April 19, 2023 Florida

A friend in Arkansas invited me to join him on a week-long fishing trip in south Florida, trying to catch as many new species as we could.  Cool!

Day 1

My flight landed first.  I got the rental vehicle and went fishing.  I hadn't planned to go fishing before my friend arrived, but he texted me and told me to.  So, spur of the moment, checked Google Maps looking for canals near the airport...first spot I picked was a bust.  No parking, no access to the water.  Spot two had both.

First fish of the trip for me was one I was really hoping for.  A Spotted Sunfish!

Second fish was a Jaguar Guapote!  I'd seen them before, but hadn't been able to catch one.

After my friend arrived, the first spot we fished together produced 2 more species for me....Florida Largemouth Bass

and Zebra Tilapia...some big ones measured up to 14"!  Strong fish!

Baby one...looks like it might have gotten hooked in the chin.  Must have grabbed the head of the fly!

April 15, 2023

 I REACHED MY GOAL! ... of catching 100 bowfin on a fly.  I needed 4 today to reach that goal, and I caught 6. From the first to the last, it took less than a year.  In fact, not including the first one I caught in AR last June, I caught 101 in MO over a span of just 2.5 months...or about 10 weeks.  I caught them from August 28 to October 9 (less than 1.5 months) last Fall, and then March 12-April 15 (just over a month) this year.  I'm blown away... this was a crazy goal I never expected to reach, but am really excited I did.  Bowfin are a flat out amazing, fun, and interesting fish to catch!  I really love these fish!

As there are now 2 recognized species of Bowfin, these are all Eyetail Bowfin (Amia ocellicauda).  Here's some of the ones caught on the 15th.:

I also caught a Black Bullhead:

I tossed a fly into a pod of Grass Carp.  The fly sank.  Then my line started to move... a Common Carp had eaten the fly!

April 13, 2023

 Got out after work to fish for a bit.  Targeted Grass Carp.  Had about 10 strikes, and kept completely missing on the hookset somehow.  Finally got one.

Also missed several Shortnose Gar strikes before finally hooking up.

And caught a couple Green Sunfish.  

April 12, 2023

 Randy Richter from Iowa came down to fish for bowfin with me today.  He got his first one in about 6 casts! :)

Although I only caught one while we fished together, I stayed after he had to leave, and caught 4 more. Plus a largemouth bass.

I caught the first one of the day on a Gamechanger, which I was positive would work well.  I'd like to get one on topwater at some point, as my buddy Hamilton tells me the strikes are EXPLOSIVE!\

Here's a few of my fish from today:

With today's 5, I just need to catch 4 more to reach my goal of 100 Lifetime Bowfin on fly.

April 9, 2023

Trying to get to 100 lifetime Bowfin on fly... need just 9 more after catching 8 today.  Caught some nice-sized ones (and 24.5" female and a 24" male), and some pretty ones.  I love the markings on the top one below!

I also caught 3 Common Carp, 1 Warmouth, 2 Green Sunfish, and a Largemouth Bass.  While using a tiny microjig for Warmouth, is when I caught the 3 carp and a bowfin, plus everything else besides the bulk of the bowfin.  Couldn't see any of those fish, so it was all pretty lucky I suppose.  Fine by me! ;) 

I also presented a microjig under an indicator to a few Grass Carp that were in a very shallow channel.  2 of them ate the indicator instead of the fly.  They are active now, so I should be able to get one or more soon!

Also saw a variety of snakes.  And accidentally snagged a large snapping turtle in the tail (released as gently as possible, never had to take it out of the water).

April 4, 2023

Took the afternoon off work and went flyfishing.  Nice day.... very warm for this time of year (reached mid-80's!) and also VERY windy!

Saw fish in an area I'd never seen them in before.  Saw gar, bowfin, carp, and grass carp, maybe buffalo.  Tried for them.  Caught 2 Common Carp.

After too much time spent not catching other fish I saw...I moved on.  I caught a bowfin, then a Yellow Bullhead:

I caught 10 Bowfin today.  The last one of the day was a new PB for me... 26.5" (first picture of this post)!

Here's more pics of the bowfin.  I really love these fish!

April 2, 2023

 Interesting number coincidence.  In my quest to catch 100 Bowfin on flies, last year was my first year ever for catching Bowing, and I caught 46.  So I need 54 more (hopefully this year) to reach 100.  With the 10 Bowfin I caught today, that brings my year-to-date total to 27, leaving ... 27 more to reach 100!  Halfway there, in one way of looking at it.  Or...I've now caught 73, so I'm nearly 3/4 of the way there if looked at from that perspective.  In any case, I'm learning more about how these fish behave in the (generally very muddy) waters I fish.  Such an awesome fish!

So, including the 10 Bowfin, I also caught 5 Largemouth Bass, 1 Bluegill, 1 Green Sunfish, and 2 little Warmouth.