July 9, 2023

First stop on Sunday was a spot where I had caught White Bass and Kentucky Spotted Bass in the past.  I hoped to add those 2 species to my 2023 Fly Rod List.  Its a place I visit maybe once/year.  It was fairly crowded with anglers on this day.  I didn't catch either of those species....just Green Sunfish and Longear Sunfish.

Next, I went back to the urban creek I often fish.  I have caught White Bass and Kentucky Spotted Bass in this creek in past years, but they aren't very common.  I've tried for them here several times this year already, without success.

Well, I did finally manage to get a Kentucky Spotted Bass!  Flyrod Species #68 for 2023.

Also caught Longear Sunfish.  This one was the most colorful, in my opinion:

Also caught Hybrid Sunfish:

Finally saw a number of Grass Carp.  They were interested in my offering, but after inspecting it, would aggressively spook!  Except for this one:

I saw a Longnose Gar.  It was amongst sticks near the far side of the creek.  I tossed a topwater fly to it.  It grabbed the fly, but I could see it wasn't completely in its mouth, so I didn't set the hook right away.  It eventually spit the fly and then spooked when I tried casting back to it.

I caught a few Shortnose Gar, including this new Personal Best 29.5" specimen:

At the final pool of the day, I was stripping in a microjig under an indicator after casting to some Grass Carp.  I saw fish chasing the fly!  And caught a White Bass!  I removed the indicator and made more casts through the area, and caught 2 more!  Flyrod Species #69 for 2023!

I also caught Green Sunfish and Bluegills.  I released the largest bluegill of the day into a shallow pool that had access to deeper water.  About 15 minutes later, there was a commotion, and I saw that a Northern Watersnake had caught the bluegill and was dragging it onto shore to eat it.

Imagine being the snake... and trying to catch a fish in the water with just your mouth, and then dragging it onto shore with no arms or legs!  Much respect to the snakes!!