March 26, 2023

Higher, faster, muddier water conditions made fishing and catching tough.... found some fish in areas I hadn't caught them in before.

Bowfin appear to be spawning, or very close to it.

Caught a new PB Shortnose Gar... 29"!

Also caught a Freshwater Drum and a Common Carp:

March 22, 2023

 Got out fishing midweek for a change.  Cloudy, drizzle, some light rain early.  Decent temps in the 50's/60's.

I only landed @ 12 fish, but 6 different species.  A number of bowfin shook free as well.

This is a new species for me....Spotted Gar!

Common Carp:

Landed 3 Bowfin:

Warmouth!

I also caught Largemouth Bass and Green Sunfish... all small.

March 19, 2023

 Almost didn't bother fishing this weekend.  Cold.  Sunday was the warmer of the 2 days, and only forecast to reach 38 F.    I left the house after noon...once the temp outside finally got above freezing.

Near the fishing spot, I saw small bodies of water covered with ice!

Expectations of catching anything were very low.

I fished hard, all the same.  Had a shortnose gar on briefly, but it shook free.  I accidentally caught a Red Eared Slider turtle.

I did finally catch one Bowfin, and it was on a new Edge Gamma Beta 8wt fly rod that I hadn't yet caught a fish on.  Baptism by Bowfin...what could be BETTER? :) 

This male had just a touch of blue pigment inside his mouth, and a tiny bit of the green fins they get during the spawn.

I was very happy and thankful to have caught the one bowfin! 

March 12, 2023

 It's been a cold week, and the Daylight Savings Time day was no different.  High of 43 F.  Cloudy, except for  a 20-minute stretch in the late afternoon.

I went back to a place I fished 3 times already this year, and had only caught a grand total of 1 bluegill!

I've been really hoping to get my first Bowfin of the year, and I was able to finally make it happen.  AND I caught 6 Bowfin on a new (Gary Loomis) Edge Archetype 7wt fly rod!

I used 2 flies (one at a time, but I lost the first to a snag after catching a few fish).  Both were very similar... basically size 1 black woolly buggers, one with a sculpin helmet head, and one with conehead.  I feel I preferred the sculpin helmet version, as it seemed to sink faster and keep the hook point up better.  The hook also seemed better quality than the other fly.  Both were bought flies, not tied by me.

Although I often used scent on the flies for bowfin last year because of the very muddy water I was fishing in, I did not use any scent today, and it didn't seem to matter.  In addition to the 6 bowfin caught, I had 3 others on that shook free before I could land them.

The Sculpin Helmet fly, after catching a fish or two....

March 9, 2023

 Did not plan to fish today.  I was working from home, but our internet got knocked out around 11:20am, presumably by some commercial construction going on nearby.  Didn't know if/when it would come back on, so after waiting over an hour without service, I took the rest of the day off and went fishing, in the cloudy cool damp day.  It drizzled and lightly rained a few times throughout the afternoon.

I'd fished the previous weekend, both days, with only a single bluegill to show for it, even though I covered over 6.68 miles of shoreline!  So, I wanted a better shot at some fish, and chose to pursue Koi and Goldfish with a flyrod again.  They are beautiful, fun, and challenging.

I did well, and caught some gorgeous fish... 10 Koi and 6 Goldfish.

Koi:

Goldfish: