Johnsfolly

A brim is on a hat !

Just stop it

Darters - the fish that got me into microfishing after seeing these Orangethroat darters - Etheostoma spectabile, in a local creek in Columbia in April of 2015. Started really catching them in Feb 2016 Went to look for others - caught rainbow darters - Etheostoma caeruleum like this male from Ashely Creek (April 2016). Also found out that they are extremely common throughout the Ozarks. The original crusher of dreams darter species. I found a couple of spots that had populations of greenside darters - Etheostoma blennoides, the second largest darter found in the Ozarks (caught in May 2016). Still looking to land a breeding male for photo. this is one of the more frustrating species to catch. I find that I more often just lift them out of the water after which they just drop back in the water instead of having a good hookset. The largest darter species are the logperch. We have only caught the common logperch, Percina caprodes. My first was from the Black river in June 2018 and Livie's from a tributary leading into the Lower Taum Sauk reservoir in July 2018. Livie and I met @Daryk Campbell Sr in March of 2018 to fulfill a promise that I had made to teach him how to catch darters. During that trip he and I both caught a new dater species, the fantail darter, Etheostoma flabellare. He also caught a fantastic rainbow darter, but he can post those photos. I have tried to go and find localized populations of other darter species. In April 2018, both Livie and I caught buffalo darters, Etheostoma bison, from a tributary of the Duck river in Tennessee. This was a species that split off from the Orangethroat darter complex. When we fished the Black river we were targeting Brooks darters, Etheostoma burri, another species split off the Orangethroat complex and caught a lot of rainbow darters. I finally caught them in a small creek in Poplar Bluff MO in June 2019. Not a great set of photos and I may have to try to get some better ones. The last successful darter species caught was the Strawberry darter, Etheostoma fragi, that I caught in Oct 2019 from a tributary of the Strawberry River in Arkansas. We don't see a lot of darters out this way mainly due to dark tannic waters on the eastern shore and just far less productivity in the streams, creeks, and rivers out here in MD. I have been trying to catch tessellated darters, but they are more of a problem than the greenside darters so far.

My 100th species - Blackspotted topminnow from Grindstone Creek in Columbia MO back in 2016. I had seen these fish the day before and they were spooky and kept out of range from my 7 ft rod. This morning I put my spinning reel on my 9 ft fly rod. I had on camo and was creeping around this public park. I barely looked over the edge of the high bank and dropped down a tiny piece of worm on a #26 tanago hook. I have since caught a few more from this creek and none have been as spooky as the three or four in the hole I was fishing that day.

This is a big why for it being so difficult for a team to repeat. The skills might be there, but there is luck in regards to the health of the players that no one has control over. Once the season is over, you then hope that you have the money to keep the team together for another run.

I need to see photos

I don't want to ruffle feathers, so this is just my observation. Seems like the secondary has been handsy over the last couple of years and pushing the envelope as to what the refs were going to call. If so they got caught last night from at least the part the game that I watched.

I've heard that local businesses have recruited some guys from the St Louis area to post about big fish being caught any time day or night😅

We're not the target demographic anymore. Pandering to get new viewers often alienates those that you feel that you no longer need to recruit or meet their needs. Sounds like a great way to close stadiums as more folks watch from home or not any longer.

I saw the "it's not over yet.." and thought maybe there were deflated footballs or practice videos found by the NFL

Make those pilings smoother. I had a big fish break me off at the bridge 🙄

Lots of fish catchers buddy! Can't wait to see some fish photos soon😁

Definitely frustrating but I always have to remember that my year long goals are a marathon and not a sprint.

Looks ready for the chips

There have been folks that have stated that we often don't see posts where we tried to catch fish but failed to do so. Well I have been struggling this year. I had fished some place almost every weekend since the new year. There are no natural ponds or lakes in MD. Maryland has very few dams that generate power which would release hypolimnetic waters. So each has a spillway to control flooding. There are also very few springs and none that I am aware of on the Eastern shore near where we live. We started the year trying to catch fish in a small pond where we have caught bluegill, LMB, golden shiners, and black crappie. Cold and windy conditions prevailed and no fish were caught or even any strikes. We fished trout magnets under floats. Even tried some worm bits. Nothing worked. I looked at some spots that may have redfin or chain pickerel which is a species that is active in colder waters. I went to Adkins Mills park pond which is park of Adkins run that leads into the Pocomoke river. This spot is about 95 miles from the house. I fished using small inline Panther Martin spinners and trout magnets. Fished the park pond for about 30 mins casting around cypress trees, grass edges, and other structure. No bites. I left the park and looked at a couple of bridge crossings over the Pocomoke river. Made a few more casts. The water seemed high. I got to one of the crossings that I had fished previously and saw that the water was easily 3 to 4 feet high and rushing by. I called it a day and tucked my tail between my legs and headed home. On the 17th I took Livie with me to fish the Gunpowder river below the Pretty Boy Dam. This spillway has a spillway as well as a deep water release (photos from 2019 visit). I have caught brown trout in this spot back in January 2019. I planned for us to use 1/16 oz silver Johnson slimfish and No 1 PET silver spoons. These worked well in 2019. First we had to walk down the 190 steps, then follow the mountain goat trail down to the river. We fished the spoons for some time and no bites. We went further downstream. Trying the spoons, Panther Martin in-line spinners and even 1/16 oz triolive Zig Jigs. probably fished 1/2 mile below the dam and again no bites. We were trying to social distance by fishing, but ended up meeting well over 30 people on the trails. Then back up those stairs! We tried another creek before heading the 60+ miles home. Saw a few shiners, suckers and other species, but could not get a bite on trout mini-jigs with orange bodies or tiny worm pieces. Fished about an hour before we just were done on another unsuccessful trip. The next trip was a jaunt about 45 miles from the house. I went on Sat Jan 23rd to fish a large creek that was stocked that Tuesday. I had caught trout and fallfish there back in 2019 and Livie, Sue, and I caught river chub and I caught a madtom last summer. I started fishing the pools that we caught the chubs last summer. Drifted small worm pieces below a tiny float. There were no fish seen in any of those pools. I headed downstream towards where I caught those rainbows. I fished again with worm pieces with and without a float, slimfish spoons, spinners, trout magnets, etc. Never saw a fish in the water. Heard about one guy catching two rainbows all day and saw one guy with a trout in a Walmart sack. About three hours was all that I could handle before heading back to the car. My last trip before yesterday was on the 24th. I went back to the Unicorn branch and fished below the spillway. The temperature was in the low to mid thirties for several days prior. Though the spillway was running under normal flow, I could only assume that the water was near air temp. I fished for a bit but as with the other trips saw no fish nor had any bites. I know that most of these locations will have fish once the weather warms up and if I can get times when there is no flooding that I will be successful at them again.

Looked delicious!

Livie 3) Black Crappie - Pomoxis nigromaculatus

3) Black Crappie - Pomoxis nigromaculatus We fished the opposite side of the pond and saw some fish rising (there were some caddis on the surface) . The crappie were caught on white/chartreuse and black/chartreuse trout magnets about 14 inches below a weighted float. Tight fishing due to overhead and side bushes while standing on very small dry areas around a large maple tree. Fish were eager which was a nice change of pace lately.

I got back on the board - 2) Largemouth Bass - Micropterus salmoides I had to horn in on Livie's spot and used her rod and bait (she felt bad for the old man and offered it to me) to catch this guy. I lost two others to much eye rolling by my daughter.

Livie back on the board - 2) Largemouth Bass - Micropterus salmoides She caught this on her first cast with a white/chartreuse trout magnet about 14 inches below a weighted float. The bites would come when slightly pulling the jig and float over a 6 foot by 2 foot area. I think that there must have been a brush pile in that area.

I remember watching several Australian fishing shows. The barramundi, giant trevalley, and black marlin shows were my favorites.

Butter, garlic, and shrimp the rest just seals the deal. Can't go wrong with that line-up😉!

Reading through comments seems some sort of barramundi mix. Just a beautiful fish.

Its really tough in a seasonal market. You have to make nearly all of your sales during the season to be profitable.