The first of the couple ’ s daughters – Brenda , Linda , Rhonda and Donna – were keeping Nina busy back home , but she and they moved to Kansas City in 1954 . The family remained until they were able to pay off their bills . Homesick , they returned to northwest Arkansas where they set up a guiding business to take advantage of the newly finished Bull Shoals Lake ’ s growing popularity . Forrest became so busy guiding he had to give up one of his other enterprises : home builder and general contractor .
Trout stocked in the lake ’ s cold tail waters thrived . That created more guiding opportunities for the Woods , who built a two-story dock downstream of the dam on the northwest bank of the river where Nina and her girls managed a growing number of guides and customers .
The White River shoals were hard on the wooden johnboats that the guides used . A practical man , Forrest got the idea of putting fiberglass mats on the bottoms of the boats to protect them . Forrest had a lot of fishing-friendly ideas about boats . A while later he decided to make his own fiberglass boats in the back of a filling station . In
1968 , he built a half-dozen 16-foot boats , rated for 50-hp outboards . On the back corners of each boat , the name “ Ranger ” was stenciled in paint ( last fall what was billed as the first Ranger ever made was towed in the 72nd annual Turkey Trot festival parade in Yellville , the county seat of Marion County ).
In 1969 , after Forrest started making the rounds at various tournaments and anglers had a chance to look over his boats , the operation was moved into a closed nightclub , and 600 more Rangers were built to fulfill orders . In 1970 , production doubled . Then came the Big Fire of 1971 , when the plant burned down and the Woods and their employees had to start all over . There followed a few restart bumps , but Forrest and Nina never considered that they would do anything except get the company up and running again .
“ That was a bad time , but the late ’ 70s were really bad , too . Interest rates got so high that a lot of people stopped buying some things for a while – including boats ,” notes Forrest . “ It slowed down our business quite a bit , and we just had to make the best of it like everybody else . But we and the country gradually worked through it , too .”
The Fruit of Their Labor Is More Labor
Somebody mindful of Forrest and Nina ’ s busy routine once asked Forrest when they rested .
“ When we go to sleep at night ,” he answered offhandedly .
That ’ s only a slight exaggeration . Cattle ranching and haymaking in the hills and dales along the White River take up most of their time , though Nina breaks away once in a while to participate in her favorite sport : bowling . There ’ s also the curtain call of the Ranger legacy to deal with , even though Forrest and Nina aren ’ t directly linked to the company anymore . In the minds of most fishermen , however , they ’ re the walking , talking embodiment of Ranger , and always will be . The connection still keeps them busy with various projects , such as putting in special appearances at FLW events , attending promotions for high school and college tournaments , and generally being Forrest and Nina Wood to an admiring public .
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2018 I FLWFISHING . COM 61