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JOHN DAY BASSFEST |
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HUMBLE BEGINNINGS |
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BassFest was the brainchild of the �River Rhino�, Paul Kauffman who thought it would interesting to take a group of northwest fishermen and expose them to �Smallies�, small mouth bass fishing. Most northwest fishermen crave the mighty salmon and steelhead, considering warm water fish such as bass, �trash fish�. The idea of rafting the John Day River, America�s premier smallmouth bass river, was proposed in 2002, with little interest. Paul then approached the �Bass Master�, Jim Thum, who grew up fishing for the Smallies in his home state of Ohio. Then after he moved to Texas, the Smallies kept him coming back for more. Jim had heard good things about the John Day, and was all for the idea of float�in it to see if the stories were true. |
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"The River Rhino" lets CeeDub 'Kiss his Bass' |
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Paul & Jim put their heads together and started working on the details for the trip. Paul had floated this section, Clarno to Cottonwood Bridge, back in the early 80�s. It was a four-day trip back then, so not being a real fisherman, he figured there would be plenty of time to fish it while floating the 70 miles in that same amount time. Research showed that the monster-sized fish were more likely to be caught in April. Fewer fish compared to June, which yields about 100 fish, per day, per person. We elected for a June date, hoping for quantity and better weather. Checking with the BLM, we also found out that the 12th of June was the last day for campfires on the river. The trip should include a weekend, so we decided to end it on a Sunday to keep the number of days off work to a minimum. With all of that information in mind, we set a date. |
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Bassmaster JIm explains to everyone at the take-out, 'You know, the river keeps goin' |
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With a launch date of Thursday, we needed a place to crash for the night before the trip. To run the river in four days and still have time to fish, we needed to get an early morning launch. From experience, we knew that camping out the night before a launch, meant getting on the road late, due to the time it takes to pack everything up. Then, add feeding everyone breakfast, and you have the makings for an afternoon launch. The best way to go would be to find a place to stay where we didn�t have to totally unpack everything to spend the night. Searching the Service Creek and Clarno areas a bed & breakfast was located. It was an old stage stop located in Service Creek with an adjacent caf� and small store. The B&B had six bedrooms and four bathrooms at that time. For $300 you could rent the whole house and have it to yourself. |
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Service Creek Station |
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2005 |
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HOME |
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HUMBLE BEGINNINGS |
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2004 |
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BF III |
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BASSFEST INTERNAT'L |
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LINKS |
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CONTACT US |
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