Ham

I did not. Scrapped it.

Ooops

There are 100’s of drunk short guys that live for rugby (and beefing with random tall guys).

that’s awesome stuff. She’s got Mad Skillz, but how did I get drug into this ?

I assumed it was a Gag Grouper, but I was told that it was not. this was a grouper that my fishing partner caught. I assumed Gag On bottom in 50 foot of water. Look at the caudal fin. Flat edge.

99) Scamp Grouper So, The guide trip was on Sunday. Very successful from a multi species standpoint. Monday morning, I got up before daylight and went to a tidal creek full of hope for a Ruddy Bowfin, or Hardhead Cat, or Brown Bullhead or a Fun Micro. no Luck with any of my hopeful stuff and no micros seen. I got this nice Spotted Sunfish, but that was a repeat. them we went over to Apalachicola and I tried some fun spots with no luck at all. so, Tuesday morning I was up way before daylight and headed to Destin Harbour. parking was Fubared. The free spots were behind construction barricades. There were so spots that were $20 for 4 hours through an app for your phone, but I didn’t wanna do that. I found a No Parking Sign that had in the fine print 9A-5p for Lifeguard Parking. BINGO! I was gonna be gone before 9 AM. I walked the half mile to my fishing spot as fast as I could through loose sand. Sand sucks. I had my 6 weight and my 8 weight with me. I started with the 6 weight and the @BilletHead Saltwater Taffy Woolie on. Tide was going out and I was hoping for a Gray Snapper, Ladyfish, or Needlefish. I was throwing out and letting it settle and swing down over rocks with the current. I had not been at it long when I was engaged with a heavy fish. I was confused because it wasn’t acting like a Redfish nor a Black Drum. I put as much pressure as I dared on the Size 8 hook. I was working it in and then everything stopped. The fish had gotten down in the rocks! I went down Current over the rip rap and put pressure from a different angle and I was able to manipulate the fish free. A couple more minutes and I had a freaking grouper! There is not consensus amongst the fish nerds. One group is adamant that it is a Scamp Grouper and the other side says Gag Grouper. I’m leaning Scamp. The caudal fin of the Gag is flat and the Scamp has longer tips. The tail of this fish did not have a flat edge. The photos were pre daylight and flawed. I wanted to return the fish quickly so I got what I got. more attempts were made at kingcroakers and needlefish and Black Snappers, but it was not to be. Sitting at 99, I am suddenly less confident than ever. I know how Roger Maris felt. It’s all self imposed, but I want to get this done ASAP and return to whatever my normal life was.

Pshaw

98) Leatherjacket crazy little guys that are hell on smaller fish. They are quick! I lost the first one I had hooked, but ended up catching a couple. the guide stayed out an extra 30 minutes trying to help me get a Speckled Trout or Ladyfish on fly on a flat with turtle grass. I had some bites from needlefish and these guys. They have sharp spikes just ahead of their anal fin that will poke you and it is pretty painful and takes a while to feel better. Like getting stuck by a hardhead catfish.

97) Jack Crevelle we had worked our way down a beach sight fishing. We saw lots of freaked out Pompano, Jacks, Reds, Mullets, and dolphins. We even saw dolphins playing with Cannonball Jellyfish like they were pool toys, but I missed the only bite we got. The guide had a spot though. A river dumped into the gulf and redfish were stacked on The point. We caught a couple on cigar minnows and my buddy caught his second Blacktip of the day. I dropped a small tandem fly set up and got a couple of Super Pokey Pinfish and then I for my Lifer/Flyfer Jack Crevelle. I hooked on in a barbless fly and asked for a net. The fish was so small that he used the livewell Net. 😭Lol, I don’t care. It was a Baby Jack.Later I fished in Destin and got a major upgrade that pulled long and hard against an 8 weight. I tail grabbed him.

That Helios is a Heck of a pole. I’m just too hard on my equipment to buy $1000 fly rods

96) Spanish Mackerel Several times we saw mixed species of gamefish giving baitfish a really hard time up on the surface. A couple of times we were literally a few seconds too late, but finally I got a decent shot and got takes. I think it took three casts before the hook grabbed one. Dang they are fast when they run stuff.

95) Pigfish So, after the Pinfish the guide had fired up the outboard, but I made another cast cos I saw more fish and was immediately rewarded with this Happy Accident.

94) Pinfish I tied up some simple flys on a size 12 trout jighead and dropped them down in the same area as the Lizard fish and was quickly rewarded with this guy. these pokey little jerks are hated by millions, but I was super Happy to get this one. the other four I caught later that day did not get me near as excited. That’s the essence of being a life lister.

93) Lizardfish desperate times call for desperate measures. We are staying with friends in Destin, Fl and he wanted to hire a guide. Twist my arm. I talked the guide and made sure that the fly fishing was gonna be ok and gave him a heads up on the quest. He was cool with the concept. So, I wanted my Buddy to catch fish first and foremost. He does not fish often and I didn’t want it to be a deal where he paid to watch me fish. So, there was live bait involved at times. We did some fishing and caught a couple. The guide went and checked a spot and decided not to fish there , but then made a short stop in a shallow pocket near the jetties. I tied on one of @BilletHead ‘s Clouser minnows that he gifted me with and in a little bit Bang! First Flyfer of the day. I got a photo upgrade this morning.

92) Blacktail Shiner Ive taken swings at catching one of these a few times this year, but I was able to get it done yesterday with @Johnsfolly on the White River. They get much larger and in some places they are the dominate minnow species. Happy to add it to the Life List.

Like the e tire length of the Norfork River

91) Hybrid Striped Bass After a quick stop at the ditch, I went a little further to the Arkansas River looking for Blue Catfish and Striped Bass. I caught Drum, White Bass, Yellow Bass, Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, and Skipjack Shad. I also caught a number of odd looking White Bass with broken lines. I’ve been in this spot before and either @Johnsfolly or @FishnDave (or both) asked about the toothy patches on tongue. That time I had not looked and I still wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I took pictures and read about it later. I’ll try to swap it out a much larger specimen if I can later. I fished through a whole lot of White Bass and the funny looking White Bass hoping for a Baby Striper. Didn’t happen so I climbed out and went home. Another 270 miles on the truck, 15 K steps, and 43 flights of stairs.

#90 Blackstripe Topminnow These guy’s are unavoidable if you have a piece of worm on a small hook and are trying to catch other stuff, but are spooky and much harder to fool with a fly. Once again, I had to travel to get one. All my local water has the Blackspotted Topminnow. This one came from a ditch in Russelvillie, AR.

Got em

I pretty much stay enraged at one fish or another. Usually after I catch them, we sign a peace accord, but not always. going after Snakehead tomorrow cos they’re Fun.

Dave doesn’t need me to break a rod

Yesterday was Another 12 hour day chasing species. The plan was to Hit the Easy button for a Wedgespot Shiner then grab a yellow Bullhead from a swamp ditch, try the spillway below Lake Conway for whatever, grab a Blackstripe TM, and then try for a couple microspieces at a creek in Burns Park. It didn’t take long for it to go off the rails. left at 0730. Got to my spot a little late. No flow at all. Stagnant water. Lots of fish visible. Hard to get that bite. Switched flys a couple of times. Got my Wedgespot and fled.at least I didn’t have to go thru this to get to the creek. Swapped my shorts for long pants while I was in a less public place. Drove down to Lake Conway dam. Tried for a Blackstripe TM, but they hate me. I had a spot that I know held yellow Bullhead. It is a pot hole in a drain from a seasonal lake. I hoped that the fish would be concentrated and confined. It wouldn’t necessarily be easy if fast, but I hoped to make it happen. One route there was “easier”, but sketches me out. Shorter path that runs along the ditch, but the weeds are think and chest high. No chance to see your feet or where you are placing your feet. I opted for the one mile route that went thru woods, along a power line, woods, and then the dry lake bottom. Well….the final 2000 feet to the pothole was this . This stuff was thick, 10 feet tall, and laced with morning glory vines. Very difficult to navigate especially with two Flyrods and a large net. sucked. It took 38 minutes to complete that one mile walk in, but I got to the pothole and I had room to fish. Dove or teal hunters had cleared it and I had an easier route out following their cleared path which took me through more woods, but so what. low 90’s with minimal water left since I lost 1/2 my water on the way in. A bottle fell out of my backpack on the fight to get there. Nice. I could see lots of bowfin and gar activity and started my Bullhead attempts. I found every snag in the pothole. I lost flys to most of them. I fished it very throughly and got zero Bullhead bites. I had put such effort in getting there that I did not want to leave fishless. It took a few hot minutes, but I got it done. sadly, that’s the last fish that rod will catch. another long walk through weeds and woods to get to another spot. Blackstrip minnows still hated me. No visible Gar, but there were more Bowfin. I was fishing for Bowfin and got snagged. I was able to walk and get on the back side of the snagged and tried to get the snag free. I turned my 4 piece into a 5 piece. Not good. I had pushed all my chips to the center of the table dredging for bullhead. I had given up making the additional drive to Burns Park. I tried the water release below Lake Conway. Lots of ppl trying. Very little catching. I tried multiple areas. I got one little White Bass. so, I called it and began the 3 hour trip home. Another 300 miles on my truck and another 15 thousand step day, but one step closer to the 100 Species goal.

89) Wedgespot Shiner I have a Great spot to catch these guys, BUT it’s a lot better when the water is flowing. I’ve been there when they were so aggressive that I had trouble catch any other species. It was stagnant today and they got a long look at the fly. Finally got the right eat. Quick pics and release. Then I fled to my next spot.

Yeah, but you had your shoes on so that made counting tougher.

ñWell, time flys when you fish obsessively and it was time to make a decision about where and how to try to fish on Day 3. I was gonna try to not get home to late because I had a 0500 wake-up on Thursday. So, I had scoped out a lot of places and I am sure they are fantastic places when conditions are right, but I didn’t think they were gonna be right in early fall. So, I went off the board and decided on a Salt River spillway. Dave was willing to make the drive so off we went after I got all loaded out. Lengthy drive put us getting there about 1000. I needed to beat feet home at 1400. Let’s do this. After negotiating the boulder field, we got to our first spot and right away saw several really nice Longnose Gar. They weren’t to willing to play tug of war though. Dave got one and I had one on for a bit, but then they went away. Big gizzard Shad were daisy chaining around. Panfish in the rocks. Occasional bass sounding pops. Invasive carp rolling on the far side. Let’s Go! I had found an articulated fly in a tree years ago and I was like yep, that’ll do. I touched up the hooks and started slinging it. In just a little bit I got a hard whack and was hooked up with a heavy fish. It stated down, but we got that silvery flash. Dave thought catfish at first, but nah. Asian carp. Because it ate the fly, I assumed Bighead, but it was a Silver. Woo Hoo! I was so Happy.I was sitting pretty with lots of time to go. I got lured in my the back Eddy and fish a it ivory on the other side. We moved and it mostly sucked. I got a hybrid Geeen Sunfish and a LMB.back again over the giant rocks carrying gear. I was using a double fly rig and got a nice crappie. I initially guessed 14 inches and Dave guessed 13. It was 13 1/2 inches. Now, Dave acts like I catch all the big fish. This is utter nonsense, but I do get lucky from time to time. I went back to trying the higher flow main Current areas hoping for a sea monster while Dave dialed in The crappie and just put on a clinic. He figured out the retrieve and the area and the fished in to precision catching 15-20 crappie in very short order. I eventually couldn’t take it any more and shoe horned in long enough to get a little White Crappie. because i like being a Billy goat, we moved again, downstream. I think second cast, I got whacked. Nice fish! An amazingly enough it was a Channel Cat! right after that I hooked and lost a nice Shortnose Gar. Then I lost my found fly.. re-rigged but never got another bite. For the record, I was more mature than usual and quit on time. I celebrated the Lifer/Flyfer in now traditional fashion. Said some Hasty Goodbyes and fled. Long, but not unpleasant drive home wrapped up the trip. 689 miles on the truck. 21 species between the two of us. I finished with 82 fish to hand and a few near misses. I did did get a few fish on the 8 weight to catch something on every rod I brought. I appreciate Dave and Teri so much for hosting me and Dave for the expert guiding! I’m sitting at 88 species with less stress, more confidence, and some work left to do. Let’s Do This!