COLUMN
FOR THE RECORD
COLIN
MOORE
Larry Nixon: 40 years and Counting
Humble beginnings were no hurdle for this Arkansas pro’s
big-time accomplishments
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hat you see is what you get in
Bee Branch, Ark.: nothing
fancy, but sufficient. Along
U.S. Route 65, the north-south main
drag, the stores and services that a
town of 2,000 needs to survive are pret-
ty much it.
It’s small-town America and all that
implies: flyover red state, dinner on the
grounds, a convenience store or two,
and South Side High School. As is true
of most farming communities, it’s where
important things begin and sometimes
end, a place where hard work is a com-
mon denominator, a springboard that
hones and prepares aspirants to go for
it – whatever “it” is. Life doesn’t give
much slack here, yet if you could make a
living in Bee Branch, and your family was
there, why in the world would you want
to live anywhere else?
Larry Nixon could never find a good
reason to stay away. For most of his life,
the Arkansas pro has lived in or around
Bee Branch, where his parents raised
three sons and two daughters. There,
nestled in the foothills of the southern
Ozarks, he learned everything needed to
jump-start a career in tournament fish-
ing that has spanned 40 years. His voca-
tional school was nearby Greers Ferry
Lake, where, beginning at 16, he started
guiding for $10 a day out of his preacher
father Lester’s Ranger. Among his chief
mentors were Glen Andrews, Lou
Medlock and Glenn Cossey – storied
masters of the White River chain of lakes
who also guided in a circuit that included
Beaver Lake, Bull Shoals, Greers Ferry,
Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn.
When he started taking his guide
business on the road in the early ’70s,
Nixon eventually hooked up with
Tommy Martin, a Toledo Bend guide
who became one of his best friends. By
that time, Nixon had already notched
one impressive showing in a major
tournament, scoring third place in the
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