8/8 - 8/9/2020

[FishnDave 1,245]

Saturday was overcast.  Hoped some bass would hit topwater in one of the big murky lakes.  They didn't...not for me, at least.  I switched to panfish flies and caught a bluegill and some Green Sunfish.  Lots of other anglers here.

Saw roadkill armadillo on the highway outside the park.  Drove past it 3 times before it finally dawned on me what it was.  😅

 I hit one of the C&R I'd been to before.  Caught bluegills, hybrid sunfish, and green sunfish there.  Also hit another C&R lake for the first time.  Caught Redears (pretty small), bluegills, green sunfish, and 3 Golden Shiners at that one. 

I had plans to hit a creek this morning.  After last night's rain (looks like St Louis got ~3.82" since Saturday afternoon), the creek was super-fast, high, and muddy. Impossible to fish.  Backup plan...went to Busch and flyfished the final C&R lake I hadn't been to yet.  As a C&R Lake, it is posted "no bait, no scented plastics".  So of course there were people using bait and there were discarded bait containers along the shoreline.  Really sad.  I took a deep breath and flyfished it anyway.  I caught at least 4 bass, some redear sunfish, and some bluegills. 

My apologies about all the Redear pics...they were uncommon in my former area of Iowa, so I really like catching them, and still take pictures of most of them!

 

 

[Ham 5,922]

Jealous of the Golden Shiners for Sure. It sure sounds like you had a Good couple of days

[JUNGLE JIM 1 603]

I guess someone must have dumped their shiners after fishing there. I catch one occasionally but never three or more in a day.  I love fishing for redear , once they hit 9 inches they are a ton of fun on ultralight tackle. Not catching as many like past couple of years probably due to more people fishing  and keeping them due to Covid.  You're catching some fun size ones. One of those c&r lakes at Busch has some nice crappie up to 15 inches but haven't fished it in a few years.

[snagged in outlet 3 9,313]

14 hours ago, FishnDave said:

As a C&R Lake, it is posted "no bait, no scented plastics".  So of course there were people using bait and there were discarded bait containers along the shoreline.  Really sad. 

It's been that way for years.  They don't even hide it either.  Same when the stock trout in the winter in the CnR lakes.  Power bait everywhere, people slipping trout into bags and whatever.  Just a joke really....  And like you said.....  SAD

[FishnDave 1,245]

5 hours ago, JUNGLE JIM 1 said:

One of those c&r lakes at Busch has some nice crappie up to 15 inches but haven't fished it in a few years.

I wasn't sure which ones had crappies and which ones didn't...but I does seem odd I haven't caught a single crappie there yet.  They tend to suspend in the middle of ponds during the summer, so I'm probably just not reaching them.

[jfrith 83]

I fished the big lake a couple weeks ago around sun down and didnt have a single bite. Never done very good at busch. Would rather stick to the Meramec.

[Johnsfolly 9,436]

@FishnDave congrats on catching a bunch!

I think that golden shiners the size that you were catching are a lot of fun. We have a small pond near us that we can catch a bunch that size at least until the lotus engulfs the banks in the summer.

Keep catching! Can't wait to see what you catch next.

[JestersHK 3,233]

Nice catching.  I too love me some red ears on the fly rod!  

[FishnDave 1,245]

7 minutes ago, JestersHK said:

Nice catching.  I too love me some red ears on the fly rod!  

NICE!  That's definitely bigger than the one's I've been catching!

[JestersHK 3,233]

Yeah got some bruisers in my pond... they fight harder than some of the bass lol

These are apparently little ones compared to what they grow out west.