Brood XIX 13-YR Cicadas

 Checked outside this morning.... May 9, 2024.  The Brood XIX 13-yr Cicada hatch has begun in the Saint Louis, Missouri area!  

May 5, 2024

 We've had some decent rains lately, which have raised creek and river levels.  Water levels at the spot I chose to fish today had also risen, but not terribly bad...definitely still fishable.  They had muddied up a bit as well.

I really wanted to get my first Warmouth of the year, but they still did not show up.  

I saw plenty of fish, most of which I didn't try to fish for.  There were some micros I fished for and did not catch.  I only ended up landed 6 fish for the day, although I had other gar and bowfin on.  What fish I did land were 3 Shortnose Gar (biggest 2 were 29.25" and 26"), a Bowfin, a Common Carp, and a Green Sunfish.

29.25" Shortnose Gar on fly

26" Shortnose Gar on fly

Willowleaf Bluestar:

May 1, 2024

 Had some time to kill.  Added Black Bullhead to the 2024 Flyfishing Fish List.  Caught 5 or 6 of them.  Species #41 for the year so far.  Also caught a decent Goldfish.

Black Bullhead on Fly

Black Bullhead on Fly

Goldfish on fly

April 27, 2024

 First visit of the year to this spot. Its a not insignificant drive, but very doable for a day trip.  I didn't catch big numbers of fish, but managed 10 species, and some nice individuals.

I caught Largemouth Bass, Green Sunfish, Walleye, Longnose Gar, White Crappie, Black Crappie, Hybrid Striped Bass, White Bass, Bighead Carp, and Gizzard Shad.  

The Bighead Carp... well the indicator went down, so I set the hook.  The fish ended up being hooked in the eye socket (eyeball was not damaged).  The Gizzard Shad measured 15" (BIG!) and ATE a fairly large fly!  The biggest White Bass was a male, and measured 16".  The Longnose Gar was not a large individual, and was missing the tip of his upper jaw.  May have been born that way....or certainly it was well healed-over if it was from trauma.

Bighead Carp

Walleye on fly

Longnose Gar on fly

Hybrid Striped Bass on fly

White Crappie on fly

16" White Bass on fly

15" Gizzard Shad on fly! It ate it!

White Bass on Fly

White Crappie on fly

White Bass on fly

I did not catch the fish below on my fly rod.... they were beached on shore, but still alive, so I rescued about a half dozen of them back to the water.  They are Slenderhead Darters.

Slenderhead Darters

April 25, 2024

 I went to another spot looking for Orangespotted Sunfish.  It was a spot I'd fished once last year and managed to catch one on a fly that was really to big for it, but it hit it anyway.

Armed with smaller flies, I put on a #16 beadhead fly in pink.  I'm very excited to have caught 5, and lost a few others!  Such a great little fish!

Orangespotted Sunfish on fly!

This is the fly I used.  #16 60-degree jig hooks, 2.8mm tungsten bead, pink marabou tail, pink yarn body.

I also caught some Green Sunfish, Bluegills, and a Longear Sunfish.

April 22-24, 2024

 I don't often fish during the work-week anymore, but my wife is out-of-town for her work.  So.....

Monday evening, I went to an urban creek above a lake to try for Orangespotted Sunfish.  I did not see nor catch any.  I did catch a bunch of Green Sunfish (including some rather tiny ones! Very cute.), a few Bluegills and Hybrid Sunfish, a Black Crappie, and a Grass Carp.  I lost a Shortnose Gar and another Grass Carp broke my line.

After work on Tuesday, I did some errands, and then fished for a bit after the rain passed.  Saw a big fat Redear, but it swam away when I put my fly near it.  I managed to catch another Redear, though.  And a Largemouth Bass, and a couple Hybrid Sunfish.

Wednesday after work, I visited an urban creek, it was still a bit stained from Tuesday's rain, but otherwise was nearly normal.

I caught 2 Hybrid Sunfish, 1 Shortnose Gar, and 2 Grass Carp.  The larger Grass Carp measured 31".

I took pics of both sides of this Grass Carp.... it only had one eye, and appeared to have been born that way.  Cyclops!

Deer in the Creek: