FishnDave

Caught a nice Freshwater Drum on fly before the heat got to me on Saturday. 22.5". Pretty brown/bronze fish! Also (intentionally) foul-hooked a couple Silver Carp with the fly. One measured 28", the other 25". Also caught a couple channel catfish, a shortnose gar, and a hybrid sunfish. The heat was brutal!

Here's a hatch chart for Missouri you may find useful: https://flyfishersatthecrossing.org/education/bug-info/missouri-hatch-chart/ I've copied the contents of that line below. You'd still have to look up what the bugs actually look like. Missouri Hatch Chart Here is the Missouri hatch chart for our State. Many of these hatches are happening at the same time in other states as well. The imitations suggested are just that – suggestions. Flies that you have that may be similar would work also. Remember when the specific aquatic insect (caddis, mayfly, or stonefly) is hatching their nymphal and larva stage are present as well. Midges are year round so don’t forget to fish with them. March Thru May Early Season Mayfly Hatch Chart Approximate Hatch Dates Common Name Time of Day Hook Size Imitation’s Mid Mar to Mid April Little Blue Winged Olive Early Afternoon 16-20 Blue Winged Olive Emerger and Dry Mid April to Early May Blue Quill Early Afternoon 16-18 Blue Quill Dry Paraleptophlebia Nymph Mid April to Mid May Quill Gordon Early Afternoon 12-14 Hare’s Ear Wet Fly, G.R. Hare’s Ear Nymph, Quill Gordon Dry Mid April to Mid May Hendrickson (Red Quill) Mid Afternoon 12-14 Hendrickson Nymph, Light Hendrickson Dry, Red Quill Dry Early Season Caddis Fly Hatch Chart Approximate Hatch Dates Common Name Time of Day Hook Size Imitation’s Mid April to Mid May Little Black Caddis Early Afternoon 18 Dark Brown/Black Elk hair Caddis Mid April Grannom Caddis Late Morning – Early Afternoon 14-16 Leadwing Coachman Wet, dark Brown Elk Hair Caddis Late April to Early May Cream Caddis Late Morning – Afternoon 14 Cream Elk Hair Caddis, Cream Emergent Pupa Early May Green Caddis Late Morning – Afternoon 14 Green Caddis Larva and Pupa, Henryville Special Dry Early Season Stonefly Hatch Chart Approximate Hatch Dates Common Name Time of Day Hook Size Imitation’s Early March Little Black Stonefly Mid-day 16 Black body-dun hackle and down wings dry. Early Black Stonefly Nymph April Early Brown Stonefly Afternoon 10-14 Early Brown Stone Wet, Early Brown Stone Nymph May Thru June Mid Season Mayfly Hatch Chart Approximate Hatch Dates Common Name Time of Day Hook Size Imitations Mid May to Early June March Brown Sporadic Throughout the day 10-12 March Brown Dry, Stenonema Nymph, Spinner Mid May to Early June Gray Fox Sporadic Throughout the day 12-14 Gray Fox Dry, Stenonema Nymph, Spinner Late May to Early June Green Drake Coffin Fly(Spinner) Throughout Afternoon and Evening 8-10 Green Drake Dun, Green Drake Nymph, Coffin Fly, White Wulff Late May to Mid June Little Maryatt Evening 14-16 EphemerellaNymph Late May to Mid June Pale Sulfur Dun Evening 14-16 Sulfur Dun & Spinner Late May to Mid June Pale Evening Dun Evening 14-16 Pale Evening Dun & Spinner Late May to Late June Light Cahill Evening 12-16 Light Cahill Nymph, Emerger, Dun & Spinner Early June to Late June Blue Winged Olive Late Morning to Mid-day 12-16 Blue Winged Olive Nymph, Wet, & Dun Mid Season Caddis Fly Hatch Chart Approximate Hatch Dates Common Name Time of Day Hook Size Imitations Late May, June Tan Caddis Afternoon Evening 14-18 March Brown Spider, Tan Elk Hair Caddis Late May, June Dun Caddis Midday 14 Elk Hair Caddis, Tent Wing Caddis Mid Season Stonefly Hatch Chart Approximate Hatch Dates Common Name Time of Day Hook Size Imitations June Little Yellow Sally Afternoon 10-14 Michigan Stone Dry June Golden Stone Afternoon Evening 10 Stonefly Creeper May, June Giant Black Stonefly Morning, Afternoon 4-8 Kauffman’s Nymph, B!tch Creek Nymph, Montana Nymph May, June Giant Spined Stonefly Evening 4-8 Kauffman’s Nymph, B!tch Creek Nymph, Montana Nymph June Thru October Late Season Mayfly Hatch Chart Approximate Hatch Dates Common Name Time of Day Hook Size Imitations Mid June through Mid October Slate Winged Mahogany Sporadic Throughout the Day 10-12 Leadwing Coachman, Isonychia Nymph, Dun Variant, Rusty Spinner Mid June, Mid July Blue Winged Olive Morning, Midday 14-16 Ephemerella Nymph, Emerger & Dun Late June and July Golden Drake Evening 12 Cream Variant July thru September Trico Morning 22-24 Trico Dun & Spinner July thru October Tiny Blue Winged Olive Sporadic Afternoon 18-24 Blue Winged Olive Nymph, Emerger & Dun Late Season Caddis Fly Hatch Chart Approximate Hatch Dates Common Name Time of Day Hook Size Imitations June thru Sept Tan Caddis Sporadic All Day 14-20 Tan Elk Hair Caddis August thru Oct Summer Sedge (Autumn Sedge) Late Day, Evening 12-18 Woodchuck Caddis, Cased Caddis Late Season Stonefly Hatch Chart Approximate Hatch Dates Common Name Time of Day Hook Size Imitations Mid June, July Lime Sally Afternoon, Evening 16-18 Michigan Stone, little Green Hairwing Mid June, July Yellow Sally Afternoon, Evening 14 Little Yellow Hairwing Mid June, July Great Brown Stonefly Evening 8-12 Stimulator, Ted’s Stonefly June thru August Big Golden Stonefly Evening 8 Golden Stone Nymph, Stimulator

Blackstripe Topminnow: For some reason, small Common Carp are rarely seen or caught. Caught a couple on flies on Saturday in a shallow creek. Pipevine Swallowtails were very active! Creek Chub: Found an interesting fossil. Put it back on the ground after taking some pics of it. Found out its a Platycrinitid Crinoid stem, and there is a Fenestellate Bryozoan to the lower right of the main fossil.

Your goggle-eye was likely an Ozark Bass. Very cool! 👍

@Ham Yes, and me too! I did later catch one in the Meramec River near StL, after Ham broke the secret code to catching them in AR.

That's so awesome! @Ham And always calling your shots!

I do! Grass Carp. Caught 3 on Saturday morning. Plus a drum and a rather dark-colored common carp.

I saw some of the pictures on your buddy's IG acct. The same guy that fished with @ham last summer, right? That's some late night fishing!!

@ness I saw Paul McCartney in Ames, Iowa, in 1990. Didn't cost me anything. I was throwing kegs in the back of a truck and serving beer for the show. Every so often I'd stick my head out and see him on stage. That was my senior year of college at ISU.

Good point. The east coast populations do seem isolated from each other. I wonder how most of those species have managed to stay largely the same? The Redbreast in Texas haven't been there terribly long... introduced around 1925... not nearly long enough to be genetically different enough to be considered a separate species. But interbreeding from probably a rather limited number of initial stockers might speed up the process.

Hard to tell, right? Plus, no two fish are exactly identical, at least as far as I can tell. @Johnsfolly I like how they all seem to have that blue line in front of, and under, the eye. The Texas and at least some east-coast populations should be the same... Redbreast aren't native to Texas, they were transplanted there. At some point, the Texas fish will probably genetically diverge, since they can't interbreed with the original populations. I dunno how long that'll take...?

@Daryk Campbell Sr You're right about the bottom 2 being Bluegills... the bottom one is the "northern" Bluegill, the one above it is a Coppernose Bluegill from south Florida. They have some light edging on their fins and other things that, to me, just don't look like a typical Bluegill that we have in the midwest. Some say its a subspecies, but I don't think anyone has done genetic testing to see if they could be a standalone separate species. For the other fish in those pictures above, I will try to label them here, with the common name location in the list matching the picture location: Pumpkinseed Sunfish--------------Redear Sunfish Northern Sunfish ------------------(Central) Longear Sunfish (Western) Dollar Sunfish ----------Redbreast Sunfish Spotted Sunfish---------------------Redspotted Sunfish Bantam Sunfish--------------------Orangespotted Sunfish Green Sunfish-----------------------Warmouth Ozark Bass---------------------------Black Crappie Rock Bass----------------------------White Crappie Shadow Bass------------------------Flier Coppernose Bluegill (Northern) Bluegill

2nd Shortnose Gar over 30" this year... this one is a new PB at 31".