Johnsfolly

I'd never gone up to Naknek this late... not many people have except locals I'm told.  And even then, didn't see but a couple of boats on the river today.
Stayed at Katmai Trophy Lodge near the "rapids" on the Naknek, owned by the Johnson family.  They also own Naknek River Camp at the head of the river, at Lake Camp.  The camp is closed because all their water lines are exposed, above ground.  KTL is a regular lodge with power (electricity) and indoor plumbing so they could stay open all year, if there was fishing to be had. 
I went up to spend time with good friend, John McCloskey, one of their main guides at KTL.  John did a spey casting clinic for us at the resort last December.
John had 3 clients this week from Georgia.  They are clients of his on his home waters in north GA.  Jason, Jane and their 9 year old son John.
John specializes is swinging flies and the Cooke's were there to partake.  The river was a little high and off color due to rains and an east wind.  John says the rainbows don't like dirty water.  Water temp was 43-44 degrees. 
We had a variety of weather.  Three days of winds in excess of 40 mph and a couple "breezy" days.  Rain everyday except one.  But temps stayed decent - 45 - 53 degrees daytime and rarely dropped below 40 at night.  Unseasonably warm, but always windy and rainy.  I'd call it normal RAW Alaska weather for late October.
Fishing was good the first day in spite of heavy winds but the bite steadily slowed down each day, like the rainbows were leaving the river.  We were seeing some flesh flowing by but not much.  Nothing else for them to eat really except may be a sculpin here and there.  They winter in Naknek Lake and will migrate there about now.  John says they stated one week too long.  But the rainbows we did catch were impressive.
They swung flesh and sculpins and I threw my spinning gear and 1/8th ounce jigs.  I used mostly 4-pound line but did use 6-pound occasionally.  The bigger the rainbow and easier they were to land, mainly because they were so fat with flesh. 
We fished flats - fast water spots with depressions and rocks holding fish and depths not more than 3 feet deep.  That's what made my jig work, they hit it even if it was real close to the surface - and the swing or worked out in front of me.
I landed 3 - 30+inch bows, 6 bows between 25 and 29, one at 20 and 2 about 15 inches.  I lost a couple - one at the net and one broke off.  The best color was black/purple and sculpin/ginger a close second. 
John played around with the jig and loved it.  He couldn't get over how effective it was.  I know he hooked several rainbows and landed one that I saw.
They caught a half dozen swinging flies.  I know Jason landed a couple pushing 30 inches.
They saw one bear.  I wasn't fishing at the time though so I didn't see it.  We didn't fish any other areas - stay below the Counting Towers and across from King Island.  There were 2 other guide boats out all week with 2 clients each... that's it.












 
 

Launched about 7 AM today, cloudy, cold and windy which it would remain all day.  Air temp was 47 when I launched, and 49 when I pulled out at 1:30 PM.  
My expectation was that there might be a good crank bait bite with the wind and clouds - I caught a few early on a Rapala DT 6, mostly small fish, but one LM that was around the keeper mark.  Had a decent fish that grabbed the DT right at the boat, got a glance at it's back, looked to be a smallie that might have gone 3 lbs, had it on for about 3 seconds and it pulled off.  Not much you can do to keep them on when they whack it right at the boat.  
DT bite just flat stopped, so I switched to a Menace Grub on a 3/8 oz swing head.  Boated a couple of keeper sized smallies on the grub, had a couple others that I never saw but pulled like decent fish.  Had one largemouth that was around that keeper mark on the grub too.  The smallies were on shallow gravel that had the wind blowing parallel to the bank, and it was no gentle breeze, that wind was blowing hard where they were.
Not a great day as far as numbers, boated 9 bass, 3 keepers, but it was enough to make it a fun day to be out.  
WT 60-61.
 

 

 
 
 
 

Considering all things, I don't think you can ask for better fishing conditions on our lake this fall.  Lake Taneycomo, a tail water, is subject to low oxygen conditions because it is a tailwater.  We get our water from the depths of Table Rock Lake where the dissolved oxygen bottoms out this time of year.  But when the water is run through Table Rock Dam, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers adds liquid oxygen to the water in the turbines, bringing the oxygen levels up to fish-livable levels.  But in our present case, our lake water continues to register at high levels of oxygen.  Just today we measured 8.0 parts per million -- which is incredibly high.  Our water temperature remains low, which is also helpful, at 53 degrees.
The other thing to consider is generation.  For fly fishermen who like to wade and fish below the dam, this fall season has given them just what they love - low water conditions.  They've been seeing many trophy browns - and rainbows - and they've been hooking a few of them.
Personally, I don't venture up below the dam anymore to wade and fish.  The main reason is that  I don't like crowds.  I take the option to boat to where I want to fish and thereby find good numbers of trout of all sizes to catch . . . without the crowds.  But if I did, I'd fish this way:
My friend and fellow fly shop owner, Tim Homesley, drives over from Crane and his home water, Roaring River, and fishes our tailwater several times in the fall season.  He likes to fish the "skinny water," which is my favorite, too.  Rainbows especially hug the banks with their backs out of the water sometimes, digging in the gravel to pick up a bug or two.  Casting a small sow bug or scud, even a big mop worm or mega worm, and working it in and around these feeding rainbows will catch them.  These trout are typically veterans, too, full of colors and larger than the young stockers just arriving on the scene.
In the past, I know anglers have scored big browns and rainbows stripping soft hackles and cracklebacks well below the hatchery outlets and below Rebar and the Chute (below the Missouri Department of Conservation boat ramp) where the current is still moving from the area but is slower, not calm.  If there is a breeze and a chop on the surface -- better yet.  And then there's the streamers like sculpins, Hybernators, leaches, woolly buggers and Pine Squirrels.  Strip these in the bigger, deeper pools out in front of outlet #1, the pool below outlet #2 and from the Rocking Chair down to the Chute.
Is it time to go to 7x tippet?  Maybe.  I did for a little bit last month, but our water seems to have some color to it now, so I've gone back to 6x fluorocarbon, and it's worked pretty well.

With the leaves dropping pretty fast now, we're starting to fish the Zebra Midge under a small float 12 inches deep and targeting midging trout around the leaf clusters on the lake.  There's something about these leaves that attracts fish -- whether there's bugs on the falling leaves or midges that attach themselves to the leaves before flying off.  We're doing this about any place on the lake right now, especially towards evening time.
I've been fishing with a scud (fly) a lot this week and doing very well!  So much so that I videoed some of my fishing and posted it to show exactly what and how I was catching rainbows.
We've been throwing 1/32nd-ounce jigs with two-pound line and catching some good fish around the dock and up lake around Short Creek.  Sculpin/ginger or brown/orange with a brown head best colors.  If you're using four-pound line, throw a 3/32nd-ounce jig instead.
We've had some requests for fly tying demonstrations, so Duane and I did a few this morning and posted them.
 
 
 
Bait fishing, for whatever reason, has been slow --  not terrible -- but slow. Anglers have had to work to catch them off the dock, but there have been spurts where you'll have a bunch biting, and then the bites will slow down.  Again, two-pound line will catch more fish, especially if you're fishing with a night crawler or Powerbait.  Air-injected night crawlers have been the best though.

Fished the fly only section with friends Wednesday. The morning was super slow.  Changing flies often we managed two small trout in the morning. The terrestrials I was sure to be productive were a no go as were many any of the rest of the flies we used. I tried to stay with dries and received some interest but no takers. My friends used Woolybuggers and nymphs. A small black soft hackle was the only fly that took trout in the morning. After lunch, it was more of the same until 3:30 when a weather (barometric) change came and cooled the river off. Then the fish turned on a little and we picked up a few fish on grey scuds and a red zebra midge.  
 
Bill

After a successful ocean fishing trip in Ocean City, I looked a bit further down south of us in Virginia to see where we could go next. With Livie completing her 2018 species goal, I wanted to have the opportunity at some new fish for myself to meet my goals. Also I wanted a nice family get away as well. The Assateague and Chincoteague islands looked promising. So I booked a charter out of Chincoteague for 7:30 am Friday morning. Instead of driving down at O'dark thirty, my Betterhalf got us accommodations for Thursday night. Unlike the BilletHeads we were not going to be roughing it at all on tis trip .
When you have spent over a month in a half this year in hotels like I have, you can reap the benefits of the rewards like booking a stay without paying a dime on the room!

Outside of the hotel in the morning we were met with another beautiful day.

After the complimentary breakfast, we headed to the dock to meet Capt. Pete and the Fish Tales. He only books a single group of folks at one time and up to six anglers. With three of us there was plenty of room on the boat. The water was calm and there was fish busting the surface where ever we looked. The mate and Captain kept saying that was baitfish, but in the Folly eyes, those could be a new target! We headed out of Tom's cove and just out into the Atlantic. This was a comfortable trip with us fishing out of our chairs with rods dropping baits over the sides. As with the Ocean city fishing trip, I was the first to hook up with an Atlantic croaker.

We sore mouthed quite a few with Livie and my Betterhalf catching several each and even doubling up at times.


 
Livie just loves noisy fish and would squeal with delight at every croak these fish made when she caught one.

On the way out to fish we mentioned that we might take some fish home, but we really wanted to catch a few different fish and just have some fun. While we were bottom fishing the mate set out a cut bait under a float. It wasn't more than a minute or two that the float went under and he was calling to have someone reel in the fish. Livie junped up and began her fight with a bigger fish. After about a 10 to 12 minute fight she had the fish to the boat and the mate hauled it on board. It was  nice male Atlantic sharpnose shark!

I will state that we Follys are omnivores and are not likely to pass on fresh fish particularly if they are a sustainable species. So this guy did end up on ice. The mate got the line baited again and this time I was on the rod to land my first sharpnose shark!

He was the lucky one and was soon released. We continued bottom fishing this deeper water and both Livie and I caught Virginia Trout - @JestersHK would be proud! These are really sea trout or weakfish. related to the croakers and other drum species.


We moved into shallower water in Tom's Cove between Assateague and Chincoteague islands to try for kingfish (another drum species also known as whiting). We saw several small pods of dolphins and a few loggerhead turtles taking a breath. There were lots of shore birds, pelicans, skimmers, etc. that would have made for a nice birding trip if we weren't set on fishing! We dropped our lines and I was again the first to get bit and land my first southern kingfish!

Then my Betterhalf.

As with the croakers both Sue and Livie had doubles at times.

Several kingfish went into the box for a future fish fry. We caught a bunch of other fish that the mate called white perch. Since we have caught whiter perch I didn't take any photos. However, these were a very silvery fish with yellow fins and tail. They didn't look like white perch that we have caught in the rivers near home. I kept thinking that maybe is the saltwater they were different color phase. At home I looked at a lot of white perch photos and none had that same coloration as these fish. I looked up saltwater fish of Virginia and found a reference to silver perch. All of the photos for that species matched what the fish that we caught.  All too son the trip ended and we headed past the island and back to the harbor.

At the end of the day, Livie and I both caught four new life list fish and my Betterhalf only three since she opted out of trying for a shark of her own. As we headed back to Maryland, we talked about trying to come down again in Sept. Looking forward to that trip!
 

One of my main fishing goals this year was to help others achieve their goals (where possible based upon proximity and scheduling). The main focus has been to get my daughter's goals met. She has goals to catch five new species that she has never caught before, to catch two new species of sculpin, and to catch a total of 40 different species for the year. Up to this point her life list was only at total of 34 species. So we would have to work on getting her on new species. With my travelling between Missouri and Maryland, I have been able to find species that she has not caught previously and fish those spots when she is in Maryland. I have posted about those trips previously. When in Missouri, I have focused on getting her in front of some of the more difficult species either due to their resistance to being caught or more likely the distance from our house.
I have been also thinking about trying to fish a spot where I have seen and caught plains topminnows previously. This is a small creek just south of Rolla. With that in mind, I planned a trip first to a creek and a small river that are "on the way" to Rolla. At the first creek there was the opportunity to catch several minnows, darters, sunfish, and bass. Since she had not yet caught a smallmouth bass this year, Livie was fishing a 1/32 oz tube jig with a green pumpkin body/chartreuse paddle tailed slider. We were upstream from an overpass and I had her try to cast near the rip rap on the far bank. I tied on a perch colored whopper plopper and cast under the bridge. Livie immediately got bit by a decent small stream green sunfish. Then another. At that point I made my first cast and as the bait "plopped" a few feet got bit by a 8 inch smallmouth (my first of the year ), which for this creek was not a bad sized fish. Some 12 to 14 inch could be caught here, but with the low water, weren't likely to still be in this tributary. Livie made a cast to a shaded part of the water and caught her first smallmouth of the year.

I made a couple of more casts with the WP and got slaps at the bait by sunfish and smaller bass. I then switched to the micro rig with a #26 Tanago hook with a tiny piece of redworm. I caught the first western mosquitofish of the day and my first of the year. I had seen a couple of male northern studfish that had some of their breeding coloration. I caught one on the micro rig. Not as colorful as some that I have seen or received photos of from other OAF members, but a nicer one than I have caught previously.

While looking for those guys I noticed a small school of minnows that did not look like the schools of bleeding shiners swimming around us. I dropped the bait and caught a bluntnose shiner. Livie was catching green and longear sunfish and at least one more smallmouth. I got her to take up the micro rig and she caught her first mosquitofish of the year.

She never did catch any of the bluntnose shiners, since they kept dispersing when she got close to them.
A little discouraged by not catching on the worm she resorted to what she does best - hand fishing ! She caught the following critters by hand.
Maybe HD Tackle will replicate these guys (@Mitch f @Hog Wally)!

Northern studfish

Unknown minnow

Longear sunfish

We got to the confluence of the river and I could see smallmouth in the big pool below the confluence. We threw a few things at them but only landed a couple of small smallmouth bass and sunfish. Had a 16+' smallie look at the WP but not commit. Upstream from the confluence I had a huge blow up on the bait. I made a second cast and nothing until the bait was about 25 feet from me, It was passing right through the transition from the deeper channel to a shallow ridge and got blasted by a nice chunky 13" largemouth (yes we Follys can catch bass as well).

Livie swithed from hand fishing to a Trout Magnet trout crank and got into a thick bunch of large green sunfish. You just can't stop the selfies!


With the heat, Livie was wearing down. So we headed down to Rolla to get something to eat, drink, and try for plains topminnows. Livie was feeling worse, so I went out and scouted the creek to see if I could locate any of the topminnows. I found a couple only. The water was really low and most fish were really spooky. Our redworms were dead and breaking down in the heat. So I put a small piece of chartreuse plastic from a trout magnet jig on a #16 hook and let Livie fish in the shade of the bridge while I went after the topminnows. I also had on a much smaller piece of plastic on the #26 Tanago hook. I could only catch northern studfish. The juvenile topminnows were too small to get hooked and the one adult that I now saw avoided this bait. I switched to a white/pink piece and found a pod of three topminnows further down the creek. They avoided the plastic bait. Meanwhile Livie was catching bluegill, longears, and small green sunfish on most every cast. She found one of the redworms that had not fully liquefied and brought it to me as I stood near that pod of fish trying not to move and spook them. As soon as I got the worm near them they took interest and I caught one of the three.

Livie then switched positions. That spooked the fish and it took about 5 to 6 min for them to return to a spot where she could reach them and not spook them. She got bit and once again we were not able to hold onto the fish for a photo. She did not want to try to catch the last one from the bunch or to look for others. Called it quits! Livie caught three different species that put her total for the year at 32 species. So now we are in the countdown phase towards her 40 fish goal. She also has caught 16 new species so far to add to her life list! Just need to find some new sculpin. I am looking hard in Maryland and may think her best bet is going after some marine species.
 

I have started to paint jerkbaits for big browns.  Now, I am completely new to this and just diving right in head first.  I purchased a fairly cheap complete airbrush kit from Hobby Lobby, water based acrylic paints, powdered mica pearl pigments, and 2 part epoxy clear coat as recommended by our very own Mr. Billethead.  Thanks Marty!  Been gathering various jerkbait blanks from different suppliers looking for ones I can get to suspend.  I’ve been trying my hand at two different color schemes and feel like I’m starting to get them dialed in.  My ultimate goal is to get a rainbow trout and brown trout pattern dial in but I’m a long ways off from that yet. It has been an enjoyable way to spend what little spare time I have this time of year sucking up some AC and staying out of the heat.




 

When we were at the Johnson Shut-ins last week, I saw several different species of fish that I would love to catch including several greenside darters and a couple of logperch. The logperch is one of Missouri's largest darter species and one species that I had not yet seen let alone had the opportunity to catch. Also this area also has the brook darter. I didn't get to fish the last time down, so I packed up my daughter and we went yesterday as sort of a pre-Father's day event. BilletHead has started discussions on several occasions about what would you do for a single fish, drive 40 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours, ... I have always felt that it could be worth it for the experience. With that in mind we set off at 5:45 am to the Black river to fish below the shut-ins (ended up as a 420 mile round trip) for the hope of catching a brook darter, greenside darter, and/or a logperch.
Knowing that you cannot fish in the designated swim areas I had a plan to pack in our fishing gear and hike down river. We ended up on a trail that headed up the hills above the shut-ins. Finally we found a side trail that headed back down towards the river. We did see a couple of lizards along the way including this male fence lizard. You can just make out his blue patch of breeding coloration on his side. Believe it or not, Livie was not able to catch this guy. Don't worry she caught a few other things with her hands (more on them later).

After an invigorating hike with a couple of white knuckle slides, we made it to the river. Saw lots of fish including many darters right off the bat. Could be a good day!

We got the rods rigged up and baited (using in nightcrawler pieces instead of redworms because that's what we had at home). Of course Livie caught a small green sufish right off - with her HANDS !

Then she caught one with her rod.

While she was catching sunfish, I focused on trying after the micros around me. I caught a few bleeding shiners right off the bat before I targeted the darters around us.

We each targeted the more colorful darters, which were likely to be the males. Based upon their size, I was fairly certain that we had caught brook darters. It was not until I uploaded the photos that it became apparent that we had in fact caught small rainbow darters. Still nice looking fish, but somewhat disappointed because If I had looked closer at them we could have kept fishing for the brooks.



After catching these guys, I focused on trying to find and catch some other darters. Livie was excited catching a bunch of longear sunfish which is always the case when you catch the first few .

I was even happy to catch a few as a break from trying not to fall on the slick rocks (Note use felts soled boots if you have them!) and hunting for some new species. I found a spot that had a few greenside darters. Livie was first up to try for these guys. This is a species that can be difficult to get on a bait or to catch once they do go after your bait. Livie suffered through both scenarios with one of two fish just being spooked by the bait or not being able to get a hook set on the fish if it did bite. She got very frustrated and gave me the rod. I had a bit better success in terms of getting fish interested in the baits, but never got one hooked. I lifted a few out of the water and one actually flew out of the water and almost landed in the catch bag Livie was holding. Both of us were frustrated and moved on. Didn't get another chance at any greenside darters. Another frustration was trying to hook the nightcrawler pieces onto the small hooks, The worm pieces were a bit large and did not stay on the hooks very well.
Livie did get a nice hand caught bullfrog tadpole as a consolation prize.

I chased studfish and blackstripe topminnows as I continued downstream, but either spooked them or could not get them hooked. I came up to a large deeper pool. I caught sight of a large striped darter, the first logperch sighting!! I just had a topminnow strip my bait and had to call Livie to head back down to me with the bait and the rest of our gear. I spooked the first one that I tried to get on my bait. I didn't see another one for 5 or 10 mins. Then there were two in a spot about 20 feet from me. I snuck up to them and spooked them again. This time they came back quickly to the same spot. I dropped my bait and got bit as soon as it hit the water, it was a longear sunfish, then another, and another. I started seeing more logperch, but every one of them seemed to be surrounded by two or more sunfish. I ended up putting on another sinker to get the bait quickly through the gauntlet of sunfish down to the logperch. Once the bait got down to the darters, they would go after it or the sinkers or the bait or sinkers.... Or another sunfish! Finally the cry of "Get the bag.. Get the bag!" rang out and the first logperch of the day was in the bag.


Livie was up next and she had much the same experience with about 15 to 20 sunfish caught before she caught her logperch near this brush.

Unfortunately it did not get into the bag for a photo. She was heartbroken and spent another 20 plus minutes trying for another one only to catch at least another 7 or 8 sunfish. Severely dehydrated we left and hiked back to the car.
We got dinner at Kettlehut smokehouse in Festus MO and split a piece of their lemon cheesecake pie!

 

When we were at the Johnson Shut-ins last week, I saw several different species of fish that I would love to catch including several greenside darters and a couple of logperch. The logperch is one of Missouri's largest darter species and one species that I had not yet seen let alone had the opportunity to catch. Also this area also has the brook darter. I didn't get to fish the last time down, so I packed up my daughter and we went yesterday as sort of a pre-Father's day event. BilletHead has started discussions on several occasions about what would you do for a single fish, drive 40 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours, ... I have always felt that it could be worth it for the experience. With that in mind we set off at 5:45 am to the Black river to fish below the shut-ins (ended up as a 420 mile round trip) for the hope of catching a brook darter, greenside darter, and/or a logperch.
Knowing that you cannot fish in the designated swim areas I had a plan to pack in our fishing gear and hike down river. We ended up on a trail that headed up the hills above the shut-ins. Finally we found a side trail that headed back down towards the river. We did see a couple of lizards along the way including this male fence lizard. You can just make out his blue patch of breeding coloration on his side. Believe it or not, Livie was not able to catch this guy. Don't worry she caught a few other things with her hands (more on them later).

After an invigorating hike with a couple of white knuckle slides, we made it to the river. Saw lots of fish including many darters right off the bat. Could be a good day!

We got the rods rigged up and baited (using in nightcrawler pieces instead of redworms because that's what we had at home). Of course Livie caught a small green sufish right off - with her HANDS !

Then she caught one with her rod.

While she was catching sunfish, I focused on trying after the micros around me. I caught a few bleeding shiners right off the bat before I targeted the darters around us.

We each targeted the more colorful darters, which were likely to be the males. Based upon their size, I was fairly certain that we had caught brook darters. It was not until I uploaded the photos that it became apparent that we had in fact caught small rainbow darters. Still nice looking fish, but somewhat disappointed because If I had looked closer at them we could have kept fishing for the brooks.



After catching these guys, I focused on trying to find and catch some other darters. Livie was excited catching a bunch of longear sunfish which is always the case when you catch the first few .

I was even happy to catch a few as a break from trying not to fall on the slick rocks (Note use felts soled boots if you have them!) and hunting for some new species. I found a spot that had a few greenside darters. Livie was first up to try for these guys. This is a species that can be difficult to get on a bait or to catch once they do go after your bait. Livie suffered through both scenarios with one of two fish just being spooked by the bait or not being able to get a hook set on the fish if it did bite. She got very frustrated and gave me the rod. I had a bit better success in terms of getting fish interested in the baits, but never got one hooked. I lifted a few out of the water and one actually flew out of the water and almost landed in the catch bag Livie was holding. Both of us were frustrated and moved on. Didn't get another chance at any greenside darters. Another frustration was trying to hook the nightcrawler pieces onto the small hooks, The worm pieces were a bit large and did not stay on the hooks very well.
Livie did get a nice hand caught bullfrog tadpole as a consolation prize.

I chased studfish and blackstripe topminnows as I continued downstream, but either spooked them or could not get them hooked. I came up to a large deeper pool. I caught sight of a large striped darter, the first logperch sighting!! I just had a topminnow strip my bait and had to call Livie to head back down to me with the bait and the rest of our gear. I spooked the first one that I tried to get on my bait. I didn't see another one for 5 or 10 mins. Then there were two in a spot about 20 feet from me. I snuck up to them and spooked them again. This time they came back quickly to the same spot. I dropped my bait and got bit as soon as it hit the water, it was a longear sunfish, then another, and another. I started seeing more logperch, but every one of them seemed to be surrounded by two or more sunfish. I ended up putting on another sinker to get the bait quickly through the gauntlet of sunfish down to the logperch. Once the bait got down to the darters, they would go after it or the sinkers or the bait or sinkers.... Or another sunfish! Finally the cry of "Get the bag.. Get the bag!" rang out and the first logperch of the day was in the bag.


Livie was up next and she had much the same experience with about 15 to 20 sunfish caught before she caught her logperch near this brush.

Unfortunately it did not get into the bag for a photo. She was heartbroken and spent another 20 plus minutes trying for another one only to catch at least another 7 or 8 sunfish. Severely dehydrated we left and hiked back to the car.
We got dinner at Kettlehut smokehouse in Festus MO and split a piece of their lemon cheesecake pie!

 

When we were at the Johnson Shut-ins last week, I saw several different species of fish that I would love to catch including several greenside darters and a couple of logperch. The logperch is one of Missouri's largest darter species and one species that I had not yet seen let alone had the opportunity to catch. Also this area also has the brook darter. I didn't get to fish the last time down, so I packed up my daughter and we went yesterday as sort of a pre-Father's day event. BilletHead has started discussions on several occasions about what would you do for a single fish, drive 40 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours, ... I have always felt that it could be worth it for the experience. With that in mind we set off at 5:45 am to the Black river to fish below the shut-ins (ended up as a 420 mile round trip) for the hope of catching a brook darter, greenside darter, and/or a logperch.
Knowing that you cannot fish in the designated swim areas I had a plan to pack in our fishing gear and hike down river. We ended up on a trail that headed up the hills above the shut-ins. Finally we found a side trail that headed back down towards the river. We did see a couple of lizards along the way including this male fence lizard. You can just make out his blue patch of breeding coloration on his side. Believe it or not, Livie was not able to catch this guy. Don't worry she caught a few other things with her hands (more on them later).

After an invigorating hike with a couple of white knuckle slides, we made it to the river. Saw lots of fish including many darters right off the bat. Could be a good day!

We got the rods rigged up and baited (using in nightcrawler pieces instead of redworms because that's what we had at home). Of course Livie caught a small green sufish right off - with her HANDS !

Then she caught one with her rod.

While she was catching sunfish, I focused on trying after the micros around me. I caught a few bleeding shiners right off the bat before I targeted the darters around us.

We each targeted the more colorful darters, which were likely to be the males. Based upon their size, I was fairly certain that we had caught brook darters. It was not until I uploaded the photos that it became apparent that we had in fact caught small rainbow darters. Still nice looking fish, but somewhat disappointed because If I had looked closer at them we could have kept fishing for the brooks.



After catching these guys, I focused on trying to find and catch some other darters. Livie was excited catching a bunch of longear sunfish which is always the case when you catch the first few .

I was even happy to catch a few as a break from trying not to fall on the slick rocks (Note use felts soled boots if you have them!) and hunting for some new species. I found a spot that had a few greenside darters. Livie was first up to try for these guys. This is a species that can be difficult to get on a bait or to catch once they do go after your bait. Livie suffered through both scenarios with one of two fish just being spooked by the bait or not being able to get a hook set on the fish if it did bite. She got very frustrated and gave me the rod. I had a bit better success in terms of getting fish interested in the baits, but never got one hooked. I lifted a few out of the water and one actually flew out of the water and almost landed in the catch bag Livie was holding. Both of us were frustrated and moved on. Didn't get another chance at any greenside darters. Another frustration was trying to hook the nightcrawler pieces onto the small hooks, The worm pieces were a bit large and did not stay on the hooks very well.
Livie did get a nice hand caught bullfrog tadpole as a consolation prize.

I chased studfish and blackstripe topminnows as I continued downstream, but either spooked them or could not get them hooked. I came up to a large deeper pool. I caught sight of a large striped darter, the first logperch sighting!! I just had a topminnow strip my bait and had to call Livie to head back down to me with the bait and the rest of our gear. I spooked the first one that I tried to get on my bait. I didn't see another one for 5 or 10 mins. Then there were two in a spot about 20 feet from me. I snuck up to them and spooked them again. This time they came back quickly to the same spot. I dropped my bait and got bit as soon as it hit the water, it was a longear sunfish, then another, and another. I started seeing more logperch, but every one of them seemed to be surrounded by two or more sunfish. I ended up putting on another sinker to get the bait quickly through the gauntlet of sunfish down to the logperch. Once the bait got down to the darters, they would go after it or the sinkers or the bait or sinkers.... Or another sunfish! Finally the cry of "Get the bag.. Get the bag!" rang out and the first logperch of the day was in the bag.


Livie was up next and she had much the same experience with about 15 to 20 sunfish caught before she caught her logperch near this brush.

Unfortunately it did not get into the bag for a photo. She was heartbroken and spent another 20 plus minutes trying for another one only to catch at least another 7 or 8 sunfish. Severely dehydrated we left and hiked back to the car.
We got dinner at Kettlehut smokehouse in Festus MO and split a piece of their lemon cheesecake pie!

 

Wife and I went to the Trout Unlimited Bonneville cutthroat egg planting this morning on the Norfork river. TU starting doing this 5 years ago to develop a wild strain of trout in the rivers up here. They get the eggs from Idaho. We buried 75 boxes with 500 eggs in each box this morning in a small side channel of the river.   Here's a few pictures...   They started with a presentation to Dave Whitlock (fly fishing guru, author and artist) who started the program 5 years ago. Arkansas Game and Fish had a film crew there for an upcoming episode on their TV show.     Next pic are the eggs which they put in plastic boxes with gravel in the bottom. They have to control the temperature to get the eggs within 3 degrees of the river water.   Then the plastic boxes are put into wire boxes and surrounded with more clean  gravel.   Finally the boxes are buried in the river gravel and surrounded by more clean gravel.     There were about 30 TU volunteers there and the county sent a crew of kids from their detention center (aka community service) to help with the heavy work of moving and loading gravel.. 

It took a couple of days here in Maryland, but I finally got out and fished. With my travel schedule I have been trying to get in on some panfish spawning. Back in Missouri I got into some crappie. Now I hoped to get into some bluegill or readear sunfish at Tuckahoe lake like I did last year in May. I tied on a John Deere microjig that I picked up at Weaver's tackle store in Lebanon, MO the last time I fished Bennett's Spring.

Even with the 4# Pline I can cast this tiny 1/125 oz bait 20 to 25 feet. If the fish were in ths spots that I caught them last year I wouldn't have to cast much further than 25 feet. I fished the jig without a float. The first spot I tried I did not get a bite on three casts. I hoped that this wouldn't be a busted trip. I went to another spot where I had caught bluegill previously. I made a cast out between some emergent plants and the line straightened out as the jig dropped and I set the hook on a nice bluegill.

I caught a few more from that spot. Most of the fish took the bait as the jig dropped at the end of the cast. On one of the casts I did not get a bite until I jigged it a bit and got it close to the weeds and got a surprise bite, a black crappie. This was the first crappie I have caught in Maryland. Yes I do have a list of fish that I have caught in Maryland !

Once the bites slowed, I moved to another sandy spot where people put in canoes and kayaks. I had caught pumpkinseed sunfish here last year and I could see beds in the sand. As luck would have it I caught another pumpkinseed in that location. These are just beautiful fish.

I moved to the dock and caught several more nice bluegill.

Then I got a stronger fighting fish and landed my fish redear of the night. A dark male.

I could see the fish moving around the dock. I also thought that I saw a long dark shadow at the corner of the dock. Several of the bluegill were over 8 inches in length and this redear was almost 10".

I ended the night with a dozen bluegill, eight readear, a pumpkinseed, and three black crappie in 84 minutes of fishing. I made a cast up near some brush and lifted what I thought was a branch and it was a 14 to 16 inch largemouth near where I had seen the shadow. I did not get the hook set well enough and the bass swam away unharmed. It was a great night. The only thing better would have been able to share this with my daughter or some OAF friends.

 
 

It took a couple of days here in Maryland, but I finally got out and fished. With my travel schedule I have been trying to get in on some panfish spawning. Back in Missouri I got into some crappie. Now I hoped to get into some bluegill or readear sunfish at Tuckahoe lake like I did last year in May. I tied on a John Deere microjig that I picked up at Weaver's tackle store in Lebanon, MO the last time I fished Bennett's Spring.

Even with the 4# Pline I can cast this tiny 1/125 oz bait 20 to 25 feet. If the fish were in ths spots that I caught them last year I wouldn't have to cast much further than 25 feet. I fished the jig without a float. The first spot I tried I did not get a bite on three casts. I hoped that this wouldn't be a busted trip. I went to another spot where I had caught bluegill previously. I made a cast out between some emergent plants and the line straightened out as the jig dropped and I set the hook on a nice bluegill.

I caught a few more from that spot. Most of the fish took the bait as the jig dropped at the end of the cast. On one of the casts I did not get a bite until I jigged it a bit and got it close to the weeds and got a surprise bite, a black crappie. This was the first crappie I have caught in Maryland. Yes I do have a list of fish that I have caught in Maryland !

Once the bites slowed, I moved to another sandy spot where people put in canoes and kayaks. I had caught pumpkinseed sunfish here last year and I could see beds in the sand. As luck would have it I caught another pumpkinseed in that location. These are just beautiful fish.

I moved to the dock and caught several more nice bluegill.

Then I got a stronger fighting fish and landed my fish redear of the night. A dark male.

I could see the fish moving around the dock. I also thought that I saw a long dark shadow at the corner of the dock. Several of the bluegill were over 8 inches in length and this redear was almost 10".

I ended the night with a dozen bluegill, eight readear, a pumpkinseed, and three black crappie in 84 minutes of fishing. I made a cast up near some brush and lifted what I thought was a branch and it was a 14 to 16 inch largemouth near where I had seen the shadow. I did not get the hook set well enough and the bass swam away unharmed. It was a great night. The only thing better would have been able to share this with my daughter or some OAF friends.

 
 

Me and a buddy arrived at Crane Creek the morning of May 8th, starting at the Lower Access bridge. About 100 yards downstream at the first bend in the stream we each landed our first McCloud. The reputation of these fish as strong fighters is well deserved. I was fishing a prince nymph and my friend had on a sow bug. He  caught another one a little further down at the next major bend in the stream. We ended up fishing a few hundred yards further downstream, which required some bushwhacking, but turned back at a point when the stream go much wider, swifter, and more difficult to access because of steep banks. 
After a short break, we drove into town and parked at the baseball fields. From there, we walked the railroad tracks to the trestle and started fishing our way back upstream. We came across a few nice holes, but didn't have much action until my friend hooked a really nice 14 incher a short distance downstream from the ball field. It put up a considerable a fight and quite a bend in his 7' 4wt. I caught my second fish of the day directly behind the baseball field on a bead-head crackleback. We got a few more bites in the park area, but the only other fish caught were fingerlings. 
We also scouted the middle and upper access areas, but the water was much smaller and we weren't up to the task of walking significant distances to find fishable holes. It was a hot day and we were both exhausted. So five McClouds between us for our inaugural trip to Crane Creek. We both agreed it was a successful day of fishing and we would return.
Thanks to everyone who contributes to this forum and who answered the questions I posted prior to my trip to Crane. The information was very helpful. 

It took a couple of days here in Maryland, but I finally got out and fished. With my travel schedule I have been trying to get in on some panfish spawning. Back in Missouri I got into some crappie. Now I hoped to get into some bluegill or readear sunfish at Tuckahoe lake like I did last year in May. I tied on a John Deere microjig that I picked up at Weaver's tackle store in Lebanon, MO the last time I fished Bennett's Spring.

Even with the 4# Pline I can cast this tiny 1/125 oz bait 20 to 25 feet. If the fish were in ths spots that I caught them last year I wouldn't have to cast much further than 25 feet. I fished the jig without a float. The first spot I tried I did not get a bite on three casts. I hoped that this wouldn't be a busted trip. I went to another spot where I had caught bluegill previously. I made a cast out between some emergent plants and the line straightened out as the jig dropped and I set the hook on a nice bluegill.

I caught a few more from that spot. Most of the fish took the bait as the jig dropped at the end of the cast. On one of the casts I did not get a bite until I jigged it a bit and got it close to the weeds and got a surprise bite, a black crappie. This was the first crappie I have caught in Maryland. Yes I do have a list of fish that I have caught in Maryland !

Once the bites slowed, I moved to another sandy spot where people put in canoes and kayaks. I had caught pumpkinseed sunfish here last year and I could see beds in the sand. As luck would have it I caught another pumpkinseed in that location. These are just beautiful fish.

I moved to the dock and caught several more nice bluegill.

Then I got a stronger fighting fish and landed my fish redear of the night. A dark male.

I could see the fish moving around the dock. I also thought that I saw a long dark shadow at the corner of the dock. Several of the bluegill were over 8 inches in length and this redear was almost 10".

I ended the night with a dozen bluegill, eight readear, a pumpkinseed, and three black crappie in 84 minutes of fishing. I made a cast up near some brush and lifted what I thought was a branch and it was a 14 to 16 inch largemouth near where I had seen the shadow. I did not get the hook set well enough and the bass swam away unharmed. It was a great night. The only thing better would have been able to share this with my daughter or some OAF friends.

 
 

No we are not talking Cher singing on a battleship here. We are talking a white bass report,
         Mrs. BilletHead and I had a pretty nice morning outing . Water temps 61 to 63.5 degrees. Windy, very windy and overcast. Sprinkle or two. Shot one shoal and stayed below the second. Started by anchoring in two foot of water. Mrs. BilletHead had two fish before I could get a cast in. We would work an area. Pull anchor drop and repeat. Pat used floating line. I literally fought sink tip in the shallow water. Getting snagged a bunch. Actually she was beating me up pretty bad until I switched to floating line. Clousers would go deep enough and snagging problem disappeared. In the thin water just smallish males. As we worked to a max depth of five feet larger fish showed up. There was a stretch of maybe a half mile of straight river we fished between eight AM until ten-thirty before picking up and heading to the ramp. in the deeper water we used the trolling motor until we hit fish and dropped anchor again. Pink over white Clousers and chartreuse over orange is all we used.
The Mrs. shooting one out,

Proof channel cat like pink,

Pat had white bass thumb today,

    I caught one of the biggest whites I have ever caught today. The rule here is 15 inches. Got a good measurement at home. Wouldn't make 18 inches but close,
 
Totals when we remembered to click .
 
  Never seen another soul until we got back down river. Good day to spend with my bride and best friend,
    BilletHead

I just got back from a 110 mile solo kayak trip last night on the current river.  I woke up today wanting to fish ol beave’s so I got the boys ready and headed to the lake.  I wasn’t expecting much success sense I haven’t  been on the lake all week and didn’t know what was going on.   But I was pleasantly surprised with the bite.  I had bought some crappie minnows for the boys to use and pitched them about lay downs and caught quite a few fish.  We must have caugh 20 or so but only kept 10 or so.  I wasn’t really keeping count cuz the boys had me busy helping them.  If ur into crappie this would be a good time to go.  My 9 and 7 year olds tore them up for  a few hours today.   Here’s a couple of pics. 

Ever since I planned my recent trip to Maryland this late in April, I have been researching about trying to go after the shad that run the rivers throughout the state. Maryland has both American and Hickory shad. When I lived in PA back in college, I never once headed to the Delaware river to fish for shad. It was often a rite of spring in that part of PA with many folks more excited about shad than the trout opener. In those days I knew about using shad darts, even had a few in the day, but never fished them. I researched some spots, read articles, watched videos, and picked up some darts that appealed to me. I asked around at work when I got back in Maryland and read fishing reports. I decided on trying out the confluence of Deer Creek and the Susquehanna river with access in Susquehanna State park in Cecil county Maryland. I drove up to the park on Saturday. I knew going in that this would not be a trip of solitude fishing. If there were no fisherman then there were likely no fish in that area. As I was driving along sight of the river there were cars parked in all of the parking areas. A good sign. I kept driving past the confluence to check out the creek and get a feel for the water. What was apparent that the shad had not gone too far up the creek and that the spot to fish would be the confluence area. As I pulled into the parking area, I saw a couple of bent rods and watched shad being landed. 
I started with a tandem rig with a 1/4 oz lower dart and a 1/8 oz upper shad dart. The lower one was white with a red tip and the upper dart was a green head with chartreuse body. I could reach a spot with a decent current run and got hung on the bottom on my second cast. I lost both darts. It took losing a few more darts before I got a feel for the rocks and bottom structure. The guy up at the actual confluence gave up and headed off to breakfast. I moved to his spot and got the two dart tandem rig set up. I went with two 1/8 oz green/chartreuse darts. I could see guys on the other side of the creek catching shad. I was watching their cadence and retrieve speed. I tried to emulate that and I got a hard bite. What a fight. This is one feisty fish species. I horsed the fish and pulled the hook. Second cast and same thing. Hard fight and pulled hook. After several casts I had a third hard bite. With this fish, I had to channel Phil Lilly and opted to back reel instead of relying on the drag system. I was able to keep good pressure on the fish, which jumped a couple of times before I finally landed my first hickory shad !

Even with landing only a single fish, I could start to see why people get excited about catching them. What a sleek and gorgeous looking fish. They are a powerful fighter. I couldn't wait to catch another. I switched up colors and I hooked and lost a couple of fish after counting down the rig before reeling it in.  What I didn't notice was I was pulling off a scale or two from the hooks. Then I hooked a strong fish and noticed that it fought differently than the previous fish. I also saw that It also was not a silver fish but was golden brown. I was thinking of a carp, but ended up landing my first ever shorthead redhorse sucker!

A couple of cast later, I figured out just what I was hooking into when I snagged this gizzard shad with the lower dart. I ended up with five gizzard shad at this location.

I watched a guy next to me begin catching several hickories with the majority of them being caught on a #13 silver and green Tony Accetta PET spoon. Another guy down stream was also catching shad on spoons as well.  I finally hooked and landed my second hickory of the day on my darts. It was a female loaded with eggs.

 It was after noon and I was getting hangry. I had a couple of guys move in on me. I had enough and went to get something to eat. I left the river with a few folks still fishing.

I learned a lot and had ideas on what I might need if I were to get back and fish this area again. I dropped by the Bass Pro shop in Baltimore on the way back to the hotel to pick up some spoons and a few more darts. I also picked up a medium weight rod to have a second rod for Sunday, but that's another story !
 

Ever since I planned my recent trip to Maryland this late in April, I have been researching about trying to go after the shad that run the rivers throughout the state. Maryland has both American and Hickory shad. When I lived in PA back in college, I never once headed to the Delaware river to fish for shad. It was often a rite of spring in that part of PA with many folks more excited about shad than the trout opener. In those days I knew about using shad darts, even had a few in the day, but never fished them. I researched some spots, read articles, watched videos, and picked up some darts that appealed to me. I asked around at work when I got back in Maryland and read fishing reports. I decided on trying out the confluence of Deer Creek and the Susquehanna river with access in Susquehanna State park in Cecil county Maryland. I drove up to the park on Saturday. I knew going in that this would not be a trip of solitude fishing. If there were no fisherman then there were likely no fish in that area. As I was driving along sight of the river there were cars parked in all of the parking areas. A good sign. I kept driving past the confluence to check out the creek and get a feel for the water. What was apparent that the shad had not gone too far up the creek and that the spot to fish would be the confluence area. As I pulled into the parking area, I saw a couple of bent rods and watched shad being landed. 
I started with a tandem rig with a 1/4 oz lower dart and a 1/8 oz upper shad dart. The lower one was white with a red tip and the upper dart was a green head with chartreuse body. I could reach a spot with a decent current run and got hung on the bottom on my second cast. I lost both darts. It took losing a few more darts before I got a feel for the rocks and bottom structure. The guy up at the actual confluence gave up and headed off to breakfast. I moved to his spot and got the two dart tandem rig set up. I went with two 1/8 oz green/chartreuse darts. I could see guys on the other side of the creek catching shad. I was watching their cadence and retrieve speed. I tried to emulate that and I got a hard bite. What a fight. This is one feisty fish species. I horsed the fish and pulled the hook. Second cast and same thing. Hard fight and pulled hook. After several casts I had a third hard bite. With this fish, I had to channel Phil Lilly and opted to back reel instead of relying on the drag system. I was able to keep good pressure on the fish, which jumped a couple of times before I finally landed my first hickory shad !

Even with landing only a single fish, I could start to see why people get excited about catching them. What a sleek and gorgeous looking fish. They are a powerful fighter. I couldn't wait to catch another. I switched up colors and I hooked and lost a couple of fish after counting down the rig before reeling it in.  What I didn't notice was I was pulling off a scale or two from the hooks. Then I hooked a strong fish and noticed that it fought differently than the previous fish. I also saw that It also was not a silver fish but was golden brown. I was thinking of a carp, but ended up landing my first ever shorthead redhorse sucker!

A couple of cast later, I figured out just what I was hooking into when I snagged this gizzard shad with the lower dart. I ended up with five gizzard shad at this location.

I watched a guy next to me begin catching several hickories with the majority of them being caught on a #13 silver and green Tony Accetta PET spoon. Another guy down stream was also catching shad on spoons as well.  I finally hooked and landed my second hickory of the day on my darts. It was a female loaded with eggs.

 It was after noon and I was getting hangry. I had a couple of guys move in on me. I had enough and went to get something to eat. I left the river with a few folks still fishing.

I learned a lot and had ideas on what I might need if I were to get back and fish this area again. I dropped by the Bass Pro shop in Baltimore on the way back to the hotel to pick up some spoons and a few more darts. I also picked up a medium weight rod to have a second rod for Sunday, but that's another story !
 

With his father's help, Zaniel Cole, 8, has done the unthinkable in Oklahoma. Not only did Zaniel snag a 100-pound paddlefish, but he also managed to snag a rare shovelnose sturgeon the very same day! Paddlefish and shovelnose sturgeon are distant cousins in the order Acipenseriformes and date to the time of the dinosaurs, which is why they are referred to as "prehistoric fishes."
Although they are the most abundant sturgeon in North America, shovelnose sturgeon numbers have declined over the past century and they are rare in Oklahoma. So, catching a shovelnose sturgeon the same day as a 100-pound paddlefish is a notable thrill.
Shovelnose sturgeon are not federally protected in Oklahoma, but they are listed as a Species of Special Concern in Category II. This means there is insufficient information to adequately evaluate the population status or species trend in Oklahoma. Harvest of shovelnose sturgeon is legal with a limit of one per day. However, any shovelnose sturgeon caught in the state is required to be reported to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.  
Zaniel and his father, Adam, released the shovelnose sturgeon and reported their catch to the Wildlife Department. Their story was shared on the Wildlife Department's Facebook page and has quickly become very popular. 
Learn more about the shovelnose sturgeon in the upcoming May/June issue of Outdoor Oklahoma, the official Wildlife Department magazine.


Anglers should take special precautions when handling paddlefish. It is best to avoid holding or grabbing the fish by its jaw or gills. Just remember to #HugAPaddlefish (Photos Courtesy of Adam Cole)

Where to go , what to do?
    Really wanted to make the run to the Spring in Oklahoma for whites but with the wind forecast Curtice and the BilletHead met at the Aldrich ramp and jetted up the river looking for fish. Higher than the last time I was up there. We shot up to a couple of spots for a try. Anchored near a cut bank with some slower water. We rigged up the fly rods. Curt tied on a purple clouser and I a good old pink over white clouser. First cast this is what I got ,
  18 incher and not too shabby I thought. We casted some more and about ten casts later I had another walleye but came off at the surface. A few casts later I had another,19.5 inches . Funny how they bit. I would cast out and let the clouser swing. Strip back slowly. When I thought I had enough and wanted in I would strip fast to get line ready for another cast. This is when I got my hits stripping fast.
We worked over several places. Whites were pretty scarce. I landed one and Curt two or three. It wouldn't be much of a trip if I did not catch something weird,   Seen several other fishermen and three of those guys were fellow fly fisher folks. No one was tearing them up. Starting water temps 49 to 50 degrees. Did hit one stretch of 54 on way back to ramp. Most of the day it averaged 52 degrees.   A nice day out. Wind was strange in places. We knew it was South West but in places it was blowing up river seeming to come from the North.  Air temp started in the fifties and finished out close to seventy-five. Trying to decide if I should do this trip again in the AM? Also Trolling motor acting strange, got a spare that is working,
    BilletHead

Second time in my life that’s happened..
Got out briefly yesterday after church.  Basically got a short hall pass😂
Didn’t expect much.  Been several days since on the water.  Just wanted to go wet a line and catch a fish.  
Right away it was on after setting my second rod in the holder.  Never could get all rods completely out😂. Stayed like that for about an hour but, the thing was I was getting dinked crazy.  
Usually I go underneath them and to the bottom but, they were throughout the water column.    
So, just made the best of the conditions and pilfered through what I could keep on limited time.
Water clarity....  Is perfect...  WT 53 degrees.  
Ended with 8...  More rain and cold coming this weekend...🙄  
God Bless.  
Pics below...   Yes that’s considered a slab😁

Got out Friday and Saturday.  Been a temporary bachelor around here and just figured might as well go fish Saturday too.  
Both days was a slow bite for me.  Got to fish Friday a little where I been wanting to go for awhile.  The fish seem better quality there but, once the gale force winds kick in and the boat traffic picks up, it makes it difficult.
Ended up moving to a little stretch of area for shelter and stayed there.  
Ended with 15 on Friday 
Saturday morning that wind was still a gusting.  Figure I go try a little  of an area where it’s somewhat manageable but, then the wind started tossing my tin can around so, opted for same area as Friday.   Ended with 10.
Rigging minnows....  WT 57-59 Fish caught Friday where  in 10-8 fow and Saturday fish caught where in 5-6 fow.  
Them males caught Saturday are starting to get their war paint on.  Coming up on my favorite method of rigging now 😁
Pics below and God bless 
 

Finally got together with Daryk Campbell Sr to make good on a promise that I had made a couple of years ago. We finally nailed down a suitable date, time, and location to meet. What I did not expect was the drama at the Breaktime. Before Livie and I arrived, there was an altercation between a man and woman that we caught the tail end of and it ultimately involved the police. I'm glad that we were not blocked by the police and we were able to leave the parking lot and get to fishing. The sky was overcast, it was supposed to be in the mid 40’s. With the wind it never felt like it got above 38 deg.
Both Daryk and Livie got to try out their waders for the first time. Livie was actually wearing a pair of waders that My Betterhalf picked up at an estate sale on Friday. I had mentioned to Daryk that with the drought from last year and the cold winter that I was not sure what we would find. I still felt that we would get into some darters and minnows, but maybe not many bass or sunfish. As I suspected the water was running low and very clear. The clarity of the water took Daryk by surprise since he is used to fishing around St Louis and not having much more than a couple of inches or less than a foot of visibility.
As we were making a few casts, Livie started hand-fishing by catching a tadpole. After she released the tadpole, a small fish caught our eyes and after several attempts at catching two different ones Olivia hand-caught this slender madtom.


Since we really weren’t seeing many intermediate sized fish, I got the micro-rod with a #26 tanago half-moon hook and a couple of split shot rigged up with a tiny piece of red worm that I trimmed so that the hook point was exposed. That bait may last us all day. In the first section of the creek we did not see many fish, when we did it was important to get Daryk used to seeing the small fish, especially the darters. It didn’t take long until we found a darter that we might be able to get a bait in front of and actually catch it. I was able to get it to bite and Daryk was able to see the bait and the fish turn and take the bait before I set the hook. In the meantime Livie was fishing a white/chartreuse 1/64 oz plastic jig under a float and casting into the deeper water under the bridge. She found and caught several creek chubs.

I showed Daryk what characteristics to look for on the creek chub, like the dark stripe, large terminal mouth, and especially the dark spot on the front of the dorsal fin. As Livie released her fifth chub, I had her had me the rod so it wouldn’t get in her way. I really just did that just to get the hot bait. I made a cast of two and landed a chub soon after. I then handed the rod to Daryk and he got his first creek chub and the first fish of the day.


He and I went back to darter fishing and Livie back with the hot bait caught a bluegill sunfish (though it looks like there might be a little green sunfish in its genetics).

There was a lot of smack talk going around, but I finally landed another darter. Then Daryk followed up and caught two right in a row.


I initially thought they might be juvenile or female rainbow darters since those are really common in this creek. Looking at the edited photos, I noticed that the dorsal fin on those that Daryk and I caught had very few spines and were much shorter than the second dorsal fin. I now suspect that these were actually fantail darters and will have to get confirmation before I put it down as a new life-list species for me. A couple of these darters looked to be infested with flukes like some of the sunfish and bass.

We headed upstream to another deeper pool (only about 2 to 2 ½ feet deep) and started getting into bigger schools of minnows that I had expected to find earlier. Livie caught a bluegill on her first cast, then got hung up in a shrub on the far bank. I went across to get it out and passed through a school of hundreds of minnows, mostly bleeding shiners. Daryk and Livie waded across when Daryk spotted some turtles on the bottom. If JestersHK reads this he will recall that it doesn’t take long for Olivia to get after a turtle or two once they have been spotted.

She didn’t get one of the bigger ones because the water was too deep, but she did manage to push a smaller one into more shallow water and did catch it. We both think that it is likely a small river cooter.

Since we had a better angle on the fish in front of us, I switched out the larger plastic jig and tied on a 1/125 oz white head and light pink chenile grub body. Daryk caught his first hornyhead chub. There was no spot on the dorsal fin and an orange spot behind the eye. The bleeding shiners kept going after the grub and Livie caught one.


I switched the bait again to a #16 ribbed hares ear nymph and both Daryk and I caught bleeding shiners as well. Livie was hungry and we went back to the cars for lunch. After eating Daryk and I went back out and further upstream. I wanted to get into a few more darters. I know that there are rainbow darters, orangethroat darters, and my target species of the day, the greenside darter in this creek. In a small shallow off shoot, I spotted a male orangethroat darter we had spooked and had to tell Daryk where to put the bait until he finally saw the fish. This guy was tightlipped and would not bite no matter how Daryk got the bait positioned. Finally, we went to look for some others. Back in the main flow of the creek I spotted a male rainbow darter. Again, Daryk positioned the bait a couple of different ways to this fish. Eventually the fish turned and struck the bait and Dayrk caught his first supermale rainbow darter.

It was the possibility of catching a fish like this one that led him to contact me in the first place. I know that he now has the equipment and the confidence to now go out and catch darters like these wherever he can find them. I look forward to seeing his photos in the future.

We had our daughter and granddaughter visiting for Spring break the last couple of days. This morning the water on the White was finally down to minimum flow so I took my daughter wade fishing at the Cotter access. I knew the water would come up about 9:00 so we had a short window to fish. She hasn't fly fished before but got the hang of it pretty quick She caught 4 or 5 and missed a bunch due to being a bit slow on the hook set.  I hooked this nice brown and handed the rod off to her about halfway thru the fight. He made 5 jumps clearing the water and we had to chase him downstream about 50 yards.