FishnDave

Congratulations! 🏆

What? 😇 No joke! Ben used to say that some of the strikes he'd get on that key were absolutely electrifying!

I'm not real familiar with that lake. Hopefully others can chime in. You can't go wrong with old-time favorites. I think that's key. Speaking of which, Ben Franklin liked to toss a key during thunderstorms.

testing.... Looks like it works... but I'm just posting URLs to pics hosted elsewhere. That way Phil's server doesn't have to store the pics.

What's going on? I just saw another story about folks losing their jobs.... and it isnt' because of A.I.! "A small, rural town in the Ozarks (Noel, MO) is grappling with finding a path forward after a Tyson Foods Inc. plant closure left nearly a third of its residents jobless. "

The Urban Fishing Program is ongoing. St Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Sedalia, St. Joseph. Walleyes and paddlefish are stocked in Table Rock. Walleye also stocked into Stockton, Bull Shoals, Lake of the Ozarks, and many other locations. MDC stocks approximately 350 public lakes with catfish. Probably way more than that with carp and bullhead. 😜 j/k The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) also stocks bass in other lakes, including: Table Rock Lake A lake in southwestern Missouri that is considered one of the top 100 lakes in the US by Bassmaster (not a complete list)

I didn't see that Common Carp and Bullhead are raised in MDC hatcheries.... but MDC DOES stock them, too. https://fisheries.org/docs/books/54067C/18.pdf

PSA/FYI: MDC-run hatcheries produce (in addition to trout) paddlefish, hybrid striped bass, striped bass, muskellunge, largemouth bass, bluegills, hybrid sunfish, grass carp, walleye, pallid sturgeon, and catfish. Maybe other fish too, but these were listed on the various MDC warmwater hatchery websites.

Hm. Never knew a fish had my nickname from Jr. High....

Got something new! After checking in with @Ham and @Johnsfolly, it was determine this is an Emerald Shiner (3 pics of one fish): Also caught Blackspotted Topminnows: Bleeding Shiners: Northern Studfish: Creek Chubs, Striped Shiners, Hybrid Sunfish, Bluegill, Green Sunfish, and Longear Sunfish.

Great job on a new PB Crappie! 😃

Sorry. I'm no help. I just couldn't resist... But Faber-Castell Water Colors have been around a long time!

And flyfishing gear.

Your son must have a great guide! 😁

The local gents are sporting spawning colors already. A few of the ladies had some pretty funky patterns, too.

While flyfishing for (and catching) Eyetail Bowfin and Common Carp, I saw few large pods of Mosquitofish. I switched to a micro-fly setup (tanago hook), and couldn't get them to get hooked....they'd hit, but missed the hook? Anyway, I did manage to catch some very small Bluegills and Green Sunfish, and then caught 2 other micros that I was HOPING were something new...but @Ham and @Johnsfolly both agreed they are likely Golden Shiners, which I've caught before. I'll keep trying for something new!

You had a GREAT Florida Trip! Dandy Midas Cichlids!

An MDC Fisheries Biologiest mentioned a spot on the Mississippi River just north of St Louis, below one of the lock and dams (Alton, perhaps?) where folks regularly fish for skipjack to use for catfish bait. Dunno about the Meramec, tho. Very cool fish! A decent-sized one will fight very well. I had one last summer, when fishing with @Ham, that had my 8wt fly rod bent over pretty good and I couldn't get it to come up for a bit. I was starting to think a bigger fish had ahold of it, but when I finally landed it, there wasn't any evidence of haven't been mouthed by a catfish or striped bass. It was the top fish in the pic below... nice one, but not even THAT BIG of one! Strong fella!

Beware the local Farmer's Markets... might get lead poisoning from their tomatoes/cucumbers?

I noticed the Iowa record Bighead Carp (caught in 2018) is larger than the new MO state / world (?) record: The MO fish looks bigger (longer)?

There's probably not a GOOD point. If you are a kid at the mercy of an adult's choice of fishing spot, and the fish aren't biting...the kid might just wanna try to catch the fish he CAN see... in the bait bucket. 😁

3 Missouri State Record fish so far this year. None caught in the mouth? I'm definitely going about this all wrong....

I'm sure more than one of us, at some point, have tried to drop a hook in a bait bucket and hook a minnow to use for bait...not to catch per se, just to impale it on the hook , to see if you could. Its extremely difficult, and takes considerable force to bury that hook into a minnow, right? Trying to catch one in the mouth is similar to that. Considerable force required to bury the hook, which often launches the fish into the sky, before it has a chance to double over your saltwater 9 wt fly rod. Its not the fish's fault. Don't blame it on the player...blame it on the game, man!

That's funny, I have not heard that before...but I like it! Our 2nd most favorite thing is called "Cow Tipping".

On hooksets, my fish were often launched skyward, lost in the sunlight, then splashed back into the water no longer hooked. Boo.