Jigfest - The Dirt!

[Terrierman]

Yessir, we had a pretty good time.  Caught a metric ton of fish (that's a lot but I can't count very good) and really enjoyed the company.  For me the best part of this thing is how good people come together for such an all around good time.  Fishing, fellowship, lots of really good stories from people that are well traveled true outdoorsmen, and of course good food.  Everybody puts out the effort for this deal, and it pays off.  Really enjoyed meeting and getting to know Wounded One, Johnsfolly and Micropterus.  I'd previously met zigjigman but only for a short while and it was good to get to know him better.  Every single person who comes to this brings another perspective and another flavor to the pot.  You are all a great bunch of guys, I truly enjoy spending time and talking with you all.  Looking forward to the next one.

[LittleRedFisherman]

Working on a video fellas try to have it posted in the next couple days.   

 

Terrierman an said it best bout jig fest!!  What a great get together!!

[Quillback]

Wow, great fishing guys!

I'm curious as to what you guys who stayed overnight thought as far as the lodging, I think you might have had 10 one night, did it work out well?  Already looking to next year and wanted to see if things worked out OK, or if we might want to think about 2 lodges/cabins for next year.

[Phil Lilley]

There was some talk that the Riley's didn't own the house we stayed in but manage it... ownership/management may be different next year.

I'm interested in starting another Jigfest here on Taney.  I don't want to compete with this one because I want to go to BOTH.  December weekends are the only ones I can offer some big discounts for lodging since I'm booked all other weekends throughout the year.  So might have them a week or two apart.  I don't expect the same guys to go to both either... but they could.

I like the house we stayed in.  They could upgrade the "cots" though.  They're pretty tough to sleep on.  The trundle I slept on was ok but not for a bigger person.

[Johnsfolly]

There isn't much that I can add except that this was a great time with a great bunch of guys. I got to fish with WoundedOne and Terrierman on Friday. I have never fished the White and have to say even with the five trout that I was able to boat on Friday I was truly impressed. WoundedOne and Terrierman were putting fish in the boat. So it wasn't because of few fish, the numbers were due to my fishing, weight and color combos that I was using. I was certainly undergunned for the fast and deep water. As I wade fisherman, an 1/8 oz jig is just something you end up leaving in the boulders on every cast. Once I got the bait down to them, I was getting bit. We found a great riffle that consistently had active fish. Four or five passes through that riffle put a bunch of fish and many doubles in the boat. What a special fishery.

After a great meal with a metric ton of food great conversations and solving all of the world's problems, it was out below Norfork dam with Ham and Micropterus the next morning. Phil had caught a walleye and they boated cutthroat trout as well. I was hoping for a chance at a cutthroat and possibly a brook trout or walleye as a bonus new species for 2016. They were to run one unit that morning that never happened. So with the low flow, I was able to fish my 1/32 and 1/16 oz jigs with some effect. The lack of real flow resulted in fewer fish, but they were larger fish being caught and none of them were passing powerbait. Ham and Micropterus were getting it done and even I landed a real nice rainbow by the docks on an olive and black 1/16 oz jig.

.

When we got into the catch and release section, the narrative changed from chunky rainbows to variety. I landed my first cutthroat (Marty they stock Snake river cutthroat) and it was my largest fish of the day a 15.5" fish. I was pumped. This was the 46th different and my 19th new species of the year. Now I will credit that I was fishing one of Ham's Airstream rods at the time. So maybe a little mojo wore off on me.

Micropterus landed a very respectable brook trout and lost what looked like a nice brown in this same stretch. Soi we had encountered all four trout species on this morning's trip. Ham had to get back to set up the smoker and put on ribs for a fine dinner later that night. So at Ham's suggestion, I fished the confluence of Dry run creek and the Norfork for brook trout. I had three hits with one definite brook hit and landed a small rainbow with some parr markings that got me thinking I might have caught a brookie. No other hits and Micropterus and I had lunch and met Ham at Rim shoals for the afternoon trip. Started to rain, but that didn't slow down the fishing. This section was definitely on this day a numbers area instead of size. As a wade fisherman fishing small water once you make a pass through a riffle, pool or run, you are likely done. So fishing a run and catching fish over again and again on a big river is definitely a different experience. We had a lot of doubles on the day and just missed a couple of triples. Ham and Micropterus can correct me later, I believe that they caught 30 and 25+ fish apiece. I ended up with 18 rainbows and  I even caught a 7" brown trout. I ended up with three species of trout and lost the fourth. There was a bunch of good conversation and trash talk throughout the day. It was a great day on the boat regardless of the cold and rain. My best baits were olive / ginger and brown / ginger 1/16 and 1/32 oz jigs. I only caught one rainbow on and F11 hand-painted Rapala jerkbait.

Sunday I am now obsessed to spend an hour or tow trying again for a brook trout at the confluence of Dry Run Creek/Norfork river. On the first strike I turned a brook trout as I could see its fins clearly before it threw the hook. I also had a heart breaker when I cast a chartreuse microjig in front of an active brook trout and had the knot slip as I set the hook. That fish wanted to eat. It kept going after each new bait I threw at it but it wouldn't commit fully. I found out from Ham later that I could have drifted a red worm in front of it and possibly landed that trout. I'll keep that in mind for next time.

One the way home I stopped at the crossing of Bryant creek and fished a size 14 hook with a bit of red worm. I had a lot of interest with small minnows, but with the larger hook couldn't catch any of them. The larger minnows weren't too interested. I did land one duskystripe shiner, which was my last fish of this trip.

The only problem is that you just couldn't get to fish with everyone on one trip. I would have loved to fish with Duane and Phil, or LittleRedFisherman and Grizwilson or N9Bow and Richard. Still I really had a great time!

 

 

 

[Johnsfolly]

2 hours ago, Phil Lilley said:

I like the house we stayed in.  They could upgrade the "cots" though.  They're pretty tough to sleep on

I slept on one of the cots and do agree that it was hard to sleep on, but the rest of the accommodations were great.

[WoundedOne]

I also had a really great time. What a great group of people. Wish had time to fish with everybody. The time after fishing was just as great with all the stories . Definitely made some new friends for life. Thanks to Eric, Richard, Rick, Ham, Big Jake, Brett and Duane for providing boats for the rest of us. Thanks to all the cooks and great food we shared together. 

[Big_Jake]

Great to meet all of you! We thoroughly enjoyed it, and getting to know you guys. The fishing, food, and fellowship was fantastic!

If any of you find yourself at Cotter stop by and say hi, drink a cup of coffee - We are the house nearest Cotter Bridge. I would love to fish with each of you.

We are talking about coming back around the New Year if anyone is interested.

 

Jacob

[grizwilson]

9 hours ago, Terrierman said:

Yessir, we had a pretty good time.  Caught a metric ton of fish (that's a lot but I can't count very good) and really enjoyed the company.  For me the best part of this thing is how good people come together for such an all around good time.  Fishing, fellowship, lots of really good stories from people that are well traveled true outdoorsmen, and of course good food.  Everybody puts out the effort for this deal, and it pays off.  Really enjoyed meeting and getting to know Wounded One, Johnsfolly and Micropterus.  I'd previously met zigjigman but only for a short while and it was good to get to know him better.  Every single person who comes to this brings another perspective and another flavor to the pot.  You are all a great bunch of guys, I truly enjoy spending time and talking with you all.  Looking forward to the next one.

Having only seen zigjigman on the river and spoke on the phone it was a pleasure to get to get to know him better. I am looking forward to fishing with him at some point, he is a wealth of knowledge and experience.  Rick you are slipping....they should retire you.  You told me yesterday how you enjoyed meeting Mr. Williams and big_jake, and I agreed fully. Great people all around.. 

[Smalliebigs]

On ‎12‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 0:54 AM, LittleRedFisherman said:

Today was another great day in the river, although be it colder and wetter. I had the pleasure of fishing with N9Bow (Eric) and Woundedone.  We threw jigs consistent all day with just a shirt break to eat a sandwich.  Eric nailed them all day including 3 smallmouth which will post pics later if them, they are in a video camera!   I had pretty good luck on a olive and ginger jig, Eric and Woundedone had a great day with a ginger!  We put in at Reds landing and there was a stretch 2 years ago I had some magic with a jerkbait. Yesterday had a little magic for an hour with my mega bass so throughly worked that stretch this time at Reds with only one good hit, but it was a 18.5 inch feisty brown!! The rain picked up and started to get colder but we stayed the day finishing strong on another stretch downstream.  We left them biting catching one nearly every other cast!  Just a great day and great fellowship!  Jig fest was so much fun with a great bunch of guys, it was truly a blessing!  

I have a lot of video that I took to air on a local outdoor show here at home of this event and the fishing!  I'm planning on it putting something together to share here first!  

Bret

I like the open chin goat T......nice Brown