Ham

I fished Friday. Great to be out. Fishing was ok. I had issues getting the boat up the hill and tucked away, but it all worked out.

Invasive vs Introduced. If Fish and Game Managers from days gone by made Bad choices and dumped Trout into waters that had native trout, it may be real tough to fix that. I sincerely doubt ppl are going to shoot expensive fishing arrows into rocky bottoms in the hope of killing a few rainbows and browns. I am not unaware of Eastern gamefish foolishly introduced into Western waters. I know they are trying to reduce populations of Smallmouth Bass and Walleye. “Bowfishing” isn’t going to fix that either. you’re conflating / expanding the argument about bowfishing. The wanton waste of guys with bows killing fish just for the thrill of killing them is not sustainable. They are robbing other people of opportunities to fish with a hook and line for many species and the fish don’t get to fulfill their role in the environment. Why do they get to damage populations of slow growing / slow maturing fish for their entertainment? Hopefully, other states will follow Minnesota’s example and protect native fish better. We have to change the mindset of game fish vs rough fish (many would say trash fish). I value suckers and Buffalo as much or more than introduced trout.

It’s idiotic that Bowfishing is allowed for any non invasive fish.

I mean, It’s just what I need, another fishing spot 3 1/2 hours away.

Did somebody say Bowfin?

I’m still mad at em

Oooh, I love Thunder Snow

Good deal! I would agree White Crappie. I still haven’t gotten a White Crappie on fly this year.

1) Catch Fish! Lots and Lots of fish on all forms of hook and line fishing. 2) Fish more with friends and family. That’s it. I’ll keep up with numbers and species and stuff for sure. I’ll make trips hoping for this or that. I’ll still want “Benjamins” and “50 Burgers”, but I’m not going to get consumed by any one quest or goal.

2024 is behind us. Here’s how I did on my Goals. 1) Dave and I got Alligator Gar on Fly! Super excited to have gotten some. I want more and bigger. I want a 4 footer at a minimum. 2) Dave and I got Musky on fly! That trip was a blast. The only negative is I was sick and fishing at like 80% 3) I got my Lifelist to over 250. I got a little derailed by the flyrod thing. 4) I didn’t get anywhere close to 50 Bowfin on fly. I fell down the 100 Fish Species on Fly Rabbit Hole. 5) 😳 ehhh Nope 6) after I started chasing everything that swims with a flyrod, I knew the numbers weren’t gonna be there for 3K. I amended my goal to 2000 fish, but handcuffed as I was by intrusive thoughts, I was hard pressed to get to 2K. I got there, but it required me catching almost 800 fish the last quarter. 7) I had a BIG Time with the Fly Rod. The Lifetime Freshwater on fly is well beyond the 100 mark. Dave and I added a few salty fish on fly as well. I am proud that I got to 100 Species on fly again. It is far from easy, but it’s rewarding and “Fun”. Scouts Honor, I will not do this in 2025. I appreciate all the Help and Support I got from friends. It made a critical different on my chances for success. Thank You!

I prefer the term advanced beginner.

It’s very difficult to high stick with my old 6’6” Wonder Rod.

Yes Sir! That’s the one. I think I got mine for a little less, but that’s still inexpensive.

For the 4 weight, look at the TFO Bug Launcher. I have the 4/5 7 foot model and LOVE IT. I’ve caught everything from Rainbow Darters to Redfish on mine. they make a 5/6 8 footer that I have never fished, but I would like to.

I wouldn’t have thought of Forbes as clickbait

I misread that as kidnapping and I was VERY confused

I like Fin and Feather on S Campbell a little further south from Bass Pro. I want to go check out BaitWrx.

103) Walleye it took a while, but I finally got a Walleye on my flyrod. they are running water over the spillways and restocking the river with walleye. I took advantage of the situation. casting was very limited, but I got it done. Not a giant, but I can work on a size upgrade later.

I did not know that. That probably was very upsetting.

I Don’t have a lot of trips to the Nuke Pla t on the books yet, but I am already learning how much it changes year to year, week to week, day to day, and actually minute to minute. last year (Winter) Sauger we’re a Happy accident that I could repeat when desired. This Winter not a single sauger has shown up. I don’t think many ppl caught them and I don’t think ppl kept them for dinner so where are they? Last winter, Drum we’re so common as to be disappointing that it wasn’t a catfish or Striper. I got a few every trip and could have targeted them. This winter I have not caught nor seen a single one caught. Yesterday was my second trip of this Winter and again it was a good Numbers day and variety day. Last Friday I caught 72 fish and 9 species. Yesterday, I caught 54 fish and 12 species. I had kept a few Yellow Bass and White crappie for the table Friday. Yellow Bass to me are much better than White Bass, but like the White Bass are much better fresh than frozen. We had those Sunday and they were wonderful so I wanted more of those. I let the intrusive thoughts win and chased species on Fly this year rather than numbers so I had to abandon the 3000 fish goal and hope/work hard for 2000 fish to hand this year. Another 125 miles 2 1/2 hour each wasy tough trailer to Arkansas Nuke One. Hwy 7 was not designed to drag a boat on. The weather was poor on the way down. Raining much of the way. I planned on being cold and wet all day, but weather was clear and warm when I got there so I did not put on waders, but I did have a rain jacket with me. I bought a Daiwa Presso 7 ft UL rod and had put 4 lb Trout Magnet SOS line on it so I started the day out by trailing that line behind the boat and getting it on the reel tight and twist free. A couple of boats were in my desired spots so I set up on scraps and started fishing. I scored several keeper Yellow Bass on the new combo quickly. I had though that an aggressive lift drop with a finesse lipless crankbait should work in the dingy water. I got more with a 2 jig combo. I usually like 1/8 oz - 1/16 oz combo but you should let the current tell you what is needed. I feel like you need to be close to bottom to get em. I also did tandem set up on fly rod. Last Winter there were a lot of 2-3 lb Stripers. This year all I catch or see anyone catch are baby ones. Potato Chips. There are the ever present White Bass. But yesterday was Special in that I got my first Arkansas White Perch. I think they got into the Arkansas River via the Mississippi River. I would guess they entered the Mississippi River via navigation canals forma body of water that they are native in. They don’t get quite as large as White Bass and they don’t have the stripes. Just that prominent lateral line. I had not caught a Hybrid Striper at that spot until yesterday. Ate the Keitech 2.8. I also caught some lackluster LMB, Spotted Bass, Bluegill, and LES. I repeated on the Emerald Shiners and Mississippi SS on fly again. i had to work for them, but I got a nice mess of White Crappie as well. No pics of those for some reason. This Smallmouth Buffalo was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jig to the back. Big Thunderstorm cell dumped on me for a white. Rain Jacket was very helpful. The rain pants that I have in the boat at all times are intended for sprinkles not a deluge. I got a little wet. Another good day on the water. I learned the area a little better. I caught a couple meals worth of fish. And I added another 50 burger to this years total.

102) Emerald Shiner I've been looking high and low for these little guys, but I was told by a professional fish nerd that Emerald Shiners, River Shiners, and Red Shiners are everywhere along the Arkansas River. Today I fished the Arkansas River for a Numbers day. I got 72 fish to hand. 9 Species. A few Crappie and yellow Bass made the ride home with me. I saw activity from small fish in an Eddy close to the bank and when I got my 50 burger, I rerigged the Bug Launcher with a tandem set of small flys. I immediately got bit and in just a minute I had the first one in hand. Then, I caught more and more and more. I had warned Dave that I would likely beat on em a little bit once I figured them out. I stopped at 10 and switched back to bigger fish.

I wish I had seen this thread before. I would have been glad to buy them

101) Black Crappie I had planned on getting a Black Crappie on fly at Bull Shoals or Norfork, but I found out about a hot bite at Lake Atkins. I made the long drive this morning to kayak fish in the face of a pretty steady cold North wind. The cold front did not help the bite. Lots of disappointed anglers leaving as I showed up. I only needed one Black Crappie of any size on fly. Tons of threadfin Shad in the cove I fished. Water was cloudy, but not muddy. Water was fairly shallow. I played with indicator settings a bunch. The bite was terribly light. I was really focused on the indicator and sone bites were not detectible. I lost the first two black crappie I hooked. I didn’t get a black crappie until my 7th fish, but 7,8,9 and 10 were black crappie. I wanted to pound numbers, so I stayed even though it was a grind. I gave up with 38 fish to hand. I couldn’t feel my hands or feet any more. I was really struggling to straighten out the inevitable tangles. Happy to add another for the year.

#100 Golden Redhorse I had to run errands this morning and I fished for a few hours in the afternoon. I was hoping to wrap this thing up with a Northern Hog Sucker. I even tied sone small egg flys to use for them. I know that it is a good spot for Northern Hog Suckers. I’ve caught my Flyfer there and saw several caught there recently. Dang Rainbows got in the way and I lost the only Northern Hog Sucker I hooked. Which was sad. I was just about to leave when I hooked a large fish that wasn’t a rainbow. In the dingy water when I saw the bronze flash, I thought maybe a walleye. But nah, a Redhorse.! When I got it into the shallows, I was stoked! I felt like it was a Golden Redhorse which would be a Flyfer and push me over the top. I read about the ID features of Goldens and Blacks,. Then I did a lateral line scale count and was crestfallen because I miscounted the scales and thought it was a Black, but I was corrected by a fish nerd. My redhorse was a golden! # 100 and my 145 th species on fly overall.

Good Job Buddy. You put the time in before the trip and it paid off.