CRACKERFEST 06 " FINAL NUMBERS"

[JSV]

CRACKERFEST RESULTS!!!!!
31 people Participated in Cracrfest an average catch of 9 Fish per person in which were cleaned.
with
284 total Fish cleaned.
76 Shell Crackers
206 Gills
1 Yellow Perch
1 Crappie

While cleaning, I found only 16 of all the fish had eggs still in them and I think there were only 2 or 3 of those Crackers! This tells me we really need to have Crackerfest 07 a little earlier in order to catch more quality Crackers. I know the place we fished on Sat. normally would hold several Crackers yet we only caught 4 all day which made it to the scales.....a total of 5 Crackers caught in all but TT felt sorry for one really nice Cracker and allowed it to find it's way back into the water (after a little detour...flip-flop on the back deck: flip flop around Transom and flop into the water)!!!
While cleaning, I did find several Fish to have Hooks in their gills..one particular fish had 3 hooks in her mouth and I believe TT was the taker of that Fish. I found one other fish that had two hooks in her gills. The reason I mention this is...none of the hooks I saw really were rusted nor appeared to be broken down by the acid that I have always been told Fish have that will decay the hook?
Once again thanks for all the help and those that participated hopefully next year more people will join us for a family day out!!
JSV

 

[fisherpal2k]

Great follow up post JSV! Thanks for the info and for all the hard work you and the family done to put this together and then finish it up. Sounds like we need to get the fishery biologist from the aquarium on here to tell us about the hook theory. Kinda been wondering about that myself. Then again they are making better hooks and stronger metals than used to be used for hooks. Thanks again for the info. emoThumbsup

 

[fischnrod]

I saw a northern perch in the crackerfest pics,does anyone know why there are not more of them now days? I used to catch quite a few of them and they taste great,one of the best tasting fish in my opinion.

 

[TennesseeTalker]

Good GRAVY!!! 284 FISH!!! Now I don't feel so bad about letting that shell cracker go!!!

Nice job JSV and family. We definately OWE you for that job.

TT

 

[Buoy-Master]

I got to meet a few of you the other day but things didnt go the way they needed to for me.
About 11:30 or so I got a call from the wife....sick. Said she just started feeling sick , then she got really bad. So...me finishing and making it to the cook out was out.

Luckly, I think she just got too hot in the sun. Not to mention we didnt get to bed until 2 am then back up at 6. She got better that evening, thank god.

Maybe next time it will go better for me. Glad to see you all had a blast and I look forward to meeting more of you soon.

Thanks,

 

[TennesseeTalker]

Sorry you had trouble BBass but glad it all turned out. You didn't miss the cookout .. the fish weren't being cooked until our picnic in August ...

We are going to have to try a notification system when team members are missing so we know what happened to them. I'll think about how to work that one for next time.

TT

 

[Fishin Fool]

Jason you really did a tough job cleaning all those fish man! Plus you put together the Crackerfest and made it a success! A couple of those fish with hooks were mine. I hate pulling the hooks out when they swallow it deep so I usually just tie another one on. Shellcrackers are so bad about that. Again, thanks for a wonderful event and I enjoyed talking with you on the phone the other day. Next year I'll pitch in and help you organize in any way I can. I think it is so cool that we (the CFF) are putting on our own contests.

 

[fishing fire]

No joke Jason good work next year I also would like to help if you need it great job again on all your hard work.

 

[rsimms]

JSV... interesting numbers. Thanks for counting. Speaking of moving Crackerfest earlier, someone tell me if I'm crazy or not. It seems like when I was young we never really thought about looking for bluegill beds on Chickamauga before June. And nobody would have dared go crappie fishing before April 1st (or when the dogwoods bloom). Nowadays the bluegill are almost bedded and gone by June... and I caught my first big string of crappie on New Years Day, and after April 1st my crappie fishing goes downhill fast.
Am I crazy, is my aging memory out of kilter... or does it seem like many fish species have changed their ways over the years (at least locally).

 

[flip1up]

Your very much right Richard. I catch more and better Crappie in Feb. and March. But for me, I think thats just when I fish for them. Come the middle of March I'm switching gears for bass fishing. Just like the Sauger, when they usually start their run in Feb. I'm fishing for Crappie. I'm going to have to either find more days in the week to fish or target certain species at the prime times. So many fish, so little time.

 

[jon the fisherman]

It's global warming. We used to catch the crappie when the dogwoods bloom, and now it is when the bradford pairs bloom