Ham

Man, I joust with a LOT of windmills so I won’t nit pick your thing. Keep on keeping on. I never bothered to fish the trout in Louisiana nor Mississippi. You’re way ahead of me there. i did get some in North Carolina though.

Well, I think my wife is gonna keep me up late on NYE so I might better stay local and see if I can catch a few fish here. I do have a lot of interest in the walleye run below Beaver Lake. And above.

1) 4000 fish on hook and line 2) 20 Snakehead 3) a missouri Snakehead 4) 25 Bowfin 5) 30 inch bowfin on fly 6) 100 species on fly 7) get Lifetime on fly to 200 species (I am at 163 now) I plan on fishing 1/1//2026 so Let’s Go!

Between taking a break for Christmas with family and the weather we have coming in, I think I have two more fishing trips planned. I have caught a lot of fish and I have fished a lot. I have fished with friends and family in lakes and rivers and canals and swamps and roadside ditches Catching Fish in Ireland was an adventure for sure. I’m still Sad that Scotland didn’t work out, but I didn’t make sure that I had wire leader. There is a slim chance that I can get to 3000 fish for the year, but it’s unlikely.

Barring an unexpected miracle, I am going to FAIL to get to 100 species on fly this year. I had my chances and I took my swings. I drove a lot trying to get it done. It’s especially frustrating that I had at least 4 species hooked on fly that I failed to land that would have helped me. I had an Alabama Bass following my fly, but it wouldn’t eat. I am way more upset about this than I should be, but that’s how I am wired. It would be Great if I could use this to break the cycle, but I think next year 100 species on fly is basically a fait accompli given the trips that I have planned. Thank you for your interest and to my many friends that helped me along the way this year THANKS!

Tremendous numbers of Creek Chubs and Striped Shiners in that section of the River.

I mean you had some success right. I am also helped by the fact I only need one of any size as long as it can be confidently aided as the target species and I still have a big bunch of targets.

I was dumbstruck when I heard the news. I still don’t really know how to process it really. It just doesn’t make any sense. I hate it and I don’t understand how this happened. he had a lot of friend a and I wish he would have opened up to someone and ask for help. IF you’re not ok and are hurting, Please reach out to others and ask for help. Everyone needs help and friendship. It’s ok to ask for help when you need it.

I’ll keep trying for a Bigger one

97) Striped Bass So, sometimes you catch a really big example of something and sometimes you catch a tiny one. my striper was tiny. Thats the only one I could manage on fly.

Sadly, getting waders on and off does not appear to be getting easier with age.

Super windy today with no generation scheduled until basically dark. qe will see what they decide to do Friday/Saturday

Depending on water level, it may be more wading or yak than usual. We can always use the boats as water taxis and get out and wade. Everyone that has waders would be well advised to bring them just in case. We should be able to see the "projected" by like 3 pm or so the day before. I will not be sleeping at the cabins, but I plan on swinging by Thursday night to make plans for the following day. What is the latest head count?

96) Banded Sculpin I was very excited to catch this guy. I had seen multiple Banded Sculpin and gotten them to follow, but I couldn’t get them to eat the fly. It seemed like they were more out in the open and multiple times a dopey rainbow would swim by and they would get inactive and try to become gravel. I just kept plugging away catching the Ozark Sculpin that would bite. I think some of the Sculpin may have been spawning. Some seemed very territorial and showed no interest in the fly at all. Most showed some interest. This monster blended in so well that I didn’t see before he bit. I missed the first bite, but he gave me another chance. Monsterous lateral line all the way back to base of caudal fin. chin is not blue/green

95) Ozark Sculpin Bennett Springs. Tons of them. I caught 49 of them. I’m not sure how many you could catch in a day.

94) Plains LES this is an armchair. I caught several from the Arkansas River and various tributaries like Gala Creek etc No pic. Sorry. I caught another one 12/15/25 so here’s a pic

Do we have any idea about number of boats vs number of fishermen? I have a riverboat with a jet. I will fish Friday and Saturday. I have two open seats. i will be looking to start the day at like 0900 and look to come off the water between 1600 and 1630.

I decided to float the Norfork in my kayak hoping for a Cutthroat Trout. It was gonna be low water all day and mild temps and “mild” wind. I had expected the sun to burn off the clouds, but they hung around all day pretty much. And the wind was very annoying. You see signs of trout everywhere, but the numbers are clearly down. It’s not the end of the world. I would say if you put in a FULL Hard say of fishing that you could scare catching 50 instead of a 100 + + So, I brought three fly rods. 5 wt, 4 wt, and 8 ft Bug Launcher. As it turns out I could have just brought one. All my fish came on a 1/32 oz Zig Jig fished like a streamer. I tried a Crackle back in multiple riffle areas to not effect. I had an egg with a tiny nymph behind it and I broke off the nymph on the only sure thing bite I had #bassfisherman I caught my first fish in the pool with Gene’s trout dock. I missed a couple before I caught one and lost a couple that I hooked. It was difficult enough that I changed my goal from 20 with a Cutty to 10 with a Cutty. Dropped out of that pool and got another on a hard current seam. Missed another one. Paddled back up and added one. Then I got a solid take from a heavy fish. I could see Brown. Good sign. Fished pulled back down in a spot with a lot of current. I managed the boat and took my time. I got another look at the fish and it wasn’t a Brown Trout maybe it was a Big Cutty. Still playing the fish carefully. I got my little net ready and managed to secure the fish. It was a Big Redhorse. Because it was so large I thought it had to be a Golden Redhorse. that would have helped me on the species for the year, but it’s looking like it was a MONSTER Black Redhorse. I really wish I could get them to eat flys more often. Great Fight! Well, I worked my way down river and figured out a couple things. I needed 2 foot of water or so for what I was doing to work. Transition areas from shallow to deep or deep to shallow held fish. If you missed the first bite, you could often put it back on them and get a second chance.The fish seemed to be more colorful than usual. I did not find them to be larger and sadly I did not catch a Cutty. I had the river to myself and if I am able to make that trip again this year, I will concentrate on a few areas and paddle through some others. I finished with 21 fish to hand. I missed a bunch of bites and lost a good number of fish. I have a love / hate relationship with barbless hooks. The Jigfest folks should be encouraged. River traffic will be low and the fish will bite.

Very Fair Price. I just don’t bass fish enough to need them. I never understood why they didn’t expand the color offerings for that bait.

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!