JigFest 2017 - Let the bragging begin!

[BilletHead]

          So now to Friday's trip report.  

   When pairing up for Fridays excursion I ended up with that JohnsFolly character. Not sure why but I did not complain as he was my roommate for the fest and was very afraid if I cried fowl .  After some discussion and asking Ham is we could follow his boatload this is what we did. Again I am not familiar with this fishery and running new water with the jet is a bit spooky. I promised John not to play bumper with rocks like that Duane guy did with D.J. IT was cold when we got up, He said is gate control was froze up. I checked mine and yes, yes it was too. I grabbed the cable and bent it a bit. Crackle, crackle I could hear ice in there . Then I tried to unlock the rod locker. Froze too. Got a lighter and heated the key, worked it in and out until the lock worked. We knew where Ham was going and met him there, as we left the lodge the truck thermometer said 13  degrees ! I am so glad it was recommended we dress real warm and then go ahead and put on waders weather we got into water or not.  Face got a little cold and fingers too but as soon as sun hit you all was good. At ramp Ham was getting ready to launch. I parked in the sun and soon the black cables warmed and thawed. Everyone launched we worked out for a drift. Motor was not peeing water, that was froze too. Ran it a bit and drifted. Next start it began to spray as it thawed.  Water was a bit trashy here and we did not catch much, well I did not catch anything but my partner popped a brown and rainbow. A few more drifts and Ham said we needed to drag up and relocate to clearer water. We did and ended up way up river. Got back on the water and I finally began to catch. As we drifted and worked sections I kept an eye on Ham and how he ran the shoals. This gave me a line to know where to run my rig. I even got John behind the wheel some.  We finally all found a float there were many fish on and we pretty well pounded that area until it started to get darker. Ham had told us we may get a white bass or two. They had hit some and a guy on the bank had been catching a few. Sure enough the BilletHead got one and they were some big fat ones,

        I will say things went pretty smooth on these drifts. There was only one issue with my fishing partner. I don't know what to call it, a condition, a curse or something else? I will let him elaborate if he wants. I have seen this with other fishing partners so I was used to it although I did poke at him once and awhile about it. All in jest of course. We kept catching and saying one more time, just one more run until I finally said this was the last drift. By this time the Hamster was way off and I could see him motor up and head down river. We secured gear and fired up for the run back noticing the water had fallen quite a bit since we started. On plane I noticed Ham had made another drift in a section but I kept on top and rounded a corner, ran one shoal and then a split in the river I had not noticed on the run up. There was now an island with a run on both sides. I in a loud voice said to John which side did we go up? It happened so fast I had to make a decision and took off to the left side. I may of made the Folly cringe or pucker a bit, well I know I did but we made it fine and back on the trailer we headed back to camp. We kept seeing deer all along the road. They are like rabbits down there. John finally asked me to use my high beams so we could see better. He told me he wanted another deer for the freezer but not that way.  Found out number wise no one did real well that day and I figured out I did pretty well in that category. Fun times. Now to the feast that was getting ready. I think they said we had 25 for the dinner that night. I have never seen so much fish cooked up. Duane brought Walleye and Crappie, Brett (little red fisherman) brought flathead. When the giant fryer got lit it sounded like a flame thrower on a WW2 flick had the trigger pulled. Then there was oyster and baby Portobello mushrooms battered and fried. Griz was at the table with his potato gizmo slicing potato chips. I have never seen a never ending supply of fish coming in. It would pile up and disappear  again and again. Until no one could eat another bite. There was also summer sausage and cheese and a meat tray to snack on before meals. Some adult beverages were consumed but there was never a problem. I am proud of my new friends.  More visiting and deals with the Zig Jig man commenced until I decided to retire for the evening and again I was lulled to sleep by laughing,

   BilletHead

[gotmuddy]

5 hours ago, Johnsfolly said:

Phil - a lot of inconsistent generation data led to few folks going over to Norfork. The water coming out of Norfork was pretty trashy. A couple of us wade fished, but not many fish biting. I did catch a lousy green sunfish in my attempts to catch a brook trout !

dont forget to mention you have the biggest rock bass of the weekend!

[Ham]

another Jigfest has come and gone. I had a Great time again. 

Too much Good Food and too many Great ppl all in one location. 

It is sad we can't all magically get to fish together, but the reality is that the boaters don't get to fish together on this deal and that I can only comfortably take 2 guys out fishing at a time. 

Friday, I took out Jeff and Jim. I was hoping for a high number day with low water expected at Reds. Instead we got plenary of water, but it was really trashy. I should have made the call earlier, but I eventually got us to some cleaner water upriver from White Hole and we salvaged the day a little bit. I loaned Jim one of my rods that was a prototype Zig Jig rod and he did significantly better than with his bass fishing gear. He bought a rod from Richard that night. 👍🏻. Jeff did really well. I caught some. 

Saturday it was Eric P and Lane. Generation history indicated we should have clean falling water at Buffalo City. I had bites on my first three casts of the day and knew we where gonna be in good shape. Wind kicked our butts a little, but we had at least 3 triples and a lot of doubles. Our boat probably caught over 175 fish. Nothing over 17 inches though. 

I didn't take many pictures any of the days for some reason. 

An abbreviated Day Three for John and I. Wind really got in out way. We caught about 50 fish in 4 hours. 

Good Times. I'm going to do my best to fish with some of the guys in 2018. 

[grizwilson]

Nice

 

 

 

 

 

[grizwilson]

 

Good

[grizwilson]

The only negative thing I can say about 

[LittleRedFisherman]

10 minutes ago, grizwilson said:

The only negative thing I can say about Jigfest 5 was bad boat Karma .... or gremlins or ???? Started with Terrierman's trusty Yamaha would not start, the rental would not run, the second rental struggled, fortunately Woundedone to the rescue and put the trusty Yamaha back to purring. Duane's trusty Bass Tracker the starter failed, quick trip to the shop and back on the water, but it had other ideas, so returned home to the motor hospital, for further assistance.  I understand a certain Topwater Boat was wounded on Roundhouse Shoal.  Unlike Duckydoty my running of the jet encountered a "bump" that resulted in an abrupt stop, which made it necessary to exit the boat to free it..... Sunday morning further examination revealed that it needed professional attention....so its in the boat ER waiting on surgery....... may be out of commission a while.  My CPA informs me that it is "The cost of mobilization." 

Don’t forget Richards trolling motor fail.  Luckily my ole BlaZer came out of Jigfest unscathed. 

[duckydoty]

Looks like I might have had an impeller shift. Looking into damages now. Was gonna replace that last year but never got around to it.

[Terrierman]

That stuff all was a PITA which we were able to  overcome.  Cause we're good, that's why.  We're just good.

[JestersHK]

Man,  busted boats galore. I only knew about Duanes and Terriermans...  Hope they all have speedy recoveries on the cheap.