The Caney Creek Gang (CCG) has two gigs next weekend. Friday, July 11, we play Rough River Lodge at 7-7:45pm (Thanks, Brian), then next Saturday, July 12, at the Monroe Homeplace, 6-8pm, CCG will play Pickin’ on the Porch again.
The Homeplace is one of my favorite places to play—for obvious reasons.
Only hint of bad is the heat in July and August. When we played Pickin’ on the Porch in July of 2022, it was so hot we ditched the vests. You could wring sweat from our white shirts.
(July 17, 2022, from L to R, Mike Feagan, Kenneth, me, behind me Kristy Whiteside, Chris Joslin, and Keith Jackson)
I believe that was the last time BMF (Bill Monroe Foundation)Chairman Keith Jackson played with us before he passed away. Keith will forever be missed on Jerusalem Ridge.
I remember he sang Monroe’s “Mighty Dark to Travel” that day three years ago. I’m singing it next Saturday there on the porch in his memory.
The CCG lineup next week will be Kenneth Newell, Larry Hill, Kristy Whiteside, and yours truly.
Those who have been to Pickin’ on the Porch when CCG plays know that the BMF serves catfish dinners that particular Saturday. And they know the catfish comes from Caney Creek. And lastly, they know I catch it!
Same goes for next Saturday, July 12. I have five one-gallon ziplock bags waiting in the freezer. In fact, I put the last four bags in there this week.
Started Tuesday, July 1. My brother Kevin and I caught 50 bluegill for bait and headed for Caney.
Then disaster struck! Shucks!
My aerator malfunctioned on the way, and the bluegill died. We went ahead and put the boat in right before dark and baited out 50 jugs.
Needless to say, I had little faith that the dead bait would do any good over night. But you never know, right?!
The next morning I had ten catfish, seven gar, and a turtle. Here’s a pic of the ten catfish.
I was so caught up in fishing I never managed to take pics of the work and the process you go through to jug fish.
The next day, ready to go again, my son Tanner came down from Louisville to help me put the jugs out this time—and snap some photos.
I caught the 50 bluegill myself before Tanner arrived and kept them alive this time with a new, $10 aerator from Walmart.
Tanner and I didn’t get on Caney until after dark.
(pic from Tanner Autry)
We put the jugs out going up the creek, and on the way back down, two Flathead catfish had already taken the bait. So we left them on a stringer and headed home.
The next morning, on the road to Caney, Tanner snapped this pic, and unbeknownst to him, an Angel Bird wound up in the snapshot.
(pic by Tanner Autry, notice the Angel Bird?)
We drove in at 7am Friday, July 4, Independence Day! Just so you know, we leave the boat at the creek overnight so we won’t have to keep loading and unloading it.
Yes, a little risky, and yes, we have had boats stolen.
(Goin’ Up Caney pic by Tanner)
As you can see, Caney Creek is still muddy from the abundant rains during the first half of 2025.
We quickly put three catfish in the boat.
And then we had some bad luck again when the trolling motor battery malfunctioned just like the aerator did a couple days before.
I’ll not go far into it, but we ended up taking the battery out of my truck and using it in the jon boat.
Once we were moving again and checking the jugs, we found six with catfish on. Two managed to escape, so we ended up with four. Add them to the two from the night before and that makes six.
So, two days of jugfishing amounted to sixteen Caney Creek catfish in the freezer. I already had two in the freezer from rodfishing a month ago. Total frozen: eighteen fish, five gallons.
I hope next Saturday, July 12, when the catfish dinners are served at 5pm, there will be plenty of folks at the Monroe Homeplace to chow down and finish it off. I want to leave the ridge with no leftovers.
Let’s pray the weather is decent. Regardless, CCG will be playing and having a blast.
Ya’ll come!
