FishnDave

Fire just north of St Louis as well. https://www.ksdk.com/article/weather/severe-weather/wildfire-burning-outside-st-louis-county-under-control-spanish-lake-columbia-bottom-conservation-area/63-d4f19b31-65e3-40b4-a5e6-418d66e9be76

Really? I mean... maybe when its your time to go, it just is. But how often have you heard of somebody talking to another person, making eye contact... and either person dropping dead? Seems like.... never. So... just keep gabbing away. Don't go to sleep! 😅

Selling any fly gear?

I've had amazing success with game changers. But I haven't fished them much the past few years, as I haven't target bass for some time. Might have to see what Bowfin think of them this year...

Those are fat gar! I assume females? I caught one that long (49.5") in 2023, but it was NOT a fat one. Longnose Gar are COOL!! Missouri's record, caught in 2021, is 32 lb 10 oz.... I couldn't readily find info on it's length.

Perch spawn really early. I remember catching really fat (eggs) Yellow Perch through the ice in Iowa... not spawning but getting close!

Cool! Yeah, you should! I'm sure I've shown it here before.... When I still lived in Iowa, I had one of their conservation plates that had a Brook Trout on it. The top plate is (was) mine "FSHN"... and the bottom one was one we saw driving around... I never got to meet the owner... but if you've heard the song Gone Fishin' by Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong.... "Gone Fishin' instead of just wishin'..."

I don't have any advice... but I wish you good luck! Sounds like a fun time!

A fly rod is a very fun way to go after carp. In lakes, when the mulberries are ripe, find mulberry trees along the shore that are dropping fruit into the water. Common Carp, Grass Carp, and Channel Catfish all like those spots. I'm not familiar with Beaver Lake, but if there's restaurants on the docks, carp will often hang around those too, as people like to toss bread and french fries into the water to watch them eat. In open water areas, a slow-sinking nymph pattern can get bit. Small crayfish patterns in shallow rocky shoreline areas. I've even caught them on small white baitfish patterns when the young shad are concentrated.

I've felt that way lately as well. So unlike me! What gives? I'm slowly gathering a few potential MO targets....and it's helping a bit.

One source this morning said our suburb of St Louis got 12.8" of snow in the past 24 hrs. Trees don't look icy. Plenty of snow.

I'm VERY happy with it. ☺️

Can I post my 2024 Summary here? Here it goes: I didn't catch as many species as Livie, John, nor Hamilton. It wasn't a goal, but I managed to catch my most species in a year at 87 on fly, with 28 new Flyfers. My Fly Lifelist is now at 143. 123 of those are U.S. Freshwater species. I haven't looked at my all-tackle lifelist for a long time, so that's for another day. I didn't track days, outings or overall numbers. I did that for 10 consecutive years, so I've totally been there...I totally get it. I did keep track of 4 species again, although I wasn't trying to stack big numbers for any of these this year. For those 4 species, the 2024 and Flyfetime numbers are: Grass Carp: 26 / 277 Goldfish: 30 / 377 Koi: 69 / 500 Bowfin: 39 / 203 I'm happy with all those numbers, but may continue to track them without really going hard at them... just for kicks. I fished in Alaska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana. I did start micro flyfishing in 2024, and was able to add some new-to-me species. Some of my favorite little fish were an Orange-throat Darter, Ozark Logperch, and Southern Redbelly Dace. Also caught some Orangespotted Sunfish (not new) and Northern Sunfish. The Northern Sunfish was the last of the "original 13 Lepomis Sunfish species" I needed to complete that list. Hamilton got us on Alligator Gar this year, so I/we have caught all 5 the U.S. Gar species on fly now. Added Musky on fly, as well as Striped Bass and Blue Catfish... plus Black Drum, Northern Snakehead, and Rio Grande Cichlid. I enjoyed catching more Grass Pickerel, Redspotted Sunfish, Shadow Bass, and Dollar Sunfish again this year, and a nice Goldeye. Some pics, many of which have been shared throughout the year:

After achieving what I thought were pretty aggressive (for me) goals in 2024, I'm relaxing my goals for 2025. No trips planned. As far as the PTO goes... I'm still carrying some over, but I used more than I accrued in 2024... between a parent dying, a family cruise to Alaska, a fishing trip (with Hamilton) to Louisiana, and a 2 week cruise to Antarctica with my wife...plus some minor additional trips here and there... I feel a bit "travelled out". If I can find some local spots, I may try for Brown Bullhead, Red Shiner, and Rainbow Darter as some target fish.