Hot day. "Feels Like 110" at 5:15pm.
I went fishing after work and a very small, quick dinner. Went for Koi. It was tough. They didn't want to go for my flies very well at all....and when they did, they spit so fast I often never even had time to try to set the hook!
I did end up catching some Koi, as well as some Goldfish. Below are a few of them. There were others.
Koi:
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| Koi on fly. |
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| Goldfish on fly. |
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| Pumpkinseed Sunfish |
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| Possible hybrid? Mostly Pumpkinseed. |
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| Redear Sunfish |
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| Green Sunfish |
Took Wednesday off work to go fishing. I needed 6 Bowfin to get to 200 Lifetime Bowfin on Fly. I think that's pretty cool, considering I caught my first one ever in 2022.
I went to a location about twice as far away from home as my usual bowfin spot. Wasn't sure I'd reach the goal today, but thought maybe I'd inch closer to it. I got there, and water was lower than when I'd last been here in the Spring. Some decent spots were dry or otherwise unfishable.
Short story...I reached my goal! I caught exactly 6 Bowfin. They were smaller that the ones I usually catch, but cute little buggers!
I also caught Largemouth Bass, Black Crappie, White Crappie, Bluegill, Green Sunfish, and a BOATLOAD of Warmouth!
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| Warmouth |
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| Warmouth |
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| Green Sunfish |
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| White Crappie |
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| possible Hybrid Crappie |
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| Black Crappie |
Seen while fishing:
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (some females are black, while others are yellow with black stripes like the males)
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| Eastern Tiger Swallowtail |
This Plain-bellied Water Snake was my buddy. He came flying off the high bank into the water chasing frogs. I was snagging sticks in the water...I'd unhook them and toss them onto the bank on my left. The snake would chase the sticks and attack them as if they were another snake. I'd pet him with my rod tip. He never seemed to mind. He finally came over and rested next to my shoe.
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| Plain-bellied Water Snake |
Tuesday after work (I work from home), I joined in the St Louis rush-hour traffic to try and squeeze in a couple hours of evening fishing. My target was Orangespotted Sunfish, from a spot I had caught them in April. Water levels have been high since then, but were only @ 3.5' higher than April now. Fishable.
Sadly, I did not catch any Orangespotted Sunfish. Nor Green Sunfish, Bluegills, Hybrid Sunfish, or Longear Sunfish....all of which I've caught there in the past. Perplexing. Where are they?
There were 2-3 small current seams, and at each one, I found fish. I ended up catching 4 Common Carp, a Freshwater Drum, a Bigmouth Buffalo, a little Channel Catfish, and a Shortnose Gar.
Some really good fighters in that bunch! Had my 6wt fly rod bent over pretty good!
Got out fishing after work. Hoped for some darters. Might've seen some, but did not catch any. Caught Green Sunfish, Bluegill, Striped Shiner, a Creek Chub, and 2 Mottled Sculpins.
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| Mottled Sculpin |
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| Striped Shiner |
