Ham

So, Northern Arkansas had a significant rain event Wednesday morning. I did a couple of brief stops in NWA Wednesday morning/afternoon and that stuff stayed clear, but the ground was dry and stuff moved thru quicker. We had more rain and additional rain after the ground had become saturated and I became concerned about water quality. I had intell from a guy that lives in Batesvillie and he said the White had muddied up. So, I called an audible and pushed the White River trip back to Sunday and threw out options to Dave. We decided on Portia Bay/ Lake Ashbaugh, and a community Pond in Missouri. A series of manageable drives and a long drive home. it was my second trip ever to Portia Bay, but I felt like it was a multispecies option for us with lots of gar available. I wasn’t wrong, but as I have been told. Gar are unreliable. oddly enough, we each caught the first Shortnose Gar we presentes Flys To, and then never landed another one despite lots of eats. so, I had seen a small pocket I was interested in and I hope a gar might be loitering there. None were, but Dave spotted something strange on the way in and again on the way out. What the heck? A Flathead up near the surface just hanging around. Heck Yeah I want to try to catch that. Honestly, I did not know it was that large and I expected to get broken off. We both got opportunities at it, but I got Lucky and got a better opportunity. I was laser focused on that gaping mouth and when the fly disappeared in there I got a quick set. The fish was obviously not at 100% with that other fish lodged in its throat. Too big to fit all the way in its stomach. I did try to remove the fish and I was not able to do so. I think we might have helped it clear some gas from his gut and I was actually able to get a little more of the fish in his gut. I hope the Flathead is able to finish its meal and not die from it. We got frustrated with the Longnose Gar, the mosquitos, and the rain and decided to call another audible and drive to Manilla, AR and try for Longnose over there. I was worried that we would not have enough water, but instead we had about 6 foot too much. 🤨 I was hating how this was working out, but I decided to cut the losses and go to Lake Ashbaugh. Yes, more driving. we get to Lake Ashbaugh and it was too low to launch the boat. Too shallow to really fish my Orange Spotted area and mosquitos were still chewing on me. i had several areas I wanted to try and we did the logical progress through those options and fortunately we found a spot that had some fish and we staged a rally. I was starting to feel like such a jerk, but it all worked out. we saw lots of fish moving around and it was a little tough to reach them from shore so Waldo got launched again. Dave got the party started with a really nice Female Bowfin that really did not want to be captured. It did a Polaris launch out of the net after I scooped it up TWICE, but Dave caught it anyway. It was just my Lucky Day I Guess. Things went really well for me. I hooked like 7 of the 10 Bowfin Bites I had and landed 5 is the 7 I hooked. That’s crazy Good for me with Bowfin on fly. our Bowfin flurry was like 90 minutes long. I really enjoyed It. Somewhere towards the end of it, I stripped my fly and a fish had it already. I was worried it was a Bowfin that I was fighting w/o getting a good hookset, but the longer the fight went the more I realized this wasn’t a Bowfin. It pulled hard and did not want to come to the surface. I was desperate to catch it because I was pretty sure it was gonna be a Flyfer. I hung on for dear life and Dave got it in the net. My Lifer/Flyfer Bigmouth Buffalo! My second Happy Accident of the day.“Boy, you got a Purtty mouth” despite my desire to fish until dark, I eventually call it and we headed for home.

So, Dave’s Day Two trip was pretty cool. He caught a lot of Brookies and made me nervous that he was sore mouthing too many of them and I wasn’t going to be able to get one after he left Monday morning (spoiler- I should not have worried). I wish he had gotten that Lifer/Flyfer Cuttie, but that leaves something for next time. Special Thanks to @netboy for the Brookie Intell. I know where they hold after they are stocked, but I wasn’t sure if any where in there yet. Bob assured me that they were there and were quite agreeable. He told me where to try and what fly to throw ( “you can catch on any fly you want).

Because of the distances involved, I’m the fishing equivalent of a P-51 Mustang before they got belly tanks. I’m just not able to fish as long as I want once I reach the fishing spot (unless the spot sucks and then I can’t wait by move on.) So, we hit the Current River. It seemed a little low, but I don’t know it well enough to be sure. And yet the clarity was only a 10 instead of the usual 11. I wanted to launch at Logyard and run up just below Powdermill. I have some proven Shadow Bass spots that set up well for fly. I don’t think you can easily launch a river boat at Powdermill anymore and I was concerned about running all the way up from Powdermill and back taking too much time. I was also concerned about running long riffle with big rocks that is like a mile up from the 106 bridge. So, I convinced myself we would be ok and would get Shadow Bass on the section from Two Rivers to Powdermill w/o running that riffle. We did, but it wasn’t easy. I for one and Dave got one, but missing accomplished. Dave caught 3 or more Hornyhead Chubs on Thursday and I had not gotten a sniff. and I still needed one for the year. So we needed to quit early so I could take my wife and Dave out to Rapps Barren in Mountain Home. I gambled that we would still be ok if I stopped at the Jacks Fork access in Eminence. I immediately caught a colored up Northern Studfish, but soon saw Hornyhead Chubs Looking peckish. It only took a little convincing to get the first one and a little more to catch the next two. I couldn’t stop at one and wanted to stay another hour, but we flew along home and even had time for a quick shower before a nice meal. we caught a variety of fish pretty steadily, but I failed to catch a Chain Pickerel or produce Mooneye or Skipjack on the Current for either of us. #scrublife I think the Current River is Beautiful and full of beautiful fish. I hope Dave enjoyed the brief first visit.

77) Flathead Catfish I had invited @FishnDave down for fishing trip to try to add to his fly fishing Lifelist and his 2023 Fly Fishing species list. Dave is gonna do a thread (I hope). His wife was out of town and my wife was out of town, it was meant to be right? Huge rain event on Wednesday hurt us on multiple fronts and made me scramble for some viable options Saturday. One of the Saturday spots was Portia Bay for Longnose Gar. Saw plenty, but caught none. However, Dave spotted something weird behind the cypress teees and eventually we got a better look at it and I figured out it was a Flathead acting weird. Clearly, this fish was acting abnormally, but let’s try to catch it. We both had spots at it, but I had a better shot and managed to get a roll cast in front of the beast and when the fly disappeared into its maw, I set. I should have gotten wrecked, but didn’t and Dave was somehow able to fit it in the net. Boom! I want more Flathead on Fly, but at least I have this one. I do kinda wish Dave had caught it since he spotted it first. here’s the fly that caught the Flathead

👀

76) Hornyhead Chub well, I misspoke. The Push for 100 started in January, but the intensity ratchets up even more. I’m a little surprised it took me this long, but better late than never. I caught three in just a few minutes once I was in the right spot. these were from Jack’s Fork near Eminence, MO photo upgrade on my Hornyhead Chub. This fish was caught within sight of my house.

75) Redspot Chub Flyfer!! I had business in Bentonvillie so naturally I hit a spot on the way and a spot “on the way” home. There is an awesome creek in Bentonvillie that really needs a FULL day. I was able to give it an hour which turned into 30 minutes cos I got this guy my main target and I had a Snafu and felt pressured to head home. I’m excited to hit 75! I reached my stated goal. Now, the push to 100 begins.

I caught several

74) Steelcolor Shiner feom War Eagle south of Huntsville, AR

73) Shadow Bass I made a trip over to the 11 Pt at Dalton, AR with my son yesterday. I was targeting Walleye, Sauger, Chain Pickerel, and Shadow Bass. I also had my Bug Launcher ready for micros. First stop was a proven Shadow Bass Hole. It took four casts. My other targets evaded me, but I was disciplined and focused on the right areas fishing appropriately. It paid off for Ian. we caught 10 species on the day. Ian had a really nice day with a Nice White Bass and some really nice Smallmouth Bass.

I Guess I missed my chance

72) Lingcod II’m kinda proud of this one too. I changed locations specifically looking for this guy. I had a rocky point with some kelp. I backed out a little deeper to avoid sone of the Black Rockfish and up the odds for a Lingcod. Got out in the 45-50 foot of water and it didn’t take long. The 9 weight was tested as he really wanted to get back down. I was so Happy to get one that I netted it to make sure I got it in the boat. Pics of it didn’t happen right? Well, he did a death roll in the net and I had the hardest time getting him out. it was so fun that I had to do it again. I did not use the net on the second one. It went a lot better. After that, I went looking for Cabezon it a deeper kelp bed where I caught my other one. No Cabezon. I think I caught a few Black Rockfish. Sadly, this was Friday afternoon. I was all out of chances. I took my medium spinning and fly rod apart and washed them In the shower and the reels in the sink to make the lost out in the morning better. I wish I had figured things out Thursday instead of Friday. I really think I could have gotten a Coho and maybe a King Salmon and almost certainly a halibut. Still, Super Happy with my results. Got me a long way towards my goofy goals.

71) Kelp Greenling This beautiful fish was an unexpected gift. When I first got color, it reminded me of a Brown Trout. I had to think for a minute and look at the mouth and day to myself, “maybe a female Kelp Greenling” I conferred with the guys at the Lodge and the “confirmed” it, but their ID’s have proven to be not 100% accurate. very different in appearance to the Male Kelp Greenling. Im Super Happy to have caught a male and a female.

Different people have varying sensitivity to Alphal Gal. I’m hoping that I can keep on dodging it.

70) Quillback These guys get Big and Bad, but this one was still Just a Baby. A pokey, ravenous Baby with a Big Mouth and tremendous jaw strength. All the guides were Super careful with Rockfish. The pokes from spines had a reputation for getting badly infected especially the Quillback.

Real recognizes real. The goat looked at me and said “ No way Bro”. I hope I don’t get cancelled for putting my hands on a female that clearly was not interested in being touched.

Honestly, I have no idea. My guess is low 80’s. Very pleasantly cool. Not a shock to the system, but cools you off in a hurry.

69) Copper Rockfish after the Pacific Cod, I struggled. I was starting to think I would only have the three Flyfers for the trip. I knew the problem was my inability to get the fly down/boat control. I finally came up with a way to add weight that helped me get down quickly. I think you still need a full sink and 700 is probably more than twice as good as the 300 I have, but I added a 1/2 oz bass casting sinker to it and that got me down and kept the fly down. I was told of a very promising multispecies area and headed there Friday afternoon, BUT wind and swell made that a No for me. I fished as close as I could and saw that my system was going to work. So, I headed back to the spot where I had caught that 18 lb Lingcod. First drop got me this Copper Rockfish. a little later, I got anothersorry that my hand is in the way, but they are Super Pokey and some of them have teeth or a lot of jaw strength and I’m not always willing to Lip them.

Made a trip down to Oil Trough again looking for a Hybrid Striper or Silver Carp or True Striper or something unexpected. got a little bit of a late start and planned on stopping early because of the heat. Sadly, I used to cool part of the day driving down. idling away from the ramp I saw dimples on the surface and I had to check it out.I got out the Bug Launcher and in a couple of minutes. I caught another one to make sure I wasn’t just Lucky. We had a little bit more water than the last time I was there so I checked out a pocket out of flow. Sure enough, it had Silver Carp. I made a bit of it. I ran further upriver to another promising spot. A little water running over a low water road. Big back Eddy. I have caught a variety of species there before. Today, I missed a bite. I had a fish on briefly. And I saw a big grass carp actively feeding. I ran to another of my spots. Nice flow cycles around and hits a clay wall. It should be fantastic. I have caught a couple there, but not like I should. I hung a heavy fish and it came off as I was stripping it in. I had a hard strike and brief hook up. I saw a few Mooneye looking at insects. I saw Skipjack flashing at my flys. Eventually…headed towards my best spot hoping to find Shad getting abused. But along the way we discovered this. the goat was stuck clinging to a small shelf on a Bluff wall. I have no idea how long it had been in the water or how far down river it had swam/floated. It was tired and frightened. I couldn’t leave the goat to drown. So we spent a 1/2 hour working on our Goat Problem. The simple solution of a goat in the boat was not without risk to our gear. The goat did not want in the boat. She considered it, but decided against it. So. We had to manhandle her down to a less steep section of bank where she would have enough of a footprint to scramble up. It took a little doing, but we got it safely up the Bluff and into a pasture. so we got to our “best” spot. I got a decent Largie immediately. We both caught a fair number of skipjack. Ian got a couple of White Bass. I lost another decent fish. I worked multiple groups of grass carp and they all said no. I rant to another side channel and tried for Silver Carp. We observed several, But I could not get a hook in one. We ran back towards the ramp and I hide that side pocket again. Clearly, observed more Silver carp, but no luck. it sure was Hot.

68) Alaskan Pollock so, I wasn’t shy about asking people where I could use my flyrod and what species I could try for. They weren’t able to be helpful on the How, but I did learn that there were juvenile Pacific Cod in the bay that the boat dock was in. Mind blown. The dock guys are great. They help you dock the boat and launch every time you come and go. They get your fish to the fish station for you. If you are there for any length of time, they tidy the boat up for you. Boats are refueled every evening. You just turn the key and go. Anyway, the dock guys were like, “we catch need anything from the store? At the end of the day at shift change all the time”. I busted up the Tenkara rod and a tiny trout fly and got one on the first flip. Keep in mind, I’ve been on the North Pacific for hours getting beat up by wind and waves and I’m on the boat dock at like 10 PM catching these tiny Pac Cod. IF I wanted to pump numbers up, I could have caught dozens of them. There were some larger ones so I tried to use a bigger fly and get further out for the bigger ones. using one of @BilletHead patterns I did get some larger ones and some Black Rockfish around the dock as well. edited: the guys that should know better, didn’t The Pacific Cod were actually Alaskan Pollock and likely my Rock Sole was a different flatfish. TBD Thanks to Random fish need and @Johnsfolly

67) Pink Salmon The guides have great disdain for the Pink Salmon. Smaller, don’t fight well, and the meat is of a lesser quality. still I was Happy to get my Lifer and My Flyfer. The Flyfer but up a minimal scrap, but no matter. Bad pic, but I was really struggling. I brought a lot of flys and used a fair amount of them. This was the one that caught my Pink. several were really chewed on. I lost one to kelp.

66) Black Rockfish Veey abundant when you find them. Very aggressive especially when the school gets turned on and gets competitive for food. I could have caught lots more of them, but every one of them you catch takes up a few minutes of time that could be used to get other species I even got some on top. In like 100 foot of water at the Langara rocks.

Carp can be greedy fats kids gorging on candy or they can be political prisoners on a Hunger Strike. I find them to be way more frustrating than accommodating

And Channel cats, Common carp, and bullheads too.

Got Home about Midnight. No Luggage. I hope to get info on that today.