Quillback

Jigfest is usually about the trout, but we did run across some smallmouth. Friday I fished in Ham's boat along with John's Folly and between the 3 of us we boated about a dozen smallmouth and several largemouth in between trout catches. And we got some really nice chunky smallmouth, anywhere from 13-18" long, and we caught them on Zig jigs. Ham caught one that was really exceptional, measured around 22" in his net and pulled the Boga grip scales down to the 6 lb. mark. Biggest Arkansas smallmouth I have ever personally eyeballed and I believe Ham said it was the biggest he's caught. Now we did do a quick measurement and weigh, Ham is a stickler for taking care of fish and getting them back in the water as soon as possible, so we didn't get an exact weight or length. All that being said, it was really a nice fish, and sure was fun watching Ham catch it. It was a bulldogger, never jumped, just stayed down and pulled. Some pics of the fight and in the net. Here's a couple more chunks:

I keep telling myself spring will arrive someday, of course when it does the lake will be covered in boats. Good luck Dutch if you can get out Friday. I'm leaving shortly for the White river, hope to get some trout fishing in.

Has to be some stories out there of someone bringing in a 12" rainbow and having a big brown come up and eat it, or take a run at it.

And I believe it is only 40 fishing boats on the water at one time. I realize it brings more pressure, but on the other hand it will be neat to watch the live coverage and see how they fish it.

Launched at daylight, fished until 1:30 PM. Cold morning, but warmed up later in the AM. Not much wind. With no wind there were a few bass coming up to swirl on shad. The shad were scattered, never saw any big shad balls. Had a flock of terns come through and they hung around, they'd dive on shad singles but never would stay in one place and feed on them. Caught a few bass on a Pointer 78 whenever I'd have a bass come close to me chasing shad, but there wasn't enough of that type of activity for me to catch a bunch. Couldn't get them fan casting around the boat. Got some more fishing the Ned in 15-25 FOW, found them in just a couple of locations, scouted some of my other milk run spots and the bass weren't there. Later in the morning the sun came out in strength, WT went from 43 to 45, but the improving conditions seemed to have spooked the bass and the fishing got real slow. Ended up with a dozen bass, 3 were keepers.

And it sure helps when KVD wins a tourney using a Strike King bait. Not that I get sucked in to the tourney-winning-bait mania, that never happens.

Jester's group of 24X7 fishermen will be staying in the down stairs area of the River Villa - there's a couple of rooms for them with 3 beds and a bathroom so it will work out well for them. I am going to stay in the first room on the right as you come into Cedar Gables, works out well for me and the dog. See you all there!

Wanted to add, bring more $$ in case the expected number do not show up, it looks pretty solid as far as being 15, but if we lose one or two, payment per person will rise accordingly.

Well it looks like we have 15 staying in the 2 lodges. Total payment is $1675. Dividing that by 15 I get 111.66666666.... Let's round that up to $115 per person. I'll bring an envelope for the dough and put it on the kitchen table in Cedar Gables. Only cash or checks are acceptable. NO credit cards.

I have the oil, I'll bring it.

Alien organ harvesters? Anyone have any missing fishing buddies?

Looks to be 15 definite and I am awaiting word from FishnDoug and his buddy.

Pretty neat, how many videos do you see where someone lands a state record? Can't be many out there.

Made some modificatons to the menu. Does someone want to bring lunch meat and bread? Not sure if we need it, but if you guys want to bring sandwiches out on the boat might be a good idea. And maybe someone can bring a case or two of bottled water. I think we will have 16-17 total people, but still a few who have not definitely committed.

Poor ol' Frank, I kind of feel sorry for him now, everybody and their brother is going to be after him. His nice quiet life of living under a dock eating freshly stocked rainbows is now over. Bunch of crazy dudes from St. Louis that never sleep are going to be harassing that poor fish 24 X 7. HAHA, just kidding guys, go get him!

Dave Reeves, who has caught more fish on the Ned rig than ever will, always says to swing for the fences on your hook set.

Congrats Paul!

I did not see a single shad yesterday, saw a few small bait balls on the finder, but that was it. I was surprised not to see any.

Welcome Jaybill and looking forward to seeing you there! I'd say bring any kind of picnic type food you feel like bringing, I can't think of anything specific.

Got in the water around 0900, it was 38 degrees, cloudy, misty with some bonus wind thrown in. Weather stayed that way all day, except the wind did die off a little in the afternoon. Fishing was decent, got a dozen bass, 3 keepers, and a walleye that was just short of being a keeper. All on the Ned, with most of the fish being around trees in 15-20 FOW. Slow dragging on the bottom. Had a lot of bites that I missed, tried a couple of models of Ned heads and used a setup with braid and one with InvisX, didn't seem to matter what I used, the fish were just not staying pinned. WT 43. This post has been promoted to an article

Yeah it didn't happen. And if it did, it was probably a car full of teenage girls.

So tough guy, did you go out and talk to the people whose car you wrecked?

Nice morning today, would've been fishing but have a morning appointment. Might go tomorrow.

Yes sir, I am certainly looking forward to fishing the White. Hopefully catch some of those brown fish with spots on them.