Ham

I know they get bigger and this guy made me really want to catch a Giant one.

Jeff is being far too humble. He handed me my _ _ _ all day. I was plainly not prepared for the bite to be that sensitive. I threw a Power Bait Honey Worm on a down shot rig. I never got a look on it. Not a whiff. Jeff had caught 5 fish before I switched to worms and he caught several more before I caught my first fish. when I switched to worms, it would have served me well to have observed Jeff’s rigging and retrieve closely. I tried to do it my way and that cost me a lot of fish most likely. I eventually got with the program and started catching a few. I was limited to Bluegill and Red Ears. Jeff caught just about everything that swims in the lake. I also failed to catch a fish or get a bite on a Zig Jig and my little swim Bait That I like. I did throw a full size down shot rig and I think I got a bump on that. I brought way too much stuff and never tried any of it for very long because Jeff was catching fish like clockwork all day long. I felt I needed to be doing something that gave me some kind of a chance however small it may be. the size of the fish we caught was very impressive. I caught the largest Red Ears I have ever caught and one of the largest Bluegill I have ever caught. We caught a lot of really nice Blue Gill. I had one that was too small to keep and I think Jeff had a 1/2 dozen too small to keep. I caught 32 fish. I’d bet Jeff almost caught twice as many as I did. I really appreciate Jeff taking a kid fishing today. He was a great host and did everything he could to help me catch a few. Hopefully, I’ll get to go over there again one of these days. Pics to follow.

Pretty little guy for sure. Pfluegers have been great value for the money to me. I’m all about Lew’s Bait casters , nut I think I’m done with their spinning reels. I had one good one and then 3 lemons.

Man, retired guys.

OMG! That would be something.

Been there, done that. It can be a lot of fun.

Algae was still an annoyance, but less so than previously.

853 JWR 7’1” I having trouble loading more pics. They are asking $199 for new.

Jig and Worm. I fished Shakey Heads and Football with it and caught fish just fine. Masking $100

I want to sell off some rods. Pretty good stuff, but just not my cup of tea. Not a thing wrong with them. I think the cost of shipping ruins the benefit of the deal so while I will mail them at buyers request, I figured it would be a meet and greet deal. They will be priced to move. I will try to have my message center cleared out enough to receive inquiries. Pics and descriptions to follow.

Eating well

David's Brown

She worked a long time for that fish

Duplicate post

Understood. I’ll do better.

My wife and I had guests from Louisiana in this weekend. With work in the way, they made a flying trip up arriving Friday evening and departing Sunday early afternoon. David and Patricia are a little younger than us. Patricia is a part of my Minden Medical Center work family. Our kids were schoolmates and friends. They are set to marry in August. David likes to fish, but had been so busy with work that he had not been in a few years ( 😬). Patricia and Krista wanted to fish also. River was dingy yesterday, but had cleared at Cotter. They were running perfect jig water 3000 cfs or so. I was stoked. I have grown fond of the lower river and the relative lack of guide boats so I took off for Buffalo Shoals. This was a mistake. I’m guessing Crooked Creek is dumping more dirty water than I anticipated. Water was stained, but not muddy. It did make for a slower bite though. Lesson learned. Well, David did pretty well with Zig Jigs. Krista did fine again, but lost a > 20 inch Brown boatside and that bummed her out. Patricia struggled with casting and struggled with catching, but she did catch a few. I did ok. I caught a decent hen Brown. I caught a good number of plus size model trout. They are fat and happy. I lost a sea monster of a Brown that I never saw, but from the way it handed me my hat I know was LARGE. David caught a real nice male Brown trout and was thrilled. The Buffalo River is pumping out an unbelievably large amount of chocolate milk. The river below the confluence is a No Fly Zone for a while. I did witness something I had never seen before. The Buffalo is running so high the water coming down the White can’t push through it and is backing up. The lower half of Buffalo Shoals was innudated and there was no flow. All my landmarks were flooded out and I could not get the slack water. I was lost as a goose for a few seconds and then I figured it out. Beautiful Day on the water and a fun trip. David mentioned wanting to make annual trips up to visit.

It takes a long time for aluminum cans to decompose.

These are very uncommon at my house, but we’re all over the place over there. Zebra Swallow Tail I think.

I took so few pics that is like the trip never happened.

Cajunangler and I survived another overnighter. We try to do as many of these as we can, but my work schedule, weather, and real life issues have been getting in way a lot the last couple of years. I used to think things would get better. I’m not at all sure that’s ever going to happen. It’s so much fun on these trips. As much as is possible leavie all the BS real world stuff at the put in and just fish and goof off. We (I) were only able to get away for one night this time around. We prefer two nights. Three nights is a little too much and I think four nights would kill me. Time is taking a toll on this perpetual kid. I haven’t learned how to pace myself very well. I haven’t adjusted to my diminishing physical abilities very well. We had good water. We got lucky with the weather. We caught a tremendous number of fish and We had some Good ones. Nothing over 18 inches though. Catch and release works. Lots of these fish had been caught before, but Not everyone that fishes knows how to remove a hook properly apparently. Our campfire supper was delicious and nutritious. Chef Johnny is outstanding. I highly recommend him. Grilled chicken and fresh grilled veggies with a toasted ciabatta. Excellent! The large number of floatable streams in Missouri and Arkansas is truly a blessing. If you can, you should do one of these trips. I can foresee a day when I won’t physically be able to manage these trips anymore. That is starting to make these trips a little bittersweet. We of course released all of the fish we caught and we of course left the river cleaner than we found it. It astounds me that people will choose to throw their trash down on a gravel bar for someone else to deal with.

Let’s Go Blues!