• KY Shindig at Big Bear

    For the second year in a row I was able to attend the Fall Kentucky Crappie Shindig at Big Bear Resort on Northern Kentucky Lake. I again brought my mom, aunt and daughter to this wonderful event. You can read last years story here:http://www.crappie.com/crappie/content/185-kentucky-get-together-big-bear.html

    The morning before the fish fry, my daughter and I went fishing with Billbob. We followed Wiskers around on the water for a while doing some vertical jigging, but only caught a couple small Crappie. We switched it up a little and tried pulling cranks, but that did not produce anything to speak of either. The conditions were just not right for for fishing or for catching. It was a cold morning and I as the day went on it grew pretty windy. No-one did very much good that day so I did not feel bad that we came back to camp empty handed.


    Yes, Jessica and Abbey were very cold that day.

    Although it would've been nice to have caught a stringer of slabs, today was not necessarily about the fishing. It was more about getting together with friends, sharing fishing stories, eating a good meal and enjoying a raffle where everyone was a winner. Really, everyone won at least one prize in the raffle. Here’s a link to the door prize thread where all the event sponsors were mentioned: http://www.crappie.com/crappie/kentucky/191488-shindig-door-piizes.html

    But before these festivities got rolling, we had a couple guest speakers on hand. Paul Rister (prister on the message board) who is a KY F&W fishery biologist and Lee Cope who is the local KY F&W CO/Game Warden gave talks about the state of the fisheries, and a little about gaming laws. It was very interesting and very well received.

    Some of the members had good questions about the law, so much so much so that these two guys (Billbob and Cane Pole) needed an extra level of explaining as you can see below:


    BnM contributed some nice fishing rods to the raffle.

    We had some instant winners too. I think they won because of their enthusiasm level and their cuteness. No, I’m not talking about the goofball in the middle, that's Sixfin.



    As you can tell by the photos above, the goofball that I speak of (Sixfin) certainly deserves that goofball moniker. I have no idea what he's doing up in that tree, I don't think anyone did. We think something scared him!

    Sixfin really is a great guy, he called out the raffle and had everyone in stiches the whole day. We really appreciated his participation, uber-enthusiasm and generosity. Hope to see you at many more Crappie Camps Sixfin.

    And since we’re on the subject of entertainment, we can’t continue the conversation without mentioning Wiskers. What a great guy and gracious host as well. Wiskers let us all take over his campsite, and allowed for some good natured fun poking at him via his lovely pink picnic bench, there's a picture of that later.

    Wiskers gave gave a speech about his favorite reel company with all his best buddies at his side.

    Wiskers remembered from last year that my mom loved Apricot flavored soda, and brought some just for her.

    This was written on a plaque on the side of Wiskers camper officially proclaiming the name of his camp.



    Billbob took his customary pictures with the pretty women of camp.

    The Crock Pot caramel Pecan Pie was a big hit that everyone talked about, even on the forum after the event members asked about the recipe. Here are a couple excerpts.
    BadBrad posted he overheard the simple recipe as follows:
    “She said she just took a store bought pecan pie and crumbled it into the crockpot, then poured a jar of Carmel over it. I believe that's it.”
    Wannabe Fisherman reported that indeed was the recipe:
    “I don't know if that's the recipe or not but it works!!! Made some last night and it tasted just like the one at camp.”


    DKB23's twins telling it like it is.


    Day turned to night, Wiskers contemplated his hot pink picnic table, and we all sat around the campfire catching up on the latest fishing tales.



    I just had to copy crappie&shrooms post from the board after the shindig: It's a good summary of the overall event. Here it is:

    Ky Shindig Problem

    First we want to give a BIG THANK YOU, to all the sponsors, attendees and everyone involved in putting on this fine event. You could never find a more giving, gracious, and enjoyable bunch anywhere on this planet. It was a honor for us to be there and enjoy meeting everyone. It is so nice to be able to put faces and names together. My wife Cindy(Shrooms) really enjoyed visiting with Slabs Mother and Aunt. I think the stories and history those ladies know, and could tell, would fill an encyclopedia.
    Now on to the problem I have with the shindig. I can't figured out what I enjoyed the most about it!
    Was it:
    1. The Food. OMG the food. There was enough food there to feed 3 shindigs. Was it good.

    2. Maybe the fact that we got to meet and rub elbows with some of the legends of C.Com. Its nice to see that these folks are real. That they are as nice in person as they appear to be behind the screen. Some of them better looking in person, some not! I won't call any names.

    3. Maybe the fun filled, knowledge sharing, story telling times around the campfire. As I had just purchased a new depth finder and the trip down there was the first time on the water with it I gained a lot of useful info listening how everyone has theirs set up and how they use them. Plenty of other useful information was shared other than depth finders, but sidescan and downscan seemed to be a popular topic. I want to give an extra thanks to C.Com extraordinaire WHISKERS for helping me get mine tweeked in. I wasn't too impressed with it until I let Whiskers touch it. Granted I was a little nervous seeing him pushing buttons on my new toy. But it works like a charm now. Lot of info shared on different fishing techniques too. Way to many different subjects to list. I am sure all the stories told around the campfire were the gospel truth too.

    4. Then there was the door prizes. We may never have to buy any more jigs and jig bodies. Everybody, and I mean everybody won something and several won multiples. We actually felt embarrassed to walk away (but we did) with so much when we gave so little. Hopefully next year if we are able to attend we will be more prepared and able to donate a little to the event.

    I know I can't wait till next years event. Have a safe holiday season everyone.
    Comments 2 Comments
    1. jigflinger's Avatar
      jigflinger -
      Great article, Ed. Man I had a ball at the Shindig. I was great to meet everyone there, especially your mom, aunt and Jessica. Gotta watch out for that Apricot soda though.Hands ClappingHands Clapping
    1. LilCrappieMomma's Avatar
      LilCrappieMomma -
      I had a great time, met some very awesome people who I hope to contunie friendships with for a lifetime. I also got to sit a spell with Slab that nite, and share my Blackberry sodaHands Clapping, he liked it very well too! This Shindig is what company is all about Thumbs Up laughing, joking, and eating together.
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