Ham

A more colorful one

Flyfer African Jewelfish

My day started slow, but I gradually got some traction. I had 1 fish at noon and finished with 51. Flyfer Spotted Sunfish

Flyfer Coppernose Bluegill

My Flyfer Mayan Cichlid

Dave got the Party started before I even made it to Florida, but I’ll let him post his own pics. I reached out to a You Tube guy I talk with (Keepin’ it Reel) and he gave me some spots to consider. We hit one of those up after Dave for me from the airport it went well. i got Lifer (and Flyfer ) Florida Bluegill Zebra Tilapia. I also got a nice Spotted Tilapia on artificial, but not fly (yet). Dave is whacking them, but I won’t steal his Thunder. Day One was a success!

The 2:07 alarm seemed quite early, but I didn’t struggle with being groggy. Roads have very few other vehicles on them from 2:30 to 4:30. i did have a few moments of High Anxiety (for you Mel Brooks fans). I foolishly trusted Google maps as it routed me cross County to get to the airport. Over hill and down thru the hollers. I went over multiple low water crossings, but never off the blacktop. not my best decision ever, but I’m sitting in the plane waiting to depart so it all worked out.

So @FishnDave and I are doing a thing. We are both about to hop on planes and fly to Miami. It’s going to be a marathon length sprint to catch as many different species from as many different locations as we can shoe horn into seven days. Yep 7. Gonna be exhausting. We both get to start the trip with a sleep deficit. Dave will of course be All Fly All the Time. I will be 50/40/10 fly/spin/micro. We both hope to add new species to the Life List. Job 1 is to not get killed by a Gator. I will try to post updates daily. Photo heavy. Too Bad Pete doesn’t love us anymore.

27) Bluegill the first of the year. Larger ones to follow.

26) White Crappie the first of a bunch of undersized White Crappie on fly

25) Spotted Gar I guessed Shortnose, but my son noted mottling on the top of its head. I turned it over to the fish nerds and so far, ppl think it is a Spotted Gar. This may still change sight fished. He ate immediately. I stuck him and he jumped and threw the fly. He dropped down in the water column a little bit and I blind casted right back to where I last saw him and he ate again. Decent fight before I could drag him up the mud bank.

I’m not sure why the sense of urgency to get the levels down, but they are dumping water like I have never seen. maybe throwing the marina operators a bone so they can have a normal summer.

Here’s my Swampland Longer from Birmingham, AL

You’re fishing JDM handcrafted baits on spin cast reels with braid and I worry you. huh?

I think I have three and I’m pretty sure I’ve never caught a fish on any of them #unlimitedpotentisl

So much secret code these days. Won’t name a discontinued bait that sells for $69 and up on bait junkie market

I do. So that’s one.

If y’all don’t know, Dave is wrecking the Bowfin on fly this year. I don’t jump through the fly rod hoops FULL Time so it’s easier for me on numbers and species. I’ll be alright. I ain’t mad at myself (yet).

Quarter Pole Update: a paltry 373 fish caught on 25 fishing days . Way off pace for 3K, but not alarmed yet. I did zero already so nothing to worry about going forward. I did get my first Northern Snakehead on fly. Kinda proud of that. 55 species on hook and line. 6 Lifers. 25 Species on fly. 4 Flyfers.

I would go CC. You’d be standing up which would help with looking for obstructions. that sounds like a whole lotta motor, but I don’t know the specs on that boat. look into hull thickness. The Blazers and maybe others are faster because they are running 0.080 hulls. I wanted 0.100 at a minimum. I run a Alweld 2052 with a much smaller jet. Top end speed doesn’t matter to me as much as running shallow. I need time to see stuff coming and to pick out the run anyway. good Luck with your boat and I hope it meets your needs

24) Bantam Sunfish Another Fly-Fer !

It was only frustrating because I so wanted you to get one. Now we just need to go back and get BIG ones

IF the flood waters ever recede, I want to try the Hurricane Lake WMA. It ought to be the Snakehead DMZ

Snakehead are reaching the Mississippi River from Arkansas. It seems reasonable to assume that they will eventually reach up and down to areas suitable to them via the Mississippi. They were detected in Missouri, but I don’t believe they are established yet. I do believe they might also reach Missouri via the Black and St Francis rivers. I have not looked into the laws of Virginia, but Lots of states now say you are not legally required to kill the snakehead you catch, but they must be released back into the water they were caught from. Completely illegal to transport them. AGFC strongly suggested that I kill every one that I catch and made sure I knew that it was illegal to transport a live snakehead. FYI, they do not die on ice in a cooler. You MUST cut their throat or cut their head off. looking at the east coast, snakehead use water that most gamefish do not use. They find a niche habitat that can overlap with bass and other gamefish, but often only has Bowfin or Gar. they are well established and expanding in Arkansas. Limited access to prime waters compared to East Coast, but you can go looking and find them.

That’s Awesome !!!