August 27, 2023

 Lightly rained a good part of Saturday in StL.  Between that and the cooler temps, I hoped the fish would be active and hungry the next day.  Maybe if I was any good at flyfishing, I'd have caught more. 😁  

I only caught 12 fish...but 8 species. 

Here's some:

Freshwater Drum:

29" Shortnose Gar:

Common Carp:

Largemouth Bass:

A smaller Shortnose Gar:

Yellow Bullhead:

A spot-free Channel Catfish:

A Warmouth:

And some Bowfin:

Saw other stuff while fishing...eagles, hummingbirds, goldfinches, white herons, great blue herons, frogs, turtles, snakes, butterflies, flowers...a B-29 that flew over twice.

August 20, 20

Fished a new-to-me spot.  Caught 2 more fly rod species for 2023.... #77 and #78.
a 27" Walleye:

and a 37" Longnose Gar.  (This is gar species #4 for the year.  The last U.S. gar I need now is Alligator Gar.)

Also caught a couple Hybrid Sunfish:

It was a very hot day on Sunday.  It got to a point I couldn't continue to fish.  Other anglers left when I did for the same reason.

August 10-13, 2023

 Spent several days in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas fishing with a buddy recently. He was more than kind enough to share his knowledge and experience with me to put me on some new fly rod species, and species I hadn't yet caught this year.

I caught 20 species during the trip, and my buddy also caught a couple VERY special fish...all on fly!  Here's some:

Shadow Bass:

Bleeding Shiners:

Striped Shiners:

Northern Studfish:

Smallmouth Bass:

Carmine Shiner:

Ozark Bass:

Longear Sunfish:

Rainbow Trout:

Brook Trout:

Warmouth:

Bowfin:

Freshwater Drum:

White Bass:

Skipjack Herring:

Mooneye:

And the super-cool fish my buddy caught on fly were:

Flathead Catfish!  It already had a good-sized Freshwater Drum tail sticking out of its throat!

And a Bighead Buffalo!  It ate his bowfin fly!

The fish from this trip put me at 76 Species on Fly Rod for 2023, and my Fly Rod Life List at 110 species.

July 30, 2023

 We got some rain locally the previous afternoon.  I visited an urban creek.  I hoped for a Longnose Gar.  I saw just one, and was able to get close enough to cast to it without spooking it.  It followed and ate the fly.  I set the hook, and it was FISH ON.  I had to manuever down closer to the waters edge in order to net the fish, and in doing so, I slipped on the muddy slope at one point.  But I made it down, and the fish was still on.  And then it wasn't.  <sigh>

Not a great day of fishing, but also not a terrible one.  I managed to catch 9 species:

Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Bluegill, Longear Sunfish, Shortnose Gar, Channel Catfish, White Bass, Common Carp, and Grass Carp.  The Grass Carp was a fighter!  It measured a healthy 30". Not huge, but good enough... probably weighed around 11 pounds.

July 22, 2023

 Really nice weather on this day.  As usual, I saw plenty of bowfin.  Couldn't buy strikes from most of them.  I landed one, and had another 9 or so that shook free.  Dang.

Also caught some good Shortnose Gar to 28".  One was a dark gray.  Also saw 2 beautifully marked Spotted Gar.  I got BOTH of them to hit flies, and fought both briefly but didn't land either one.

I think I had a Grass Carp strike, but missed it on the hookset.

So...a lot of failures on this trip.  I did catch a couple Largemouth Bass, some Green Sunfish, and at least one Bluegill as well.

July 16, 2023

 I visited 2 new-to-me places, and one of my usual fishing spots.

The first new spot was Bellefontaine Conservation Area.  There's 3 ponds that aren't open to the public, and one that is.  I caught some Largemouth Bass....on a GameChanger fly, a Double-Barrel Popper fly, and a black unweighted Woolly Bugger.  I also caught some nice 8"-9" Bluegills.

The 2nd new place was Coldwater Creek that flows alongside Fort Belle Fontaine.  According to aerial images, the creek is usually relatively clear...but recent rains had it muddied up and I assume higher than normal.  It was a long walk from the parking area to get to the water.  I fished some good-looking spots, but caught nothing.  I think it might be worthwhile to hit it again when the water is more clear.

The 3rd places was the swamp I fish for Bowfin.  I was unable to catch any bowfin on my last trip here, although I saw plenty.  Not sure what's up with the finicky buggers....maybe I've caught so many of  them, they've learned to avoid me, my flies, and my tricks and techniques.  Once again, I saw plenty of bowfin.  I had something large on that I never saw, then had a nice female bowfin one that eventually shook free, and finally caught a decent male Bowfin.  A thunderstorm was rolling in, so I had to cut my day short and head out.

Sun-bleached turtle shell:

2nd Snowberry Clearwing sighting of the year: