Stories About Fishin' The White And James Before Tr Dam...

[wayne b]

bass oreno was used some in the latter years

[Chief Grey Bear]

Yeah he mentioned them too. Sorry I forgot it.

About that "still" fishing. It seems that was mostly done after camp was set up for the night for cat fish.

[jeb]

We had a couple over yesterday. Took them on a long boat ride on Beaver to see the fall colors and we had a fish fry afterwords. Both about 70, born and raised in NW Ark. She was raised on various parts of the river (White, Kings, James) and had a lot of stories to relate about the pre-dam days. Her father owned a large farm in what is now the Prairie Creek marina area, and he owned the first real Wal-Mart building. Actually, she still owns it, but it's not a Wal-Mart anymore. Very interesting to pick their brains about before and after. She said there was a lot of hate and discontent by the folks made to move. She said she still gets spooked about being on the lake because she knows under the boat is where she grew up and all her friends and relatives lived. She kept asking me what part of the lake we were on, I'm sure to try and picture what it looked like before the dam.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I would imagine the Lucky 13 was there also. I vaguely remember the Paw Paw and it was a topwater similar to the Zara Spook I believe. I don't know that I ever heard of the Hawk. The River Runt and the Midget Digit were popular then so I would imagine they were used sometimes. I suspect the Oreno was likely the Babe because it was more popular on rivers I believe, as was the Baby for the Lucky 13..

[KCRIVERRAT]

Here's an old photo of the new Kimberling bridge being constructed above the old one. The old bridge still exists...

[Chief Grey Bear]

I would imagine the Lucky 13 was there also. I vaguely remember the Paw Paw and it was a topwater similar to the Zara Spook I believe. I don't know that I ever heard of the Hawk. The River Runt and the Midget Digit were popular then so I would imagine they were used sometimes. I suspect the Oreno was likely the Babe because it was more popular on rivers I believe, as was the Baby for the Lucky 13..

I'm sure they did as well as others. Jim also ran a tackle store for his clients and locals. He sold a ton to his clients.

I'm not sure just what the Hawk looked like. Ted never described what it looked like.

[Jerry Rapp]

some of you guys grew up in the Lead Belt area. You might enjoy this. My Grand Pa worked there.

[Al Agnew]

I've got an old Hawk (and a Paw Paw). I'll try to post photos of them shortly.

[Al Agnew]

Okay, here are some of the lures mentioned. At the top is a Peck...lead head, feathered single hook, prop on front. Second lure down is a Paw Paw. The belly treble is missing. Third row left is a Heddon Midgit Digit. Third row right is the Hawk. On bottom is another lure often used back then, a Bright Eyes.

I never used the Midgit Digit or the Bright Eyes, but I did use the Peck when I was a kid, and I used the Hawk quite a bit. One of my fishing buddy's father was an old time river fisherman, and the Hawk was one of his favorite lures. He always added a 1.5 inch strip of white pork rind to the rear teble. The yellow with black back was his favorite color. I acquired a couple of them and caught some nice fish on them, but was never quite as impressed with them as he was. When the old Humpbacked Rebel came onto the scene, I started using it with the strip of white pork rind instead of the one Hawk I had left, and caught more fish on it than I ever had on the Hawk. The Hawk sinks, as does the Midgit Digit, and hangs up rather easily.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I was a big fan of the Midgit Digit, especially in the black ghost color. The redhead was always my best color in the Lucky 13, Baby and Tiny, and the Babe Oreno.