FishnDave

As far as outdoor activities 🎣 are concerned, extended forecasts can serve to either: 1. Build up our hopes. 🌞 or 2. Crush our dreams. ⛈️

Happy Birthday, Phil!

I read about Momo...the Missouri Monster (I'm sure he didn't appreciate being considered a monster). 1971-1972, folks had numerous sightings in the town of Louisiana, Missouri....that's about 1/2 way between Saint Louis and Hannibal, right along the Mississippi River below the confluence with the Salt River, and immediately south of Shanks Conservation Area, a large area of mixed upland woods and lowland swamps. As another completely unrelated bit of trivia that I just made up,... Louisiana, Missouri, currently has an unusually high population of 50-year-olds with excessive body hair, longer arms and shorter legs. 😐 Much like humans, they are only dangerous if you insist on interrupting their fishing!

Excellent! Thank you for doing that!

Hello? Pete? Looks like @snagged in outlet 3 , Pete, hasn't posted since August 3rd? Even if he was down at his vacation home, he typically checks in here frequently. I hope all is well. Has anyone heard from him?

Also, perhaps boy scout/girl scout-type groups with "fly fishing badges" could use some. Kid-centric organizations, like Big Brothers/Big Sisters?

Various chapters of Healing Waters would love the support. "Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and disabled veterans through fly fishing and associated activities including education and outings. Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (PHWFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Maryland. PHWFF is dependent on tax-deductible, charitable donations and the help of numerous volunteers to meet the educational, equipment, transportation, and related needs of its participants." https://projecthealingwaters.org/

@mic How is this/you still on the forum!!! Ha ha, totally kidding! I don't Tenkara (yet), but have seen Tenkara flies. That looks really good! 👍

Tried flyfishing the "Mighty Miss'" for the first time... hoping for a small flathead catfish. Did not catch one, but did catch a Drum.

If you've ever fished with @Ham , you KNOW he's no "scrub". VERY fishy guy, always catching all kinds of stuff, and lots of 'em. But I understand feeling that way, I often get nearly blanked when I fish with him at his waters. Like the "get FishnDave a Chain Pickerel" day... Ham caught a bunch of species, several chain pickerel (although he spent most of the time specifically NOT trying for them, to save them for me).... and only after finally switching to using HIS rod and fly did I finally get one. ONE fish for me that whole day. It was a beat-down. And Ham did he best to help me and keep me motivated to finally catch one! New waters are often that way for me...it often takes a 2nd visit to get into the feel and rhythm of a place and start catching the fish. Sometimes more than a 2nd visit. And yet Hamilton is visiting new waters all the time with his new Arkansas counties endeavor, new species, etc. He gives himself one chance, and gets it done almost every time! That is impressive to me. Frustration Creek (we've given this Grass Carp place many names, and they are increasingly negative) is harder this year, for the reasons Ham mentioned. @Johnsfolly and Livie unfortunately got to experience that new level of difficulty this summer too. To illustrate how much harder it is than a year ago... Last year I caught 167 Grass Carp while flyfishing there. This year (so far), just 37. Ham and I fished this creek last year together, and he caught 6 Grass Carp on the fly in his first 1/2 day attempt at them! That was soooo good, I was amazed and very impressed! And I've been trying for Goldeye here, but haven't gotten one yet this year. Ham got one, and it was significantly bigger (like 15"-16" total length) than any I've caught there the past couple years! The Grass Carp seem to be bigger on average this year, but far fewer. I'm just not seeing them as often, and not in many of the places they were last year. Maybe its cyclical, maybe it has to do with water levels and successful/unsuccessful spawning runs? There seemed to be fewer drum this Spring as well. And those dang weeds are certainly an added frustration. And now I see there are patches of those Japanese Hops vines starting there as well. That stuff will trip you up if you aren't careful, as if the steep rocky slope wasn't bad enough. Not being able to see the rocks due to the vines is worse. Ham is a real trooper for muscling through 3 tough days. He's now in great fighting shape, ready to go a few rounds with Muhammad Ali! Or Lefty Kreh! Or... or Boxcar Willie!

Tell her you bought it for you. Don't let her play it. Then put a bow on it Christmas morning. 😜 Follow me for more bad relationship advice.

Koi: Hey @Ham .... "Silver and Gold"! :

We need some more "color". Goldfish:

@Ham doing that thing he does...

Pretty rare. 2-3 sightings/year now. More than previously. "Black bear are not common, but are spotted in Iowa almost every year. Between 2002 and 2021 (20 years), there were 43 confirmed bear in Iowa. According to Jeff Harrison, Conservation Officer with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, “In the last five years, we’re probably receiving two to three reports a year now, whereas 10 years ago maybe once every two years”.

33" (photo taken by @Ham ) 30": Snake eating a frog:

Ho Chi Fin

No boulders yet, but I've had golf ball-size or smaller rocks thrown at me while fishing in a few places...in Iowa and Missouri. No wind, no overhanging trees, usually landed in the water within 6' of me. I've heard tree knocks while fishing in both Iowa and Missouri. My buddy was fishing out-of-sight from me on a remote trout stream in NE Iowa, he saw a panicked deer racing along a treeline, and then it turned and shot up a big steep wooded slope. A few seconds later, he saw something black following after the deer very fast. The deer made lots of noise running through the weeds. The black thing made no noise. There's no bear there. A dog would have made as much or more noise than the deer. I've seen tree structures, tree breaks, and trees placed in "X"'s in the woods in a number of places. These folks are everywhere.

You caught some pretty ones!

Sounds like 100% Sunshine and Lollipops so far! 😜 I bet it gets BETTER!