Ham

If I see them, I’m gonna want to catch one and that just leads to all kinds of trouble.

Organic groceries. You guys will eat well. I know that the meat will not go to waste.

I’m just a guy jousting with windmills. Marty is The Man.

The fishing was fine. I struggled at the second pond because I stuck with flys that I thought would work and that I knew how to retrieve. It would have been a good time to get a fly from Marty and learn that fly, but that wasn’t the choice I made.

That was a Great Day with a Super Slam! Good Job!

I made a long overdue visit to the Billethead Compound on Thursday. Of course, I try to do too much in too little time. It’s not my best quality. It’s super fun to roam the grounds and try to count all the beehives, see all the amazing toys that I didn’t know where there, and remind myself about stuff I had forgotten about. After a little bit, Marty and I hopped into his ride and went to a pond that has (had?) a good population of bullhead. Maybe Yellow Bullhead? Maybe Black Bullhead? We have to catch one to find out. I had my fingers crossed for a Black, but I just had to roll the dice. It’s a Fun drive through the farmland. The terrain is so different from my stomping grounds. Watching for all kinds of predators and prey scampering around. These ponds are kept for irrigation of crops and livestock. The fish populations are often Happy accidents. Because Marty is a Good neighbor and all around good guy, he has access to many of the ponds around him. Over the years, he’s gotten dialed in on many of them. The first pond we went to was a little low. This was good, the fish would be super concentrated. I don’t think Marty had fished this one very much. We started out on the deepest side and kind of leap frogged along. I was using my TFO 8’ “5 weight”. I started with a 1/32 oz zig jig, but switched to a size 10 black pistol Pete. I felt like the jig was too heavy and I wanted the prop to put out some flash and vibration. With the water being cooler, the bites were a little delicate. The fly needed to be moving slowly and very close to bottom. I caught quite a few green sunfish or green sunfish hybrids. we gave it a good shot, but no bullhead wanted to play. So, Marty got on the horn and made sure we were ok to go play at another pond. The next pond was larger. The level was also lower than full, but it still had plenty of water. Marty was happy that the water was more clear than dingy. I went with my 6 weight rod because we were more exposed to the wind. I tried a gold /chartreuse micro jig for a few casts, but I wasn’t feeling it. Marty rigs up and catches a beautiful Black crappie that would have been perfect keeper size. Like 12 inches. Then he catches a chunky Largemouth. Like 14 inches. (I’m trying to tie on a different fly which is made more difficult by him catching fish after fish after fish). He got a couple more crappie before moving along a bit. I had put on a size 8 Chartreuse/White craft fur Clouser. This little guy catches everything and crappie really seem to like it. I adjusted my retrieve to try to mirror what Marty was doing..beautiful sunny day with geese flying. The sounds of livestock were carried on the wind. Hawks worked the thermals. Good day to be fishing, but I really wanted a bite. I gave it a good try, but I had to switch to a different fly. I tried Marty’s Tutti Fruity Wooly Bugger. Some panfish were eating bugs coming off on the surface. Obviously there were bass and crappie. Something had to eat it right. Ehhh no. Marty moved around catching a fish every now and then. I moved around catching nothing. I felt a little better that Marty wasn’t catching them every cast while I caught nothing. I couldn’t believe I could not get a crappie on a baitfish fly or any sort. I was starting to get short on time. I decided to focus on catching a bass. I put on a Pearl Sparkle Minnow. I played around with retrieves and a small bass rushed in and ate at my feet. I didn’t catch that one, but that was a start. I eventually dialed in and caught a chunky one. Marty found a group of fish in the other side of the pond and was stroking them. I ended up catching a half dozen bass. We headed back and said our Goodbye’s. I got sent home with bbq sauce, honey, and a sourdough starter. Then the long drive home. I got home, had a sandwich, and hit the sack. It was a Good day. Thanks @BilletHead It was a Good Day!

I think there is plenty of food to go around, but the fish we catch will have been in the river a while and should be Fat and Happy. I know more than a few people who advocated for drastically less stockings of fish. They will get to see if it what they hoped for. the local economy will take a hit for sure. It’s easy to hate on the guide boats using shrimp and corn, but that family of four ate at restaurants and rented places to stay too. It’s not just the bait guide that is gonna lose some revenue

Numbers of Browns should be less affected.Always stocked in much lower numbers and a lot more natural reproduction

I like the tarantulas. They are one of the signs of Fall that I look forward to seeing. I would love to see those big centipedes at least once, but I hope I never get bitten by one.

I would like an XL Please. I will Gladly donate to CAM this coming Summer. Someone will likely need to remind me though. 😳

I picked my first post retirement gas money days earlier in the month. I was hoping they didn’t get in the way they don’t.

What are the dates again? not that it changes anything, but the river clearly has less fish in it these days. I have not put a full day in on it in forever, but I get the feeling 25 fish caught would be a really nice day when usually I would say 100 fish.

93) Northern Hog Sucker I made an ill fated mad tom trip last Thursday night. I have learned that there isn’t any point looking for them until a couple hours after dark. It takes a while before they become active. Normally, I would be asleep when I started this fiasco. I’m already sketched out being out in Meth Central at night by myself. Going to access points and hoping I don’t run into people having sex in their vehicles etc. I get to the first spot and rig up. Roam around in the creek looking for mad toms. I see lots of fish, big no mad toms. I’d also be Happy to try for a Log perch, but I wasn’t seeing those either. Next spot. No Madtoms, but an angry beaver that kept doing the tail slap thing. Next spot, no Madtoms. I almost got swept off my feet in heavy current because my crappy wading boots don’t have felt. I went around a corner and more angry beavers. Last spot, looking for Madtoms and I spot this guy. At first, I’m not sure if it’s a sucker or a sculpin. Drag and drop. Getting it really close to his nose. He spooks and the way it swims says Northern Hog sucker. He swam in a big lazy circle and settles back down. I did another drag and drop. This time he scoots forward over the fly and the line twitches a little. Yeet. Up and out of the water. Wiggling like the little demon he is. No net, but I snatched him out of the air free hand and stumbled to shore. If I dropped him, I wanted some chance of recapture. Hook came out while he was in my hand. I took a bunch of pics. None of them great. I looked high and low hoping to have a shot at a mad tom. I saw exactly one. A decent sized Slender that stuffed himself under a rock and would not play. I’ll do this again, but I’ll have to wait until I forget how much it sucked.

92) Mottled Sculpin @FishnDave was absolutely instrumental in me catching this guy. He put in the sweat equity figuring these little turds out. I can catch Knobfin and Ozark Sculpins with relative ease, but these little jerks were hard to catch. I had tied some 16’s and 18’s with bright colors and over sized bead heads. I saw a few that were too small to eat the 16’s so I switched to an 18 and Dave found me one to try for. I got the eat and the catch! I was immediately done and ready to go. I doubt that I ever go fish for them again. I’m quitting while I am ahead.

91) Goldfish i hold a grudge when I get humbled by a fish. My first trip to the koi/goldfish spot I was really used and abused by the goldfish. I caught a couple, but not nearly enough. I tied up smaller flys and I catch them much easier now, BUT I’ll likely never get over it.

90) Koi @FishnDave has the best spots.

89) Hybrid Striped Bass I had been told there was a chance for a hybrids there and then I had HOT intell that they were there and catchable. I got the Buffalo. I got the Silver carp. I tried for other Buffalo and a Bighead Carp for a while. As my time quickly disappeared, I had to go try for a Wiper. I went downstream to my target area and missed a take on my second cast. I was looking at the area and trying to make sure I covered all the prime spots. . I lost my fly and tied on some big goofy articulated sparkle minnows that I had bought. a few casts in with that one I got a big tug and the fight was on. I played the fish carefully and soon saw that I had a Wiper! I played it down and worked it close and as I reached for the net, it flopped and came off. I was so bummed out. I took a minute and checked my leader and the hooks. It was all good and I just had to hope that I would get another bite. I did. I ended up catching three and missing a few other takes. Big Fun!

88) Silver Carp I hooked several and landed two. The first was much larger.

87) Bigmouth Buffalo I made the long drive to Illinois to fish below a lake. Online research and other intell made me confident that I could add a couple species on fly for the year. I was not expecting this guy though. Conditions were awful with a heavy wind that made getting my gear out of the car stupid hard much less casting a fly. I carried the 6 wt and the 8 wt with me down to the water. I started with the 6 wt hoping for a factory fish in the Morone variety. Well, I hooked a sea monster and pulled on it for a few minutes before the hook pulled. This is the part where I should have switched to the 8 wt, but I did not. I quickly hooked another sea monster and after a few minutes I got my first look at the beast. It was HUGE. After a couple more minutes, I was able to roll it over and see that it was a Buffalo. After a few more minutes another angler was nice enough to help net it for me. Cue Rick Flair. it was a lot for a 6 weight. The hook on the fly broke right as we slid the fish into the net. The fish had been in the net twice before that and escaped back out. I have a big net, but I need a BIGGER net.

86) Redspot Chub Very Close in appearance and behavior to a Hornyhead Chub. Much smaller range. I was able to see him roll up and eat.

85) Northern Rock Bass Just Floated the Niangua River from Barclay to Lead Mine. Fished with @Cajunangler. We had a lotta laughs and caught a lotta fish. it took a bit, but I was able to get some Northern Rock Bass on fly. That is not the best way to catch them. I wasn’t able to find a Ozark Sculpin that would cooperate so I’ll be making a trip to Bennett Springs during catch and release season. Maybe I’ll get LUCKY and get a Banded Sculpin as well.

The portage and the drag up the hill were rough. Solo trip means no help, no excuses, and no whining. Embrace the suck.

So, I had a great idea. I’d solo canoe the lower Strawberry River. I’d do a 4.4 mile stretch and walk 2.25 miles back to my truck at the end of the day. I’d start my float about 10 am and come off the water at 4 pm. Walk to the truck and drive back to the boat. Load up and get home about 7 pm. Easy peasy. a lot of stuff for one guy. About to push off. Everything looked so good and had so much promise, but the fish were kinda meh. I love this place, but it ain’t easy. I caught a few small spotted bass. I lost as many as I caught. I needed a trailer hook on my Spinnerbait, but this one ate a streamer. I saw some small bites. I flipped a size 20 over there and got a tiny Mooneye. I also got a couple micros I need to ID and some Mississippi Silversides. I reached a big deep pool and saw a fish feeding in a little pocket where water dropped off a shallow shelf. I could see the fish gulping at the surface. I wasn’t 100 % certain what it was, but I knew I wanted to catch it. I was considering putting on a cicada fly, but it dropped sub surface so I grabbed my 6 weight with a zig jig on it. I was stripping line and I tossed a few feet to the right to check distance before I dropped on my prime spot. I threw the dang thing in the clown’s mouth. It got eaten as soon as it hit the water. I was tight to a sea monster. I tried to pay attention and not snap the rod by high sticking it. I really leaned on That fish. I wanted to see what it was. I got it leadered a bunch, but I could only see it was LARGE. Finally saw it was a grass carp. A big one. I had no net so I had to beach it. First I had to one hand the boat to the beach area and then convince the fish to go that way. toad.36 inchesI was right to be worried about my hook. so, I was looking at a map on my phone, but it was NOT a Satelite image. I thought I was on schedule and I got to my “spot” 10 Minutes ahead of schedule. The only problem is that wasn’t actually the take out. I still had a long way to go. Then I hit a logjam that I had to portage around. It was exhausting and took about 15 minutes. I had quit fishing about 3 pm trying to get to the take out for 4. As it was I didn’t get to the actual takeout until 5 pm. A smooth hour late. Once at the takeout, I got to hump my gear up this hill. It sucked. But no time to feel sorry for myself. I had 2.25 miles to walk. I got my cardio on. 17 minute miles with heart rate about 136 for 40 minutes. Man, I was really Happy to see my truck. I loved my day until 3 pm. I was a little disappointed with numbers of fish I caught, but some memorable fish were caught. I’m dumb enough to do it again.

Yesterday, I went Back to the Black River backwaters with the Glide SUP. I was targeting Black Buffalo or Gar or ??? , but willing to catch whatever BUT I wasn't going to come off target just to catch a few more fish. I have to drive past multiple spots where I can quickly catch a 1/2 dozen panfish. I love the little guys, but I took a break from them yesterday. My first spot was a bust. I knew it likely would be. Changes have been made which may help in the long run but aren't very helpful in the short haul. There was a beaver dam that held back an additional 15 inches of water. I think AGFC destroyed it to allow more water drain out when they replaced the water control structure. I didn't make a single cast. I did not stop at either panfish spot. The first trip on the SUP the wind ate me alive. This trip the wind wasn't projected to be too bad AND I brought counter measures. The water is clear, but the clouds hosed me. Occasionally, the sun would come out and I could see like I needed to see, but too often it was cloudy. I got all my stuff loaded and got going on the SUP. I had a small black fly on for Buffalo and common carp tied on my 6 weight. I had a white zonker on my 8 weight for bowfin. Early on, a cast straight ahead of the board with the zonker just got crushed. A big black crappie Gomer Pyled me by eating the 4 inch zonker. I was off to a good start. It did not continue that way. I eased along looking and looking and looking. I saw gizzard shad, chain pickerel, some really nice largemouth bass, lots of bluegill, a few gar, and buffalo and carp. ALL the Buffalo and carp I saw were cruising NOT eating. I did not see any bowfin, but I know they are there. I gave it two hours total. I caught a couple of bluegill blind casting my carp fly. I hooked and quickly lost a BIG LNG on the zonker. I saw a HUGE snapping turtle. I wasn't close enough to tell the species, but from the size alone it likely had to be an alligator snapper. REALLY REALLY BIG. I saw it from a long way off and tried to close the gap, but it submerged in a deep section of the canal and was gone. I relocated to my final spot; I had initial success followed by my usual misadventures and frustrations. I got a nice largemouth on the zonker. A couple of minutes later I got my first bowfin of the day. A nice female that pounded the zonker. Sleigh ride time. lengthy fight and infighting to get it into the net. I can't measure the bowfin accurately while on the paddleboard. I didn't feel like getting all muddy by stepping off the board into the goo. I was guessing 27 inches. A little later I saw a hint of movement ahead and to the left. A quick cast got a hit, but I didn't get the hookset. I picked up and recast 10 feet further ahead and the fly immediately got inhaled again. Hook found a home that time. Another nice female. Like 25 or 26 inches. So, I tried another bowfin fly/technique with no strikes. I also started looking for carp etc . I never got a good luck at one tailing. I tried some blind casting to good looking areas no results. At some point, my white zonker started to come apart. I replaced it with the same fly in black. I lost my small black fly to a tree. I replaced it with a simple chartreuse fly. I made a little flip with the chartreuse fly and it came tight into a fish when I lifted up. I guess the fish got it in the drop. I had it on for a few seconds, but it came off. The hook point was not as sharp as I would like. I started looking for a hook sharpener. I could not find one, but I knew on was in the truck. I paddled back to the truck. I got the hook sharp again. When I got back to the boat, I saw a bowfin close. Then I saw another. Then I heard another one eat under some grass. Back on the SUP headed into the very shallow clear water. I saw multiple bowfin in water that was < 1 foot. I put the fly in their face, but they were very aware that I was in their world, and they would not eat. I spend 20 minutes trying. I presented to six different bowfin and a large Spotted Gar. On the way back to the dingy water, I grabbed my shades to see if polarized lens helped. Spoiler Alert. It didn't They fit so close to my face that in the swamp they just steamed up. I got another good taker on the black zonker. Nice fish. Very strong. Then suddenly gone. I kept moving and trying. I had a good shot at a HUGE Longnose Gar. > 50 inches and barrel shaped body. Big Fish. I put a fly in its face and it didn't eat. All too soon, it was time to go. I rushed to load everything up and drive home. I am getting better at quickly, but methodically, making sure everything is securely loaded and nothing is left behind. The good news is I was more comfortable on the SUP and I continue to fine tune my set up. I do want to purchase a rack from Glide when they are available again. The board does make fly fishing easier and better, but I still need to be disciplined to keep my fly line untangled etc I keep working on how things are on the board and how do I access my gear. So far so good. No unplanned get offs yet.

I have fished there 3-4 times. I’ve seen carp, but I’ve never seen a Buffalo