August 19, 2024

 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.

Mottled Sculpin

Striped Shiner

Deer kept sneaking up on me and getting real close and chummy. :)

August 18, 2024

 Got out on a beautiful day for some flyfishing.  Hoped for Bowfin.... I needed 9 more for a lifetime benchmark of 200 bowfin on fly.  I managed to add 3 more.  So, 6 to go!  

Caught a variety of fish, Bowfin, Shortnose Gar, Largemouth Bass, Freshwater Drum, White Crappie, Bluegill, Warmouth, Green Sunfish.... good day. :) 

Warmouth

Largemouth Bass

Shortnose Gar

Shortnose Gar

Shortnose Gar

Freshwater Drum

Very tiny White Crappie!

Eyetail Bowfin

Eyetail Bowfin

Eyetail Bowfin

Saw quite a variety of butterflies this day, plus other wildlife.  Got pics of a few organisms.

Common Buckeye

Comma

Fiery Skipper

Red Admiral

Red Admiral

Common Whitetail Dragonfly

Six-Spotted Fishing Spider

American Lotus

Mid-August 2024

To complete the Lepomis sunfish list above, on fly, I still needed Northern Sunfish.  That was a goal for this year.  With some help, I was able to find a location near Chicago that was a 4 hour drive away from Saint Louis.  I made it a day trip....there and back.  I was successful!  I caught around a dozen of the little beauties! They really look like sort of an intermediary between Longear Sunfish and Pumpkinseed Sunfish.  Very cool!

Northern Sunfish

While there, I also caught Green Sunfish, Striped Shiners, Creek Chubs, and a Yellow Bullhead.

I saw this Doe and her fawns in the creek.  The doe didn't like me there.  She was stomping and blowing at me.  I told her she was safe from me.  She wasn't convinced.  So I made a blowing noise back at her, and then she took off up the bank after her fawns.

That got me to Flyrod species #79 for the year, 140 on the Fly Lifelist (120 Freshwater).

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The next day after that 8 hr drive, I slept in, then decided to go chase some bigger fish.  Why not Grass Carp?

I had a good day at that.... I caught 10 Grass Carp! I haven't caught double-digit numbers of Grass Carp in one day since 2021!  There was one stretch in the afternoon that I caught 6 Grass Carp in a span of just 43 minutes!  That kind of action is awesome!

I also caught 3 Largemouth Bass, 2 White Bass, 3 Freshwater Drum, a Bluegill, Hybrid Sunfish, and Green Sunfish.  A couple Shortnose Gar shook free.

Early August, 2024

Went to a new-to-me creek looking for darters.  Made 2 trips.

First trip I caught 9 species of fish: Ozark Logperch, Walleye, Longear Sunfish, Northern Studfish, Blackstriped Topminnow, Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, and Striped Shiner.

The most interesting were an Ozark Logperch, and a small walleye.

Ozark Logperch

Walleye

Blackstriped Topminnow

Striped Shiner

Longear Sunfish

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Second trip I caught 11 species of fish: Orangethroat Darter, Bigeye Shiner, Ozark Minnow, Sand Shiner, Creek Chub, Bluegill, Longear Sunfish, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Bleeding Shiner, and Emerald Shiner.

A few were new-to-me species.  The most interesting was that I finally caught an adult darter species (not including the Logperch, which is actually a darter).... an Orangethroat Darter.

Orangethroat Darter

Bleeding Shiner

Creek Chub

Longear Sunfish

Bigeye Shiner

Ozark Minnow

Sand Shiner