FishnDave

I think (correct me if this is fake news) the usual foam sheets from Walmart and craft stores is typically 3mm thick. It works fine for Crease Flies with just a single layer.

I don't keep fish to eat anymore. I'd rather just enjoy catching them and then let them go. I grew up keeping and eating the fish we caught. Perch, crappies, bluegills.....more often it was carp, channel catfish and bullheads. I kept the first 2 smallmouth bass I ever caught....hey, I was probably 11 years old....I've never kept any Smallmouth since. I used to go fish for walleyes and pike in Canada every-other-year with a small group of guys. We'd eat walleyes and the occasional pike for our dinners while there. The lake we fished had a rule that you had to release all walleyes over 18"...so we kept 16"-17.5" walleyes for dinner. We learned that 3 filets per person (1.5 fish each) was enough. Since there were 4 of use, we would only keep 6 walleyes each day. We'd wait until mid-afternoon before we think about starting to keep any, so they'd be fresher for dinner. Some of the most delicious fish you can imagine, grilled or fried. We never brought any back to the states with us. Kept a couple snapper, sea bass, and a cobia to eat that my wife and I caught on our honeymoon in Florida 26 years ago. Cobia eat crab, which made for some very tasty fish! Kept a few skipjack tuna we caught off Maui for some fresh sashimi. Fantastic! Kept a smallish Dorado (Mahi Mahi) during a family vacation to Costa Rica a few years back...the resort kitchen prepared it for us...SO GOOD! Kept 10 or so White Bass from a local reservoir 10 years back. They cooked up pretty well, after I removed the red-colored meat. I've kept stocker rainbow trout a few times. Didn't care much for the flavor, so I stopped keeping them. In the 18 years I've lived at my current residence, I've never eaten any of the >30,000 fish I've caught from the local public ponds in my town. I've seen first hand how just one or two people keeping fish can destroy these small waters in a single day. For example, one pond had a good population of nice bluegills. During the spawning season, 1 or 2 guys went around the pond and caught the male bluegills off their nests. You know how easy that is. The next year I didn't catch a single male bluegill. When it was spawning season I caught female bluegills so fat with eggs it looked like they'd eaten a golf ball. But there were no males, and no nests, and no spawn. The 2nd year after that, I caught a couple males, and the 3rd year there were a few more nests, and it has slowly rebounded since, but the bluegills still aren't as big as they used to be. And also, I know these local urban public ponds are stormwater detention basins, and are absolutely chock-full of lawn fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide run-off, plus run-off from the streets. Its not something I'm interested in ingesting.

Thanks for that website. Just based on pictures... I'm thinking maybe a Creston?

I love this stuff! This is the best (only?) one I've found here in central Iowa. What do you guys think it is?

In Iowa, if somebody could float down the creek in ANYTHING...say, an inflatable raft, AT ANY POINT IN A TYPICAL YEAR,...say, after heavy Spring rains...then the water is considered "navigable". Too bad that isn't the case in MO. Case-by-case basis is B.S. It doesn't help anyone but lawyers. Lobby lawmakers for a simple, clear, and all-encompassing law. Not saying this is the correct or best thing to base the law on, but just as an example of what it could be like: "Any stream that typically has flowing water year-round and is a minimum of 40' wide from top-of-bank to top-of-bank, can be publicly fished. Anglers can access the stream from any bridge or road crossing. Anglers must stay within the those top-of-banks or they will be considered to be trespassing. Landowners that attempt to narrow a stream to prevent access will be prosecuted." Pick something easy to understand and try it. If it seems it needs to be tweaked at some point, that can be addressed later. Put an end to guesswork and hostilities between landowners and anglers. This IS what governments are for.

Definition of commerce: commerce [ kom-ers ] noun -an interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale between different countries (foreign commerce) or between different parts of the same country (domestic commerce); trade; business. -social relations, especially the exchange of views, attitudes, etc. -sexual intercourse. -intellectual or spiritual interchange; communion. So...when somebody approaches you about your right to fish there, offer to sell them a fishing lure. Now you are using the river in an attempt to conduct business, whether they buy the lure or not. Or, according to the definition above, argue with them. By arguing, you are exchanging views. "commerce". Disclaimer: The above suggestions have no real legal standing, and may not hold up in court. 😉

20 years ago....I lived in Genoa, Illinois with my wife and young daughter, working for the City of West Chicago engineering department. My son was born roughly 6 months later. And a year after that, we moved back to central Iowa, where I've been since. And now we are preparing for a move to MO. We've been married for 26 years and counting. My daughter has a 1.5 years of Doctor of Pharmacy school/rotations left. My son is in college. Life has been pretty great for the entire time we've been here. The town we live in has grown from 27,000 people to 65,000 people over the past 18 years. Its split into 2 high schools and built numerous elementary and middle schools in an attempt to keep up with the flood of new people and young families. New businesses, new restaurants, new parks and entertainment venues.... its really hard to imagine a better place to have raised our family. New subdivisions often means new stormwater detention ponds getting built, which means new fishing opportunities. The fishing locally has gotten better and better each year...or I've just gotten better at it. I'm gonna miss it. I'm looking forward to milder winters in MO, though.

Its fair to say we all kill bass unintentionally. I've released lip-hooked fish that mysteriously didn't want to live. I've released bleeding fish that I assumed would not make it, only to catch that same fish again a week or more later. The Ned Rig is a jig. Jig-n-plastic. The mortality numbers are probably not significantly different from any other lures, even crankbaits. It happens. Two treble hooks with more than one point buried can be tough to get out without damaging the fish. Its gotten to the point in my local waters that its exciting when I catch a nice bass that doesn't have visible damage from being caught before. Some folks are not as gentle when removing hooks as they should be. Maybe one solution might be the use of barbless hooks in tournaments, and maybe that idea will eventually filter down to everyday anglers. A barbless hook can be removed easily, regardless of where the fish is hooked. Plus barbless hooks come out easier when we inadvertantly hook ourselves or companions. Flyfishermen often use barbless hooks, and most have said it doesn't seem to affect their ratio of fish hooked vs lost, as compared to barbed hooks. I dunno. Just an idea.

I did a quick search here....was suprised nothing turned up. I've read its horribly weedy, so maybe its pretty difficult to fish?

As I've written elsewhere on OA, 2020 is going to be a busy year of moving and getting re-situated into the St. Louis area. I won't be fishing nearly as much as I've grown accustomed to, but still hope to start learning the area. I sure could use some help! I flyfish for anything and everything. Coming from Iowa, I figured it would be fun to catch some species I haven't caught before, like Longear Sunfish and Kentucky Spotted Bass. What would be some good places to try for them, close to STL? I hope to find some places to catch Redear Sunfish, I think @JUNGLE JIM 1 has some good ideas on that. I caught a couple Warmouth years ago in Illinois...its been a long time. Are there any of those around the STL area? Down in Duck Creek CA Pool #1, there are Chain Pickerel, Warmouth, and even Fliers (?). I've never caught pickerel or fliers, so that could be interesting. Anybody have any experience fishing there?

Good luck on your quest! If you don't reach your goal in Illinois, Clear Lake, Iowa, has some good-sized Yellow Bass, as does West Okoboji Lake, Iowa.

Lots of changes coming for me in 2020....Moving to St. Louis from central Iowa, finding a new home, finding a new job, selling a home, moving my daughter into an apartment, getting my son into a new college. I KNOW I won't be fishing as much this year. It'll all be new, so finding the right places to fish is going to be a challenge. But I hope to add a couple new species to the lifelist/fly rod list once I get settled...Longear Sunfish and Spotted Bass shouldn't be too hard to find, I hope.

I had prescription sunglasses. Then I switched to just putting Coccoons over my prescription glasses. Then I got Lazik in January 2019. Now I have Costa and Smith polarized sunglasses for fishing. I was nearsighted. Now I need readers sometimes....usually only in low light (like for reading a restaurant menu), or if the print is really small. And I use them when tying flies...I could tie without them, but it just makes seeing the fly better with the readers.

I'm still in Iowa, but will be moving to STL in about 6 months. Another year of flyfishing has wrapped up. It was a good year! Here's the overview and highlights: Species I caught 22 species on flies this year. They are: Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Bluegill, Hybrid Sunfish, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, Green Sunfish, Redear Sunfish, Black Crappie, White Crappie, White Bass, Channel Catfish, Black Bullhead, Common Carp (and Mirror Carp!), Bigmouth Buffalo, Smallmouth Buffalo, White Sucker, Creek Chub, Hornyhead Chub, Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and Rainbow Trout. 13 of these species were from the local public ponds, which receive high fishing pressure and are not actively managed. 18"+ Fish I caught 60 fish on flies that were 18" or longer (plus more while icefishing), a combination of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, carp, catfish, brown trout, bigmouth buffalo and smallmouth buffalo. Iowa Master Angler-sized fish I caught 10 MA-sized (20" +) Largemouth Bass on flies (plus another one while icefishing), 1 Bluegill (10"+), 1 Carp (32"+), and 1 Brown Trout (18"+). Carp I caught fewer carp on flies this year, only 10.... but one of those was my Personal Best at 35" long, 22.5" girth, and calculated weight of 22 lbs. Catfish I caught far fewer catfish on flies this year...only landed 3 Channel Catfish on flies this year, plus 3 Black Bullheads on flies. Bass 2019 was by far my best year of 18"+ bass on flies. I caught 43 (plus 2 more while icefishing)! 10 of these bass were 20" or bigger (plus another one while icefishing). ---------------------------- All fish were C&R'd. I'm very thankful for all the nice fish caught this year. I hope your year of fishing was as enjoyable, and your 2020 is even better!

oooh yeah! I've caught whites on Crease flies!

The ladies certainly are good at it. On our very first date, my (future) wife took ME fishing. We had a competition. I say we tied. She says she won. I don't take her fishing anymore (except on our honeymoon, of course). Maybe someday, though. ;o)

After a number of seasons of having too many bass break my 8lb test mono tippet when flyfishing with poppers and larger streamers, I switched up to 10lb test. That helped, but still had too many breakoffs. I've switched to 12lb Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon tippet when fishing for bass with 6wt or 7wt rod. Its helped tremendously. Now broken tippet and lost flies & fish are very uncommon.] Although Fluoro sinks, I still like using it, even if fishing poppers. Sunlight doesn't degrade the fluoro line like it does monofilament line, and fluoro is also much more resistant to abrasion. A side benefit is Fluoro is also less "stretchy" than mono, so I think I get better hookups. It took me years to figure this out, so I'm hoping some less experienced fly anglers here might shorten their own learning curve.

@fishinwrench Those look great! Maybe I've asked this before....Do you have any suggestions on how to keep the heads from spinning around the shank, even after gluing? Maybe its not a problem? In addition to blockhead poppers... I've have really good luck with Howitzer head poppers. You can get the heads from Flymen Fishing Company website.

Same!!

Not so much for trout, but flyfishing with an indicator about 18" above a 1/80th oz microjig has caught me a LOT of crappies, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, and a surprising number of bass...even ones 20" and over... from local public city ponds. Its a great bass technique especially when the water is below 55 degrees. I've even caught some carp that way. I didn't want to fish that way, until a flyfishing buddy started outfishing me with that technique. Just depends on where you are fishing and what you are fishing for.

I've read articles about how fish caught deeper than @ 30 feet often die when released....either immediately or delayed. Anybody have any experience of this? https://www.echopress.com/sports/outdoors/4616332-DNR-warns-against-pulling-fish-from-deep-waters

Nice weekend, right? Despite it being nice on Saturday, the local ponds remained iced over. By almost dark, there were a few small openings, probably made by waterfowl. Fortunately, the temperatures remained above freezing overnight, and so the ponds opened up at some point and were fishable on Sunday. I picked a pond and fished it in the afternoon. Very fun! I caught 50+ crappies, 2 bluegills, and 2 bass. Most of the fish were caught on a flyrod float-n-fly (microjig and indicator). I also caught a bass and some crappies on a Micro GameChanger, which was pretty awesome. Great outing to end the open-water season!

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