Ham

Dang Marty! Remind me to stay on your Good Side.

I came up short of my Goal Marty. I only got 93 fish to hand.

I don’t think there has been a bad Jigfest, but this was one of the best. The food, the ppl, and the fishing all came together really well. The food was just fantastic. I need Les to teach me how to do brisket. It was so Good. The pulled pork was perfect. Marty’s BBQ sauce is top notch and I throughly enjoyed the Sauce piquant. Phil brought smoked salmon again and I always enjoy that. Les brought his fish cooker and Bret did the cooking. Richard brought panfish and Bret brought catfish. There were fries and hush puppies too! It was so good! The White River is a phenomenal playground. It fishes differently through the seasons and water levels and weather, but the only time nobody catches them is when the water is muddy or trashed by algae and other vegetation kicked up by high generation. From min flow to 8 units, people catch trout. I prefer lower flows because the boating is easier and I catch fish better. We had what I consider tough conditions, but we were all pretty darn successful. I would have liked everybody to get a few Browns over 20 inches, but fishing can be cruelly random. Same bait, same location, same techniques and yet different results. I got lucky a lot over the last few days. I appreciate the kind words and kudos. These JigFest deals help keep me humble though. Everybody catches these fish when given the opportunity. I’m fortunate enough to live on the White River so I get a few more trips in than most. I am proficient with a Zig Jig, but not significantly better than lots of the guys at Jigfest. It was a Blast fellas. Thank You!

My 22 inch Brown from this morning. Wounded One had a 23 incher this morning as well. I hope he’ll post a pic of his PB Brown Trout.

Friday afternoon I think

Ham’s 6’5” and tends to make fish look small. I use the net with measuring built in to get a quick and gentle measurement. That fish was either 22 inches or really darn close like 21 3/4 inches. I don’r Worry about weight much, but we had the bogs handy so why not. I expected over 5, but was very surprised when the bogs said 6. I’ll try it at the grocery store and see if it is close to accurate. It was a heck of a fish that I was honestly shocked by. Biggest smallmouth I’ve ever caught and I’ve caught more than a couple.

Inexplicable

😎 maaaaaaybe

That’s a beast for sure. Still not sold on that tail water.

Check your DM’s

It an be unsettling for sure. Of course, the ppl who are dealing with flooding are the real concern, but it might seem like the fishing will be ruined and that’s a major bummer. Fish somehow handle it though and the fishing will be right as rain if you’ll pardon the expression in a relatively short period of time. i hope the flooding is just a bad memory in the next year or two.

Really ?

Too much to type out. Let’s just talk in person.

Given the lake level and overall temperatures I doubt that we will see a break in generation, but you never know. be sure to get the app for your phone so you can see what they are predicting and what has happen in “real time” which means in the last 2 or 3 hours. Corps of Engineers Little Rock District

There was a thread about this previously, but I’ll give you the abbreviated version of my opinion. I have zero interest in a 16 foot boat. The 20 foot boat will out perform the 16 footer and can comfortably fish 3 or 4 (if you’re careful) ppl. The 20 footer will run faster and shallower. Not many spots where the 20 foot length is going to put you in a bind. There is no significant difference in weight as far as trailering. There is a reason that the 20 footer is standard. The only “advantage” of a 16 foot boat would be easier to store in a garage.

Hard to say in a simple answer. It matters when it matters. I’ve caught trout with the motor running (like yesterday) often. Ive caught White Bass and Hybrids when using the outboard to hold the boat in place to hit an eddy. Boat wakes and traffic can turn fish on BUT I’ve seen times when the boat motor noise from lots of boats seem to turn the fish off even if the boats are really close to the fish. I’d rather have it quiet if I can, but motor noise bothering the fish shouldn’t stop you from getting either motor.

Fat 17 incher from a high flow area in maybe 18 inches of water.

Let’s try to make that happen

Almost all the fish were colored up. The one Cuttie I caught was rather drab and a couple of the bows were too silver for my taste. No small fish though.

Brown Trout are strong

I think this was the second 20 incher, but they started to run together

T

Those would be non-native. I just live really close to these fish. Anybody that’s willing to put the time in can do this.

In all honesty, I’ve had pretty good fishing from just Below the dam all the way down to Mountain View, Arkansas

Yeah, yeah I was scouting see