2-8-14 White River

[joeD]

H

[joeD]

No, there is more to it.

1. Who the f*** carries a clicker?

2. And why?

Basically, no, I don't believe Ham. Because it is at odds with what I have observed on the White in the last couple weeks. Especially when it comes to browns. The fishing this winter has been sporadic at best, and claims of 200 fish days and more I meet with a healthy dose of skepticism. (which is where a cameraphone comes in handy huh).

Then again, I have been wrong so many times in my life...

[Quillback]

I've fished with Ham, we had an OA fishing get together in December, I think he put 75 or so in the boat each day in the 2 day trip. If he says he caught 100, he caught 100. I've never fished those Zig Jigs myself until that day, and I caught a little north of 50 trout. (No clicker so it's not an exact count). The other guys that were fishing with us did as well or better.

We plan on doing it next year again, you'll have to go with us Joe, we'll show you how it's done.

[Terrierman]

No, there is more to it.

1. Who the f*** carries a clicker?

2. And why?

Basically, no, I don't believe Ham. Because it is at odds with what I have observed on the White in the last couple weeks. Especially when it comes to browns. The fishing this winter has been sporadic at best, and claims of 200 fish days and more I meet with a healthy dose of skepticism. (which is where a cameraphone comes in handy huh).

Then again, I have been wrong so many times in my life...

Nope, that really is all there is to it.

[hoglaw]

At the risk of sounding like a fanboy here, I can vouch for his methods though I wasn't with him on this trip. He seems to make everything into a bigger game than it is (that's the Lousiana influence i think). So on his quest to catch 3000 last year, he used a clicker. He keeps a cumulative running total. You ask who carries a clicker when they fish? I ask who feels the need to cross examine folks about individual fishing trips. In that regard, I suppose he's staying a step ahead in the arms race you perpetuate.

[Lancer09]

I don't have a dog in this fight but I see where JoeD is coming from. There are all kinds of reports from Ham saying that X number of fish were caught, or X were this size when it has been very tough for everyone I have heard from too.

Sure I believe him but do I doubt it sometimes? Yeah, when numbers like he is posting about get thrown around on the www there are always going to be doubters.

More to how I feel though, at what point does one fifteen inch rainbow feel just like the last? Is the point to get out and fish, escape life for a bit and have some fun? Or turn it into work to try to catch every fish in the river? Don't get me wrong, I love just catching the fire out of them as much as the next guy but when does someone lose reality about what a good day really is?

I think back to the NFOW thread about smallmouth fishing and how the fish there, while plentiful were not worth the time or effort because of their size compared to other rivers? I mean 40 smallmouth anywhere, even small ones makes for a good day, but where can I go and catch 40 15-16 inchers with half of them bigger than that thrown in?

Would it be cool to see some pictures of these fish that are caught? Absolutely. Are we going to? Probably not.

Ham, keep doing your thing and catching the fire out of those fish if that's what makes you happy!

[BFTMASTER]

What do you guys want to see a hundred pics of rainbows? If he was taking a picture everytime, he would not get enough time to catch that many.

Also, JoeD, nice hair man!! that LIB would make a helluva fine streamer!!

[Feathers and Fins]

LMAO, It never stops amazing me how when someone catches and ungodly amount of fish someone has to pipe up about not believing them. Instead of piping up people should stop and read how the person is doing it and try to learn from it!

Joe just an FYI Everyone is saying how tough Beaver is right now but I put over 100 fish in the boat Sunday, It was so good I called J-doc ( he was busy ) I called WC and he came and I called Nick P out who I took with me in my boat. Nick and I put 34 fish in the boat in about an hour and half. There were other boats there and they were NOT catching hardly a thing. Guess what they were spooning also. Thing is Nick and I found a pattern they would bite on and we took full advantage of it, the other boats didn't.

I don't think calling someone a liar is a smart move it could easily put them off from posting and trying to help people in the future. I do believe you owe Ham an apology.

[Ham]

I read this deal this morning and my first reaction was to giggle about it and walk away. I appreciate all the folks I know that have piped up and vouched for me . I do ACTUALLY fish. I don't just blow smoke online.

Way back when I started fishing Ozark creeks for smallmouth bass I quickly realized that we were catching so many fish in a day that I couldn't keep straight how many I caught. I was used to going and fishing hard all day and catching maybe a dozen fish or on a huge day maybe 25 or 30, but on a creek BIG numbers were easier to catch than keep straight in my head . I got tired of saying "I'm sure we caught at least 40" or "it had to be at least 50". I wanted to be as honest as I could be so I bought a clicker. I decided for me to consider a fish caught I had to touch it. And I started keeping close tabs on what I caught.

JoeD man I'm sorry you have trust issues. I'm sorry you refuse to believe that someone else could catch more fish than you did. I'm sure you have mad skillz and all, but you have to understand that every dog has his day. Did you also have trouble believing me when I went to Bull Shoals the other day and fished for hours and never had a bite? Other guys caught fish that day and some good ones too. I freely acknowledged that I stunk it up and I was proud of them for doing a lot better than me.

The White River is fantastic and jig fishing for trout certainly seems to be the best way to put big numbers up. Your photos show trout caught on jerkbaits. That's a great way to get a GREAT BIG Brown, but not a great way to catch a bunch of fish in a day. UNLESS FLOW IS REAL HIGH, I think a jig will usually out number a jerkbait. I carry a lot of jerkbaits in my trout bag, but I rarely tie one on because 1) I catch more on a jig and 2) treble hooks injure the trout more. 6 to 9 hook points do more harm than 1 barbless point.

A lot of photos were taken that day. Way more photos than I usually bother with. They are on my buddy Darren's camera. He uploaded them to Facebook. IF we were friends on Facebook, you would have seen them already as several folks on here have. I sort of suspect that if I posted 10 photos, you'd want 20. I don't take the photos to prove anything to anybody. I don't post reports to prove anything to anybody. You aren't likely to believe me anyway and I don't really feel any obligation to prove anything to you. I don't much care for being called a liar though. That part bothers me a little bit.

The numbers thing is a game I play to motivate myself to fish hard and to fish as often as possible. I'm not in competition with anyone other than myself. For me, it is FUN to fish hard all day and try to catch every fish in the lake or river. Oddly enough, many of the fish that I or my friends catch make really vivid memories.

Since my 100 fish trip on 2-8-14 caused such butt hurt for you. I'll put out all of 2013's numbers for you to hate on and disbelieve.

I made a total of 87 fishing trips.

I had 8 trips where I caught over 100 fish and I had a total of 22 trips were I caught at least 50 fish. (8 + 14).

March of 2013 was terrible for me. I only caught 45 fish for the entire month. July was pretty freaking great though. I caught 619 fish that month.

I fished with 23 different people of the course of the year. More than half of which I had never fished with before. That was real cool.

By coincidence, I caught 23 species of fish last year. I'm really gonna have to step things up in different species this year.

I can tell you every day I fished. I can tell you how many days were in my Bass Cat, my canoe, my trout boat, my kayak, wade trips, or a guest in someone else's boat.

I know how many trips I took each month and how many fish I caught each month.

How about fish totals by year then?. I moved up in 2007. New job, new house, new routines. Not much fishing.

So Let's look at 2008 thru 2013

2008 = 1078

2009 = 2201

2010= 2433

2011 = 2356

2012 = 2365

2013 = 3174

I'll keep up with overall numbers in 2014, but the only number I really care about is the 52 species goal. I'll post photos on that deal as the year rolls along. I'm headed down to Louisiana tomorrow to try and fish with my Dad as his health allows. Hopefully, I'll add 6 or more species to the 8 species I've caught so far this year.

[raise the motor]

This Forum has been very beneficial to a once-in-a-while fisherman who looks forward to renewing a fishing hobby I enjoyed so much in my teen years. A number of talented anglers give of their time and share their experience to help fellow anglers enjoy success in fishing. Only casual observation is needed to notice those who are willing to, and do, help and encourage others.

In athletics, and in life in general, the most skilled are oft the most complimentary and supportive of others.

Sadly, the reverse is sometimes true.

Joe