October 2, 2022

 After my previous trip for Bowfin, I was one short of 30 lifetime bowfin, so I went back hoping for at least one more.  Also, last trip I caught 8, but lost 19! 

This trip was better.  I caught 15 Bowfin, and lost @ 3.  Much better landing rate, although I can't say I did anything different, so the difference is something of a mystery.  

I also caught some small Warmouth, Largemouth Bass, and Green Sunfish, and had a few gar shake loose before I could land them.  And I saw a big Raccoon, my first (live) one since moving to MO.

September 30, 2022

 The Good and the Bad.  Pretty good day at the swamp, really.  I landed 8 Bowfin on the fly!  Also caught Green Sunfish, Warmouth, Largemouth Bass, Grass Carp, and Shortnose Gar.

The really bizarre thing is....so far, except for one other day, I largely had been landing every Bowfin I'd hooked up with.  But today wasn't that day.  I believe I LOST 19 additional Bowfin that I was hooked up with!  And once again I lost a BIG gar (presumably longnose, because of its size) that was hooked up for quite awhile.  Such is fishing....the fish gotta win sometimes, or it isn't fair.  But that was a crazy number of lost bowfin!  70%!!

Anyway, very glad to have caught the ones that I did.  Some good-looking fish, and several had faint eyespots, and one had a fairly DECENT eyespot, although still not as prominent as they CAN be.

On to the pics...

Bowfin:

Grass Carp:

Shortnose Gar:

Warmouth:

And other stuff seen:

September 29, 2022

 Fished an urban creek.  Conditions were good...water low and clarity better than usual.  But ZERO Grass Carp or Common Carp, and ZERO Gar were seen!  VERY strange.  I managed to catch a Grass Carp and a Kentucky Spotted Bass, however.  TOUGH day!

Saw other stuff:

September 28, 2022

 Flyfished "the swamp".  Fished some new-to-me spots there.  Good day.  Caught 27 fish total. Caught 10 species!!!  They were:

1. Bowfin

2. Shortnose Gar

3. Grass Carp

4. Common Carp

5. Largemouth Bass

6. Warmouth

7. Bluegill

8. Green Sunfish

9. Black Crappie

10. Yellow Bullhead

I didn't take pics of all the species (LMB, Bluegill)...here's some of the rest:

Warmouth:

Green Sunfish:

Bowfin:

Shortnose Gar:

Grass Carp:

Common Carp:

Yellow Bullhead:

Black Crappie:

And...some other stuff:

A quick story about the snake in the above picture.  He showed up, sitting in the water near me while I was fishing.  Being a good boy, non-threatening.  Idiot me eventually had the idea to tap him on the back with my fly to get him to "move along".  Instead, it turned and grabbed the fly SO FAST!  Well, I had to "land it" and unhook it.  In doing so, the snack curled its body around my arm, and left me smelling very "skunky"!  I unhooked him and he went on his way.  I felt very bad for how that played out.  Not what I'd intended.  I deserved getting skunk-sprayed!  I won't be doing that again, certainly not on purpose.  The lesson I learned is to just leave the snakes alone.  I hope to share this lesson, to keep others from doing what I did, and from getting "skunked".  That smell stayed with me all day!