Carlton “Doc” Holliday and his wife, Darlene “Dee” Holliday only tournament fished together for 5 years. In early 1992, Carlton and his wife were practicing for a tournament the following weekend when the wife got a call from home. She promptly went home and when she got back that evening, informed Doc that we had inherited a grandson to raise. Later that year, Doc had a heart attack thus Dee's early retirement ended along with both professional fishing careers.
All told, both individually and as a team, Doc and Dee won over 30 bass tournaments and placed in the top 5 in over 70 bass tournaments. The last 3 years of their careers as a professional bass fishermen were spent winning the Arkansas Guys and Gals Championship in 1991, Doc finishing seventh overall in the Arkie Division of the Redman Circuit in 1991 and becoming eligible to fish the Redman Regional Tournament in Columbus, Mississippi where he finished 20th. Also in 1990, Doc fished in the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Championship on Lake Ouachita and finished third. Their career winnings estimated over $85,000.00 (includes Doc's winnings prior to pairing with Dee), but remember, bass tournaments did not pay the big bucks back then that they pay now.
While fishing several tournaments on Lake Ouachita, Doc and Dee stayed in their motorhome and spent many days camping on Lake Ouachita. We have visited many of the campgrounds listed by the Corps and enjoyed most of them. We always thought we would retire to Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas until we started fishing and camping on Lake Ouachita and we changed our minds in a minute.
Carlton “Doc” Holliday and his wife, Darlene “Dee” Holliday are both retired and live at Joplin, Arkansas two minutes from Lake Ouachita near Hot Springs, Arkansas. We still fish lake Ouachita regularly and provide information on what the lake conditions are, what the bass are doing and how we are catching them. We are full time RV'ers, live in a 30 foot Class C motorhome and regularly check the campgrounds on the lake to ensure you have pleasurable experience at Lake Ouachita.
Contact us at: carltonholliday@yahoo.com we will answer questions, provide information, or just swap fishing tales.
