelled out, ‘I wish one of y’all would shoot that durn turkey so we can get some sleep around here !’ The one they killed wasn’t the one that was gobbling, but they gobbled pretty good for three days.” In the past, Hulse said the guys started getting excited and calling each other in January. Now, they get together in February for a squirrel hunting camp near Hollywood.
“It’s just a prelude to Ouachita,” Hulse said.
After 31 years, everyone who ever attended the camp is still living, but Hulse had a close call about 20 years ago when his boat capsized on the way back to Brady Mountain. It was very windy and the lake was very rough. Hulse said he would have drowned had he not been wearing a life jacket. He recovered his boat and motor, but lost all of his fishing gear.
With most of the guys now in their 50 s, Hulse said the camp has evolved into a chance to celebrate life and friendship.
“For the ones who live in Arkansas, we try to have a couple of extra trips throughout the year. But the ones from out of state, that’s the only time you see them. From a friendship standpoint, it does help keep everybody in touch.”
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