Ham

Fish #2. I'm calling it a Black Redhorse, but what do I know.

Tubby

I know Mo Carp is gonna say mid teens, but this Dude was 20 plus. It was too big for the net.

As some of you might be aware, I'm on a bit of a multispecies kick right now. You can't max out your species count if you ignore some fish that swim all around you all the time. I've struggled catching suckers in the past, but I think Spring is the time to really fish them. A coworker that has since retired gave me an old Ugly Stick and I put a crummy Lews spinning reel on it with some 8 lb nano. I tied in some P Line CXX Strong leader with a 1 oz bank sinker and a 1/0 circle hook. I put a full night crawler on there and slung it in the Creek. Before I could tie a hook on the other rod, that Ugly Stick was dancing in the rod holder. It was as I feared, a carp. A BIG carp. I took me a long time to beat it down and sort of get it in the net. I re-baited and re-cast and before I could finish tying the sinker on the other rod, I had a sucker on. Compared to the carp, the sucker came right on in. I think it was a Black redhorse, but clearly, I barely know anything about suckers. I was heaving the 1 oz out there pretty good And fishing up close with an Airstream rod, 6 pound CX Premium leader a #2 circle hook and a 1/2 oz weight. There was a decent flow and I didn't want the baits to wash away. Next fish was on the Ugly Stick and I think it was a Golden Redhorse. It was smaller. I finally got a sucker on the Airstream. I hate to guess what it is, but it had a lamprey attached. I was on a high bank area and could not net it and the dang lamprey let go before I got the fish on dry land. Close but no cigar. Next fish was on Airstream also. My Northern Hog Sucker. It eluded me last year, but not in 2021z Last sucker of the day came on the Ugly Stick. It was pretty good sized and seemed to be full of eggs. I got a few pictures and gently released it. I am asking for help IDing it I left them biting to go be frustrated by darters, but even that ended fairly well. Pics to follow. Maybe @oneshotwill chime in and tell me what I caught.

43) Northern Hog Sucker slightly out of order. I caught a couple more fish that I need to finish ID ing

Thank You for posting. Spring Tjme is so weird with fish moving in and out in coordination with weather trends. guys are catching them SOME days. I have not been on Bull this year (Shameful). I'm all eat up with the multi species thing right now. I hope to get on Bull Shoals soon. I love that part of the lake.

Y'all know you can start a TV and movie topic right?

Bantam Sunfish (Lepomis symmetricus) 1/8 th of the way home

It's a process for sure. Modern phones have helped a ton. I need to do the INaturalist thing too. Especially if I can get a free sucker species out of the deal.

Be forewarned that John's idea of "not terribly far" can be a LONG way

I wonder at all the fish I might have caught without knowing I had something different

Dang! The gators are a new feature. I only fished Lake Fork for like 11-12 days total, but never saw the first gator. spring weather is so frustrating.

42) Bantam Sunfish Pretty little things

41) Warmouth I'll get a bigger one I think, but here is one of first ones for 2021

40) White Bass I rolled the dice and fished in Bad weather Thursday because I was desperate. Work has been rough and my precious trip was a disaster. I had in the barn gathering gear as rain poured. I hooked up the boat in a steady rain before daylight and headed out. I took a young man that is a High School Classmate of my daughter. He loves to duck hunt so he wasn't bothered by the weather. A white Bass trip quickly became a crappie trip and we dialed in on crappie staging for the weeks ahead. It was awesome and much needed. here's the one white Bass I caught.

We caught a Bunch of Big Ones

39) Black Crappie

38) White Crappie

I don't know? , We were in my boat and I lifted the motor up by the pull rope to get over a shallow spot and he said his motor would not run unless fully deployed. I've never owned one so I took it as gospel. He loves the motor a lot though

I do not believe he is running a Lithium battery

I have a Buddy that has one and loves it. He feels like it is VERY quiet and strong. one thing he mentioned to me is that it stays strong until the end, but when the battery is weak it is DONE. There isn't that last couple of hours where you know you are running out of juice well before it happens. He also mentioned that it has a safety feature there it has to be completely deployed to run. The days of holding it just under the surface with the pull cord are over

Spring seems to be a common factor when I catch carp when fishing for other stuff. I catch them on Bull and Norfork in the Spring on crappie jigs and smaller bass offerings. I honestly think they are hungry after not feeding much during winter and maybe it's a President binge since they don't eat much during the spawn. Here's a Zig Jig trout from the White River.

Yep, there's some Good Carp in the White. Grass and Common.