Ham

I second that emotion

I didn’t see a thing on the “gram”.

70) Orangespotted Sunfish What a pain in the butt this little guy was. It took a lot of fly changes and a lot of time to get this guy on fly. I certainly put in the sweat equity on this one.

69) Whitetail Shiner from Bryant Creek

68) Walleye I was targeting them specifically when I caught it, but I did not plan on trying for them today. I went looking for Logperch and mid search a thunderstorm ran me off. I had gotten some bites from Whitetail Shiners and seen some really Big ones, but I had not caught any yet. I hadn’t starting looking for Bigeye Shiners yet either, but I was forced to depart. I tried for Ozark Darters, but only saw tiny ones. Weather caught me there too. so, I took a break for lunch and got supplies to work on Waldo’s trailer. While I was doing that, I thought about taking a shot at walleye. When they open the spillways on Bull Shoals, TRL, and Norfork, they stock warm water species like walleye into the rivers below the lake. I’m all about taking advantage of that. A Little but of a hike to get to my spot, but that’s ok. I rigged up a sparkle minnow with a mini jig dropper. I missed the first bite which felt really firm. No idea what it was. But I did not miss the second bite which was a really Heavy thump. Fish on! I played it carefully to shore (no net) and eased it into the shallows. Very relived to get it to hand. This was one I was hoping for, but not completely counting on. Woo Freaking Hoo!

67) Highland Stoneroller I’m Not a Huge fan of failure. I was pretty frustrated that I wasn’t able to get it done the other day. well, I had gotten pretty Hot and miserable at the new place. I decided to cut and run and try for Red Shiners again. And maybe I would have a few minutes left after that. The spot I wanted to try is a creek that runs into the Arkansas River. The Arkansas River was less of a dumpster fire that last time I saw it, but still pretty bad. So, I was about as far up as I could manage up the creek. I round the corner and a your lady is sitting there amongst a lot of stuff reading something. I announced myself as far away from her as I could be and she about jumped out of her skin. Something was Super sketchy about the whole deal. She couldn’t wait to be away from me and said “that’s my stuff, it’s not garbage”. I tried to assure her I was just there to fish. That killed the vibe though. I caught a few Bluegill and a yellow bass. No shiners availed themselves. As I was leaving, an older guy showed up with a castnet to wreck the place. Also a Big Bummer. On to the Stoneroller spot I went. I had dubbed some bright materials on a size 24. Stuff I can see that makes the fly look bigger than it is to get attention with the small hook. my bigger boys where still where I left them, but no less paranoid. They milled around, but too uneasy to just eat the fly. I present to a large group of smaller SR and you would have thought they had not fed in days. Fighting over the fly, but none were big enough. I walked along and found a group of a little larger sub adults. A couple dozen fish fighting over it. I had a couple of swings and misses, but finally got the timing right and got one with the fly in its mouth. 9 th Flyfer of the year. The goal was 10, but at this point, I am hoping for at least 4 more.

66) Western Mosquito Fish Lots of interest from the minnows, but really tough to time the hookset with the bite.

65) Channel Catfish Big Boy. Very exciting fight. Pulled the yak around. I was worried about him finding a snag or pulling off. The hook was buried to the bend. He wasn’t ever coming off.

Busted another trip south looking for weird stuff on fly. I had more spots than time would allow and I knew it would be HOT. I decided to bypass the first spot in line and went straight to the AR Tech Campus. I was hoping for Highland Stoneroller, Redfin Darter, and Blackstripe Topminnow. Creek was low, but mostly clear. Very large turtles in a small amount of water made some areas cloudy. I caught fish right away. Dropping a small beadhead for Highland Stonerollers, but getting smoked by small Bluegill, green sunfish, and top minnows. I could have caught a lot more fish there, but I really was focused on my target species. I was really hot. Shade was nice, but not near where I needed to fish. I got attacked early and often by Stonerollers too small to catch. Big ones were too shy. I did get to work some late. Sone jerk mowing saw my fishing and came and mowed so that grass clippings would cover the water I was fishing. #microfishingaggression to add injury to insult, my forceps fell out of my pocket. Jeez I got the Blackstripe TM I was looking for. Next Spot was a Numbers spot. I had hoped for a 50 burger for the day as well as some Flyfers. I saw this spot on a YouTube video (undisclosed location) and then found it in Google Earth. Well, it a hard walk down into the hole and a worse walk out. Footing was dangerous on one side and not much fun on the other. Still, I got some real nice Bluegill, crappie, Green Sunfish, Warmouth, and lost a really Nice very tough Hike out. I was way too hot. Cooled in the truck on the way to next spot. Drinking lots. I got to my next spot. Small pothole that I knew held Yellow Bullhead. That was all I cared about. I put on a small bright colored fly and started trying. Green Sunfish after Green Sunfish after Green Sunfish. Flys got ruined. Flys got broken off. Tippet got replaced. I kept grinding. At one point, I thought a saw a Bullhead trying and failing to get my fly. I was fairly sure I had one hooked very briefly. I set a departure time when I was putting on another fly a couple of minutes later, I got the bite I was looking for. I played it very carefully which was unnecessary as it was hooked exceedingly well. I had a bad thought that maybe it was a Black Bullhead, but no. I had my guy. I only had to catch 31 Green Sunfish to get this guy. On to my final spot. A creek that runs into Arkansas River. Crossing the river, I could see that the main river was garbage. Non fishable with fly. My creek was not at all what I was hoping for, but I found Bluegill eating some big that was hatching. I caught a lot of bluegill. I got a few on Ness’s bug. And a foam hopper from the swap, got completely wrecked. I started the day hoping for 50 fish, but suddenly a Benjamin was in play. I tried really hard, but ran out of time and finished with 98. The lost forceps irritated me Greatly. I mentally retraced my steps and guessed where they fell out of my pocket. I ran back by the university to look. Nice end to the day. To be fair, I could have nabbed a couple small panfish to get the 100, but I was done and I still had the 2 1/2 hour drive home. I tried to stay hydrated, but I should have drank more. Yesterday’s empties

64) Yellow Bullhead I’ve been trying for a long while for one of these. @FishnDave catches them all the dang time. I was targeting them in a tiny little spot that I drove to specifically to catch one. Full write up coming.

63) Blackstripe Top Minnow Honest to God, they get in the way. (edit: photo upgrade with a cleaner Blackstripe Topminnow)

Ness’s bug got some bluegill.

Guilty as charged. I know we are supposed to have Gilt Darters, but I’ve never seen one. In some areas, they are a very aggressive fish and not a small Darter. I’m still looking and hoping.

John’s right, if you are around them, Mud Sunfish weren’t too hard to catch. I still appreciated every Mud Sunfish I caught. Redfin Pickerel weren’t either, but I loved catching them too.

Disjunct really rolls off the tongue doesn’t it. what did the settle on for the one in Central Arkansas?

62) Northern StudfishRecent genetic studies have split this group of fish into three species. The majority of them are Northern Studfish, but there is a separate species in Tennessee now and another one in South Central Arkansas. More to Love. this is a large top minnow that aggressively runs down prey. Pretty easy with an appropriate size fly

61) Western Dollars Sunfish this was a major target the other day. They were making me look Silly sucking the fly in and blowing it back out before I could react. i switched flys repeatedly until one sucked it in and held it just long enough for me to get the hookset.

So, I’ll do all the fish 60 and beyond. 60) Northern Starhead Topminnow Nicely aggressive once the water warms up.

Well, the new one would hold bigger hooks better and it’s purple sooooooo

White CrappieShortnose GarGulf Kingcroaker

May Freshwater Drum White Crappie Spotted Bass Shortnose Gar Spotted Gar Southern Kingcroaker Gulf Kingcroaker Pinfish Redfish Hardhead Catfish

Ozark BassRedspotted SunfishCentral Stoneroller

April Coppernose Bluegill Redbreast Sunfish Eastern Mosquitofish Lined Topminnow Eastern Dollar Sunfish Redfin Pickerel Mud Sunfish Flier Warmouth Slender Blacktail Shiner Central Stoneroller Common Carp Cardinal Shiner Southern Redbelly Dace Ozark Bass Upper White River LES Redspotted Sunfish

Golden ShinerNorthern SnakeheadEyetail Bowfin