FishnDave

I was good friends with one of the fisheries biologists.... straight shooter.

The dams haven't failed, but these Hybrid Striped Bass are really good at getting downstream past/through the dam outlet structures. Big Creek Lake has a "spill-over" dam. The IDNR recognized many of the Hybrid Striped Bass, muskies, and walleyes were escaping the lake into Saylorville Lake, a reservoir on the Des Moines River. They installed spaced-apart concrete barriers at the top of the dam with chip readers on them. And they chipped a bunch of stocked fish, so they could get a handle on just how many fish were escaping, and where they ended up after they escaped. They also installed horizontal bars at the top of the dam, spaced so small fish & debris could pass through, but bigger fish would be retained in the lake. That has made a big difference. You know there are 2 types of Hybrid Striped Bass: Sunshine Bass and Palmetto Bass, depending on whether white bass males or females were used to create the hybrid. I think the Sunshine Bass is the most commonly used for stockings in Iowa and other states. Studies have shown that during high water events, one strain (Sunshine Bass) tends to swim downstream through dams, etc., disappearing from the lakes and reservoirs they were stocked in. The Palmetto strain tends to swim upstream during these high-water events, and then return back to the lake when the flows subside. So...the Palmetto seem to stay in the system they were stocked in better, so Iowa is continuing with studies to compare/contrast the 2 HSB strains in Iowa waters.

Those are REALLY nice fish, @Smalliebigs! 👍 👍

Iowa stocks a bunch...into Big Creek Lake, Saylorville Lake and Red Rock Lake (on the Des Moines River...tributary to the Mississippi, dumps in near the Iowa/Missouri border). And Lake MacBride and Coralville Reservoir on the Iowa River near Iowa City....The Iowa River dumps into the Cedar River and then the Mississippi River. They also stock Lake Rathbun, which empties into the Chariton River, which runs down by Kirksville and eventually into the Missouri River.

Nice ones! 👍

FIFY 😁

You know the place, too. Does it stink? It might...my sense of smell isn't particularly good. For example, I'll make a fresh pot of coffee here at home, and I can barely smell it IN THE KITCHEN. My wife can smell it from anywhere in the house. 😬

Do 10% of anglers catch 90% of the fish? I share fish pictures, because I feel that stimulates people to get out and go fishing. If few people fish, few people will want to conserve/improve the resource. @Ham knows where I often fish. Its a horrible, dangerous, uncomfortable, and ugly place. I don't even want to fish there! The solitude is nice.

I went to one on Friday afternoon. It was a struggle there as well. 1/3 of the lake is covered with duckweed. I caught 2 trout about 3 minutes apart, then no more trout. I had good strikes, especially on a micro Gamechanger fly, but no hookups. Then as I reeled up to leave, I caught a largemouth bass right in front of me.

This is great! Doing a good deed, it turns out, makes both involved parties feel good....and that good vibe even extends to witnesses of the good deed. Want to feel better? Do something nice for somebody else. I dropped a box of flies. I had stuck an address sticker in the box with my phone number ( I have so many fly boxes now, I haven't kept up with that practice). A guy found it, called, and returned it. Nice! I found a cell phone while fishing after dark at a city park. I found a number on it that seemed worth calling (Might have been "Mom" or "Dad"), called and was able to return the phone to the parents of the teenager who had lost it while fishing.

That's a bunch of awesome fish! You probably forget what a small fish feels like... 😁

I may have solved your problem...at NO COST TO YOU! Can't beat that, right? Ok, here's what you do: You don't buy a new net...you just take along a guy with a bigger net that can net your big ones FOR YOU! Boom. And I'll even do one better...If you don't know anyone with a bigger net...I'll give you the number of a guy with a slightly bigger net. I just happen to have his cell number memorized.... 😁

I have a Fishpond Nomad mid-length net. Never liked carrying a net, until I got this one. Worth every penny. Managed to fit fish up to 36.5" in it so far, and its not one of their bigger nets. Rising nets seem popular, I haven't checked out their prices. I used to have a Measure Net with the extendable handle and rubber bag, it worked fine, and the price is good.

Thought maybe they were done for the season, but caught 3 more Grass Carp on Saturday. 167 for the year. Also caught a bluegill, a white bass, and 2 small channel cats.

We could all use a guide like you, @laker67 ! 😁 Yeah, can't wait to see your photos!

St. Louis urban wildlife.

Seems pre-planned to me. https://theweek.com/donald-trump-jr/1006377/donald-trump-jr-is-selling-guns-dont-kill-people-alec-baldwin-kills-people

I kinda feel like I do, now. As you saw, there are a bajillion goldfish there. The first key is to ignore the small ones, and look for the upper medium-size to large-size fish. I can slowly float the fly past the fish, even bump its head, and it won't react. But if I let the fly drop quickly past its head, and stop just below it, SOMETIMES the fish gets excited and will try to eat the fly. That's the second key. That's what I've learned works good at this particular spot.

Sunday was a nice, although breezy, day. Decided to see if the local bullheads and goldfish were still willing to play. Turns out they were. I caught 2 Black Bullheads. They had nasty lesions on their skin, so I didn't take their pics. I caught 12 Goldfish. I did take their pics.

Let me add my thanks to the pile. @Ham and @Johnsfolly helped me get some new sunfish species this year…Redspotted Sunfish, Warmouth, Dollar Sunfish, Bantam Sunfish. 100 species was not my goal, but I definitely enjoy catching a variety and new-to-me species. Ham knows where several other species I want are… alligator gar, spotted gar, bowfin, flier, chain pickerel, grass pickerel… no pressure! 😝

Cat stayed safe on the INSIDE of the glass, but still pretty close to the turkeys! We had an opossum on our deck last night. Its pretty high up, and there's no stairs...not sure how it managed to get there.

Took Friday off and flyfished a couple water bodies, hoping for bass, crappies, etc. Caught Bluegills, Green Sunfish, Largemouth Bass, a Redear Sunfish, and a very strong Channel Catfish.

I wonder if he made someone angry by portraying them on SNL.

Yes, like @fishinwrench said... the mirage and prop kayaks I'm familiar with have rudders, with controls somewhere near the seat. The Hobie Outback I used to have had a control lever on one gunwale that raised or lowered the rudder, and the control on the other gunwale controlled turning the rudder left or right.

These Greys? 😁