Ham

The White Caps topping my waders would have been fun, but maybe I could have found the catfish with my feet, back up a rod length, and then roll cast to them.

I can’t believe you got Jeff out when it was below freezing.

So, one of my weird self motivation things is I want to catch at least 100 fish every month this year. I was at 59 going into this trip and honestly my expectation was for 100 plus fish for the three days of the trip, but it just wasn’t happening. Friday I caught 14 fish. I run a clicker to make sure I keep it accurate. Dave thought I had caught 10 when I was at 7. I thought Dave was catching more than he says he caught. Saturday, I caught 21. At least 4 were on fly. Sunday, Dave felt like he had done what he was hoping to do and given the temps and wind, he decided to opt out of going. Be like Dave, Dave is Smart. I wanted to go catch some fish. I had paid the postage to get there and I had the yard pass and I needed 6 more for January. So, I went. Got there. White capping. The WNW wind really blows in on the ramp. Stripers were calling me though. I thought about donning waders, but opted not to cos I hate fighting waders on and off. Backed the boat in. I had everything set. , but the boat slid off further than I wanted it to and white caps pushed it sideways and I could not pull it back to me and it was too far of the trailer to pull the boat back up. Well, I never in my life had the skill set to do parkour and at my current age I move more like a sleestak than a gymnast, but I ventured as far out as I could on the trailer frame and jumped for the bow. It was dumb, but I made it. Waders would have made that very easy. I managed to secure the boat well enough and parked the truck and off I went. I got to my spot. Tossed a fresh Keitech 2.8 Fat Impact out that and missed a couple of bites before some fish took the tail off. Swapped to a 3 inch Slim Swim Z and caught my biggest Striper of the trip on the first cast with the Z man. Went to take a pic and I had no phone. In my aged mind, I was sure that my phone had been in my jacket pocket and I could see how it could have fallen out when I jumped for the boat. Not a good thought to have running thru your head while you are fishing. Too late to do anything about it at that point. Next cast, Another Striper. Some missed bites. Some struggles, but eventually I got a third Striper. I moved on and tried some other stuff. I got a Skipjack in a random spot. I got a Skipjack in a predictable spot. I tried the fly rod some. I played with CheaterScope some. I tried. The wind was killing me if I faced into it and the glare was killing me if I faced down wind. It was cold and so windy that I struggled to feel anything. so, I re-rigged my double jig setup. 1/16 oz with a 1/32 oz tied to the hook bend of the larger jig. I went back to the current seam and fished it down and across. I caught a monster Skipjack on the first cast for my 6 th fish of the day. Now, I’d love to say that I quit then and there, but I didn’t. I fished another 15 minutes and decided enough was enough. I got back to the rain and the wind was blowing even harder. I made several attempts to get the boat on the trailer by myself, but I finally got some help from a. Couple of guys to hold the boat out of the way long enough for me to get the trailer in the water. All smooth after that. My phone was in the truck. Easy 2 hours and 50 minute driver with boat in tow on typical Arkansas roads. Really enjoyable trip. A smarter guy sleeps in and has a hassle free morning, but I’m not that guy. Thanks Again Dave for joining me on an adventure.

@kjackson I used that 9 foot TFO spinning rod to great effect: it helped me reach some stripers that we’re hanging a long ways off. It’s performance kinda drops off as you get closer to the boat, but it plays the fish really well.

So, we knew Friday was our best weather day. Saturday was going to be both cooler and wet. We wore our waders with rain coats over the top. I HATE to fish with a hood up, but I dang sure did for most of the day. It was rainy pretty steady at first and off and on after that. If I would take my hood down, the rain would start again. It was cooler, but that was compounded by the wind picking up a little. Wind chill is not your friend. There is a morning bite and you would think it would be extended by the dark skies, but not just a whole lot. at some point I got a nice crappie on fly. I also caught one on a jig. This is probably the jig fish.But I do know that this nice LMB came on fly. We fished both sides of the boom. We caught what we could before abandoning that plan. We dropped down in the Current and I fished a double jig rig down and across. I ended up catching 4 skipjack. The largest I measured was 16 inches. So, we sort of eased around areas adjacent to the heavier current flow. Dave is gonna have to help out with photos here. With the rain, I was keeping my phone under wraps and if he was snapping pics, I did not. We were both using fly at this point. I cycled through multiple rods and multiple flys trying to find something that would work. Dave was catching drum. He wouldn’t share. We were both trying for a blue cat on fly. My thought was if we try long enough one of us finally had to get Lucky. So Dave hooks up and his rod is a big inverted U. I asked if he thought it was another big old drum and he said maybe it’s a blue. It swirled at the surface and it was a Blue Cat. I dropped my rod and ran to grab the net. Dave played the fish well and I was able to get a net under it. I could hardly believe it. That was awesome! Dave’s Flyfer Blue Cat! His 100 th Freshwater Species on fly. I was (and am) Super Happy for him, but we still had time to fish. We kept grinding. It’s not super glamorous fishing streamers along bottom in dirty water, but that’s what we had. Dave kept catching drum. I kept catching nothing. I finally managed to get a drum. It hurt my arm on the hookset, but I was glad to have him. We moved back and forth. I picked up a Striper while trying for more skipjack. We wandered around and at some point lightening struck again and Dave got an even Larger Blue Cat. Nice strong fish with a massive tummy full of Shad. It sucks to be a Shad. Again, I was super Happy for him, but I didn’t think it was gonna happen for me. How many four leaf clover leaves can you find in a day? Well, I saw a slick forming a couple hundred yards away. I put the TM on 10 and made a beeline for the slick. I felt like that slick was formed by oils coming off baitfish being eaten. On my third cast into the slick, I got a Thump. Strip set and Fish On! It felt heavy and I feared it was just another drum, but it felt a little different. Especially towards the end of the struggle. It started to roll I guess and it didn’t feel at all like a drum at all. It showed itself and it was a Blue Cat! Dave got the net for me and we got it in the net. Wow! Finally. I was kinda in disbelief for a few seconds. Not Happy so much, but stunned. I had assumed I was just grinding and putting the time in, but I didn’t think I was gonna get one that day. So, the skies cleared just a bit and the temps dropped. Dave started struggling to use his fingers. So, we called it a few minutes early. Dave had to really help me get the boat on the trailer. A NW wind is not your friend there. Epic Day draws to a close. Way to go Dave!

So, last year as I was scrambling to try to catch 100 Species in a Year on my Flyrod, my friend @FishnDave was like yeah, but when are you going to have 100 Freshwater Species on fly? I had never even thought about that differentiation. It would have been nice if he could have let me obsess about one thing at a time, but nooooo. So the wheels start turning and I start trying to get freshwater species lined out and figured out. I had some success late in the year and then set an Evil plan in motion to help get Dave across the 100 FW Species line as soon as possible and follow him across as soon as I can hopefully in 2024. Dave and I arranged the earliest time we could which was 1/26-27-28. He drove down from The STL and I wandered down Hwy 7. very gloomy inside the clouds. I got there a little before Dave which was expected and got the boat launched. It was crowded AND more worrisome the water was lots dirtier that when I last fished there 1/4/24Dave is fly only, but I was gonna do both fly and spin. I have 3000 fish I want to catch this year so I’m gonna hit the easy button some (or a bunch). Got set up and a few casts in. Boom. Little Drummer Boy ate my Keitech. Then Dave was there so back to the ramp. I had a plan, but as Mike Tyson says that lasted until I got punched in the mouth. back in action and I’m picking up some stuff here and there, but it was slow. I got a Striper to show Dave they were still there. Then I got a nice LMB just cos and a White Bass cos why not. It took Dave a little bit, but I think he got a drum or two and then Boom! Dave gets his Flyfer Striper on a fly he tied. His 99 th Freshwater Species. Huge worry off my mind and everything from there out is gravy. There seems to be a strong afternoon bite where the Stripers get active about 2:30 until dark. We roamed around looking to take advantage of that. I was trying Fly mostly too and Save had the better of it catching Drum and Striper after Striper after Stripers I did finally land a Striper on fly. I had lost one at the boat previously and missed a good take or two. I think I finished the day with 14 fish caught. Exactly one fish on fly.

One of my Skipjack from todayI got a 16 inch one later that was measured but not photographed

Take a sharpie and put a top coat on the raised numbers for inches so it shows up better in pictures. You will have to reapply

Gone have to ink up those numbers on the measuring board though. Nice Fish Pete! They sure get fat up there.

I’d love to live closer and fish that area. I could spend a bunch of time at Mingo, Duck, and the spillways of both the lakes you mentioned, but I’m not like everybody else.

I would love that Pumpkinseed!

Same here! The dogs can’t stay upright walking on it. That likely means a person has minimal chance of being successful.

Great day to work from home

Yeah, but you can’t fish that well off the top of a submarine

I wish you could have marketed that idea. You’d have retired years ago and could show me how to properly fish the Arkansas River

I did for a long time. I’d bet I’m the only guy excited to use it for Bowfin.

the graph rides with the black box when not deployed. This will ride in the cab with me and in general get babied a lot. I’m not in a hurry to have to replace anything.

I went with the Fishing Specialties Bowducer for my transducer pole. Lots of guys make versions at home less expensively with PVC and left over parts and pieces. I had neither the time nor the inclination for all that. I wanted a reliable product that would perform well. I have seen this mount in use and felt like it was the best option for me. the depth of the transducer can be optimized. The handle telescopes out a few more inches. I have my handle inline with the transducer to be an easy visual on where the transducer is pointed. close up of how it attaches to the pole. I was interested in FFS only. There are options if you are going to use the other modes. an old Bass Pro bait caster glove is going to be my travel cover for the transducer.

using a Scotty Mount with a 2.25 inch ball. To Mount graph on top of box. The graph will come off for travel. The arm rides in the box with graph.

Here’s the Black Box and the battery adapters. They are mounted with stainless steel hardware and lock washers.

here’s the batteries. Bought as this combo off Amazon. Time will tell if they last at all. Charges two at a time. I will be running two batteries in parallel and I’m hoping for 6 hours of actual run time from each “set”

Patience is a virtue. It’s pretty darn cold and I have a job. I will update with pictures. to me, The Point of this thread was to express my appreciation to Les for all his help. If anyone else benefits from pictures of my setup, that’s lagniappe.

Well, I had gotten to use CheaterScope (TM) fishing with Les, and Johnny and @LittleRedFisherman and another friend not on the Forum. I knew it offered HUGE advantages for crappie fisherman and other anglers too, but I drug my feet because of the cost. well another hugely successful crappie trip and a Black Friday deal from Bass Pro make me go to the dark side. I had ideas of how I wanted to do my version. I wanted to mainly use it in Waldo and I wanted it to be completely portable so that I did not tie into existing power sources on the boat and I wanted to be able to remove it if I did not want it onboard. @grizwilson is my turn to guy for innovative solutions. I borrowed heavily from his experience and I was able to get a kinfolk deal on a 9 inch Garmin since he was upgrading. I got Les to meet me today and we put the system together and then tested in from a dock in Taneycomo. I’m soooo Happy to have gotten this done. I’ll use it for the first time next week. It should have been pretty straight forward, but sometimes my stuff gets sideways. Very relieved that it’s all worked out and functioning well. I will install the Fishing Specialties Bowducer Mount very soon and I’ll update the thread with pictures. I can’t express my Thanks to Les enough. Thanks Buddy !!!

Nice Boat Bill. I’d love to have it. I’d need to sell the BassCat first and I drug my feet doing that.

Sometimes 12 Billion dollars just isn’t enough.