Some people talk about leaving their corporate job to pursue their dream to start their own business. Camron McAhren, owner and CEO of Branson Helicopter Tours, did more than just talk about it.
Kevin Rivers, along with his wife Denise, have been providing the opportunity to go out with an experienced guide and enjoy the fight of a big striper for seven years now. “It has been a dream all my life to become a fishing guide,” Kevin said. “I moved down from southwest Iowa in August of 2001. I caught my first striper in October of that year. Once I experience the fight they put up and then tasted them, I decided I didn’t want to go after anything else.”
Kevin and Denise live right on Beaver Lake in the quiet Avoca Cove. It is the perfect location to enjoy time away from the hectic everyday comings and goings, relax and fish. The two had discussed him being a guide for some time. “I always said ‘maybe someday,’” Kevin recalls. “I didn’t want to say I was a guide until I really knew the lake and knew the fish and could catch something every time I went out.” It wasn’t too long before Denise pointed out to him one day that every time he goes out, he catches a striper. She suggested he give it a try.
“So I said “Okay, I’ll give it a shot’”, Kevin said. “And she said, ‘Good, but you can’t touch our account.’ So I started with a narrow 16 ft. boat that could fit myself and one, maybe two, people in it. I made that boat work for about 2 years then bought a little bit bigger boat. After a couple of more years I finally began to think I was going to make it.”
Kevin has done more than just ‘make it’. He has a big following with customers coming as far as Australia for the 2 Rivers Edge striper fishing experience. In addition, 2 Rivers Edge was voted Best of NWA in 2019 with the help of their many satisfied customers.
“It’s something I love and it just doesn’t feel like a job,” Kevin says. “The fight of the striper is like nothing else. It really gets your adrenalin going. You get in a fight with a big one you might be in it for fifteen minutes or forty-five minutes. I’ve been more excited catching striper than I have been catching anything else. And then the taste of them is absolutely phenomenal.”
Kevin’s day starts anywhere from midnight to 3:00 a.m. as he preps the boat to go out. The boat goes in the water about an hour before the customer shows up to get himself adjusted to night vision. “We introduce ourselves when the customer arrives and I usually do a joke or two to get ‘em smiling,” Kevin says. “I put the boat in close to where we will fish so they will have more fishing time and less boat riding time. We always seem to connect and laugh and just have a great time. Afterwards I show ‘em how to cut them up, filet them, bag them and then send them off with my recipes. Most of my customers are repeats. I have very few who don’t come back.”
For a fun-filled adventure you will never forget, sign up today for a guided fishing trip with 2 Rivers Edge Striper Guide Service.
10461 Prairie Creek North Road
Rogers, Arkansas 72756
479-544-5994 Kevin
479-544-2244 Denise
Some people talk about leaving their corporate job to pursue their dream to start their own business. Camron McAhren, owner and CEO of Branson Helicopter Tours, did more than just talk about it.
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