FishnDave

You are very close to 18! Good luck!

Got out for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. Caught 15 Koi and 8 Goldfish. Here's some of them... Goldfish: Koi:

I'd love to see your black Bluegill and Rock Bass pictures. I found another picture, caught within a few weeks of that other Green Sunfish. Definitely melanistic...very black fins.

What kind of weight are you trying to lose?

Very unusual year, for sure. I don't think anyone would have predicted many of the successful and unsuccessful teams this year. We know what Aaron Rodgers is capable of. And Aaron Jones. But nobody does it alone, including Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs have a great supporting cast of players and coaches all around. The Packers are missing some important pieces this year, for sure. And the Buccaneers receiving corps and tight ends group isn't as strong as it has been the last couple years. Sometimes how a team is doing just seems inexplicable. The Rams won the Superbowl last year...brought back pretty much the entire team, right? But they aren't having nearly the success they had last season. 16-5 last season, 3-6 so far this season.

Very interesting! You can keep 100 minnows! Community fish fry!! 😬 Good luck with those 7" crappies. I wonder what they considered "White Perch"? I looked up White Perch...and it says the were first found in Missouri in 1983, and last sampled in Missouri in 2008.

I may have a small amount of it, greatly used. 😜

that's great! Very similar to "The Captain" fly that T. Hargrove sells (a bluegill fly, which also works great on many other species... like common carp, grass carp, catfish, goldeye, longear, redear, gar, etc.): https://www.thargrove.com/the-captain

The list of where I haven't fished is infinitely longer than where I have fished. But the "sphere of inclusion" reaches from Canada to Costa Rica, Hawaii to Puerto Rico. Only the Canada trips were specifically for fishing, but fish were caught everywhere.

That's AWESOME!!! Tarpon is still on my list, for sure. I'll be satisfied with a small one on the fly rod.

I drove to @Ham 's house for Bowfin sooooooo 😜 WORTH IT!!

Its bucketlist stuff. I'm not planning to do it all in one year. Unless I find out that's all I got left. 😅 Y'know... "Going out with a bang"-type situation.

I also hate traveling to fish...driving past perfectly good fishing spots! But I do like fish variety, so... As long as the travel costs weren't prohibitive (and I had plenty of vacation days available, or was retired), there aren't many places I wouldn't go, for certain species. Such as: Alaska for salmon, char, lake trout, grayling, etc. Texas for Rio Grand Cichlid Louisiana for Black Drum, Sheepshead, Alligator Gar. Florida for snakehead, the other bowfin species, barramundi, spotted sunfish, tarpon, florida gar, mud sunfish, redfin pickerel, etc. Indian Ocean destinations for Napolean (Humphead) Wrasse, milkfish... Australia for Murray Cod. Brazil for Arapaima, Arrowana, and lots of other jungle fish. New Mexico for Tiger Musky. California for Sacramento Perch. and the list goes on...

I'm no expert... but at first glance I was sure that was Trout Crack! 😜

That last one I hadn't caught before, and I was pretty excited to catch it. Here's another picture of it:

@tjm Many flies will work, some better than others, and some days they want something completely different. Microjigs, egg patterns, woolly buggers, SJW's, floating flies, nymphs, soft hackle wets,...these all work. It does seem that bright colors or white get many more strikes than dark or natural colors. Strike detection is usually the most critical thing. Some days you can strip flies medium-aggressively, and the fish will chase them down to eat them. Most days they are attracted to a fly that drops near them, then suspends. So, most of the time I'm using a strike indicator. And most of the time I've tied something on a 1/80th oz jighead with a #10 or #8 hook. The last couple trips, I've wrapped some Semperfli Guard Hair Chenille in Fluoro Sunburst (orange) color on a microjighead. Looks like a clump of fish eggs to me, but who knows what the fish think it is. Also a microjighead tied with peach-colored marabou tail and orange microchenille body has been working. Tied with too much materials, it slows the sink rate of the microjig, and the fish may hit it as its falling, and I won't know I've gotten a strike. They spit it very quickly. Best if the fly falls reasonably quick, stops and suspends (usually 12"-24" below the indicator) and then the fish hits.

They really ARE very similar! These 2 I caught yesterday are both very similar, too. Again, likely from the same brood, I'd guess.

Good eye! Although it looks like the colors may be continuing to develop, based on the similar damaged scales ahead of the dorsal fin on the silvery one, I'd say that's probably the same fish. Plus the same "brown" scale in the fish's wrist area. The other pair is very similar, but I'd say its a different fish based on yours having some scales on the lateral line above the anal fin that mine doesn't have, and a few other subtle differences. I'd bet they were each members of the same spawn! How cool is that?? 👍

It's not private. Winter Trout Program stocking in urban areas has started this week in Missouri.