Early November 2020

 Urban Trout Program stockings started the first week of November around St. Louis.

Took the day off Thursday and fished an Urban Trout Program pond that got stocked on Tuesday with 400 trout.  My goal was to catch 401...and I did not reach that goal.  
I caught a Bluegill, a White Crappie, and a Largemouth Bass.  And ~ 20 Rainbow Trout.  I measured a few trout in the 13"-15" range.

Also rescued a dragonfly from the water by "catching it" on my fly.  Does that count?  Yes. I didn't hook it, it just grabbed onto the fly.

I returned to the same body of water on Saturday.  Struggled!  Only caught 4 trout:

Also had a dead squirrel splash down into the water about 25' in front of me while I was fishing.  Weird.  No birds of prey flying overhead that could have dropped it.  Trees weren't hanging far enough over the water for it to have fallen from a tree.  Nobody close enough to have thrown it.  What just happened??

Not related to the fishing, but I did find this in our house and released it back outside:

Late October 2020

 Only got out twice...got SKUNKED one of those times.  Visited a new-to-me public urban lake.

Caught a 16" Largemouth Bass on a Gamechanger on my first cast.  Thought that was a good omen for a great day of catching.  Nope.  It was the only bass I caught.

I tried for crappies, caught a White Crappie that measured 10.5".  It was the only crappie.

I caught one small Bluegill.  I caught 2 Green Sunfish...biggest was 8.5".

Mid October 2020

I flyfished a public C&R lake. Caught some small Largemouth Bass, Bluegills, Redear Sunfish and Hybrid Sunfish.

Flyfished an urban creek and caught some Largemouth Bass, a Bluegill, 2 Spotted Bass, 2 Sauger, and a Longear Sunfish.

Things seen while fishing... a garter snake (no picture), and this Great Plains Rat Snake:

And possibly the most beautiful freshwater clam shell I've seen.

Early October 2020

 I hadn't run across any crappies yet in MO, but did finally catch a small White Crappie from a public lake.

I took a weekday off work and flyfished an Ozark stream, Huzzah Creek. 

I caught 3 Smallmouth Bass,

A female Hornyhead Chub,

And 3 Northern Studfish (a new species for me):

I also caught a Striped Shiner, Green Sunfish, and a couple Longear Sunfish:

On the way there, I saw a box turtle crossing the road.  In the creek, I found another box turtle shell:

I also saw a Bald Eagle, 3 Otters, Comma Butterflies, and a Spicebush Swallowtail.

I returned to an urban creek I had fished a few times previously.  I had a gar on for a few seconds, but it shook free.

I caught a Freshwater Drum:

A Channel Catfish:

A surprise Sauger (first one on a flyrod for me):

Two Grass Carp:

A surprise Walleye:

And a couple of Goldeye:

Late September 2020

 Flyfished an urban creek.  I only managed to land 5 fish... 2 Channel Catfish (biggest measured 20"), 2 Goldeye, and 1 Grass Carp.

Seen while fishing:

Hardy Hibiscus:

Jawbone...assumed it was deer, but wasn't an exact match to pictures I found online.  Also close but not exact were camels, cows, goats, sheep....so, I'm not really sure.

And also this stuff...I'm told the common name is "Beggar's Lice"...and is edible.  Certainly a pain to remove from clothing.

Mid-September 2020

 Fished some new-to-me places in Missouri.

Blue Springs Creek is, as you might guess, a spring-fed creek.  It has a population of naturally-reproducing Rainbow Trout.  I'd read that the past severals years of droughts and floods had taken its toll on the larger trout in this small creek.  Everyone (including the MDC folks) seems to agree this is a tough creek to catch fish on.  So, I feel fortunate to have caught 2 little rainbows off one small tree branch in the water, and also caught a creek chub.

Here's some thing seen while there:

I found what I believe is a uniface scraper stone tool:

I also visited Mineral Fork, a tributary of the Big River.  I hoped for Smallmouth.  Saw some, but did not catch any.  Instead, I caught a few small Largemouth Bass, Bluegills, Hybrid Sunfish, Longear Sunfish, and a Striped Shiner.  

And some things seen while fishing:

Box Turtle shell:

Still trying to get some Missouri Smallmouth, I tried another creek that was recommended by a friend.  I promised not to name this one, since its a small creek and can't stand much fishing pressure.  Success!  I caught 4 Smallmouth, some Bluegills, Hybrid Sunfish, Green Sunfish, Longear Sunfish, Creek Chubs, and a Hornyhead Chub.

Smallmouth Bass:

Green Sunfish:

Green Sunfish and Hybrid Sunfish:

Longear Sunfish:

Creek Chubs:

Hornyhead Chub:

Things seen while fishing:

A turkey feather on shore.....and a deer hip bone under water:

And a dead Armadillo:

Beautiful rocky-bottomed clear water stream:

And I hit a pond for some Largemouth Bass:

They hit Gamechangers and Howitzer Poppers.

Not a bad few weeks.... No real big fish, but a variety, and colorful fish, and beautiful surroundings.