FishnDave

@Ham Any updates?

That first one is the closest of the 3, I think...and is over 5 miles away. Another close thing...2 miles away...is a composting facility. Whatever I'm smelling, its of something burning, for sure. I still don't know if the odor and the "BAD AIR QUALITY" warnings are necessarily related.

Maybe the air pollution is making the squirrels fall dead from the trees? 😬

Mmmmmmmm, the sweet sweet smell of rotting food and general refuse in the morning. "Eau de A$$", the new cologne by Mennen, who also brought you Dumpster Juicy Couture apres rasage. 🤢🤮

Hardly a day goes by that the weather app on my phone doesn't give me "bad air quality" warnings for the STL area since before we moved here this summer. What is the cause? Before the pandemic, I would have assumed poor air quality was caused by all the vehicular traffic. But traffic is greatly reduced now. Many evenings walking outside, the air smells strongly of something burning. I thought maybe it might be smoke blowing in from all the western forest fires this year? Any ideas?

We think the same! 😜 A 'squatch messing with me was on my list of possibilities. They've been sighted/reported in the area. They must have a great sense of humor...cuz let's face it...it'd be hilarious to throw a dead squirrel at somebody. And I even mentioned the potato gun delivery method to my wife when I told her about it.

They are trying to get in... https://youtu.be/buBOtHHADHY

Fished Saturday, same place. Fishing was even tougher than before! Only caught 4 trout! I was fishing, not really anyone nearby,...asphalt walking path behind me, trees on the others side. The trees really didn't overhang the path by much and didn't reach out over the water. I'm looking at the water and see a shadow appear. I'm watching the shadow, and then a big splash as whatever cast the shadow hit the water about 25' in front of me. I immediately looked up to see if a bird of prey was flying over and dropped something. No birds. I looked around to see if anyone was nearby messing with me. Nobody. I looked at the trees to see if whatever it was could have fallen from the trees into the water. Nope...the trees weren't close enough. That "thing" that hit the water was a squirrel. It never moved after it hit the water...I feel pretty certain it was dead before it hit the water. Has this happened to anyone? I can't seem to wrap my mind around a good explanation of where this dead squirrel came from. I've had stuff hit the water in front of me before while fishing (more than once)....but never a dead squirrel. Pretty bizarre. This fella made it into my house, but was quickly returned to the wild:

I was thinking 51 trout...but I'll cut you a deal. 😜 I'm going to throw my disclaimer out here again: I've only been here a few months... I know where Goldeye are, and they are the first ones I've ever caught. I have no idea about their seasonal habits. Like...do they migrate into and out of this creek, or are they year-round residents? To make your trip up here as much of a slam-dunk as possible, I'd recommend August/September...when the creek is as low and clear and warm as possible.

I'm sure I would enjoy that! 👍

I did. It was a beautiful day to be outside! I was overdressed with jeans and a longsleeve t-shirt. Maybe it was the warm weather...but fishing was tough. About 1/2 the anglers left without catching any, and the other 1/2 left having caught just one. There was one guy that caught 3. These fish seemed to average an inch or two longer that the typical Iowa stockers...and the fights were better than the Iowa fish. There were a number of trout that put on some rocket launch displays...those would have been cool on video!

Also caught a Bluegill, a Largemouth Bass, and a White Crappie on Thursday. And 20 stocker trout.

Yeah, under a ripe mulberry tree is almost too easy! Lotsa fun! And you never know...sometimes there's Grass Carp or Channel Cats or even Blue Cats waiting for mulberries to hit the water too. They are good practice in learning how to fight big fish in undermatched gear, so you are better prepared for when you make a trip for saltwater fish like Redfish. Instead of horsing them in, you learn that when a big fish wants to run...you let it.

Flyfishing folks have started targeting carp more and more often, and carp have become quite popular. Books have been written about how to go about it, and what flies to use, etc. Carp are omnivorous and opportunistic. Put a fly in front of them, there's a good chance they'll eat it. I've caught a fair number...its a LOT of fun! My biggest Common Carp so far is 35", 22 lbs. This one was 33", ~ 18.5 lbs This Mirror Carp wasn't big, but had a pretty cool scale pattern:

I don't know why....but my dad had a strong fondness for catching and eating bullheads when I was a kid. The ones I caught earlier this summer while flyfishing fought really well. My biggest on a fly hit a Muddler Minnow in 2017. The monster measured 15" long! I think Steve Irwin would agree..."What a beauty!" 😁

Those are pretty small. I probably wouldn't be catching those on the flies I use. I used to catch small ones by hand when I was a youngster...walk rocky riffles and see them dart under a rock. Hit that rock with another...it stuns them, and you can lift up the rock and catch them. The ones I caught while fishing were bigger. 5"-9", And since some were that big, those bigger ones may have been stonecats, but their tales looked more like madtom tails. Anyway...30+ years ago, no pictures to look back on. They absolutely were not bullheads.

I'm sure it could be done. Finding them is the biggest challenge. I've caught black and yellow bullheads and channel cats on flies... why not madtoms? The last time I remember catching madtoms was probably a little over 30 years ago.

Trade you a gizzard shad card for the checkered madtom?

I mailed in my vote.

You really caught the "Dickens" out of the big fish! 🤓

My son doesn't prefer the online classes either, but he's doing it anyway. Its definitely a tough situation for students during this pandemic. I'm glad you were able to do what feels right for you, and spend time outdoors while checking some items off your fishing bucket list. Thanks for sharing it.

I found a couple of the bluegill management articles. I know it isn't about crappies, which is what this thread is about...but it is still very interesting and worth the time spent reading these. https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/managing-bluegills/154251 https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/managing-for-big-bluegills/382986

Huge crappie, BTW....congrats! 👍

I'm a firm believer in the effectiveness of C&R in growing big fish in the public ponds I used to fish in Iowa. They were stocked one time and then left unmanaged. I witnessed several ponds get destroyed in a single day by folks poaching more than their limit, whether it was plucking the big male bluegills off their nests, or harvesting the big bass. The City was adamant they NEVER stocked crappies in any of the city ponds, but they found their way into nearly every one. A friend who flyfished private farm ponds had a different technique for managing these ponds that were rarely fished by others... He kept all the bluegills UNDER 10", and ALL the crappies he caught. He would share his catch with the landowners and others in his small rural community. Whether it was his management strategy or the overall low angling pressure....the ponds he was involved in consistently produced big crappies and bluegills. There are a number of good studies (Minnesota, for example) you can find online, and I think there was an In-Fisherman article as well that was well-written, about the importance of harvesting small bluegills and protecting the big male bluegills. I can't say how bluegill management relates to crappie management. You can manage ponds for whatever species you wish. If you are renovating an old pond or building a new one, I strongly urge you to talk to the Herman Brothers, they have always been very helpful in answering my questions. They are based in Illinois, but have done projects in many states. https://www.hbpondmanagement.com/ You may be familiar with Bruce Condello in Lincoln, Nebraska? He has been experimenting successfully for years in growing huge fish in ponds...including crappies. You should totally listen to his advice.

I'll send my son over. He loves Chinese language and writing. He took four years in High School and is taking it in college too. He spent ~ 10 days in China, touring Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, did some backflips on the Great Wall....And he brought me back a coffee mug from a Starbucks. 😏