FishnDave

10 Koi and 8 Goldfish in 2 hours yesterday evening. LOTS of refusals. I need to figure out some new fly patterns to fool 'em.

Fished with @Johnsfolly and Livie on Saturday. It was VERY hot. We were all suffering from the heat. And that's the reason for my sour-puss face in the the picture below. It was getting hard to catch my breath after the adrenaline rush of the catch. I'd hoped to guide John and Livie to some Grass Carp and gar. I failed in achieving that goal. The creek was a bit higher, faster, and more stained than usual, thanks to a 4.5" rain earlier in the week. We saw fewer grass carp than usual, and there were a number of spots that typically hold them that just didn't show any. John had a great aggressive strike from a grass carp and from several gar, but the fish all decided they wanted to eat his bobber instead of the fly. Maybe we could have switched to a floating fly/lure. Topwater for Grass Carp will catch fish. I've done it. But it seems like a lower-reward option, whereas subsurface typically gets a lot more strikes and hookups. Not on the bottom, but 12"-20" suspended below the surface. Grass carp are more spooky on the surface, they are happy when they are nearly out-of-sight below it. John spotted a grass carp (or 3) as he was leaving, told me to give it a shot. I missed it when it struck the first time, but caught it several casts later. 28.5": Being the guide, I didn't fish much. But at one point I made some casts towards the far side of the creek and had some subtle strikes. I caught a Green Sunfish, so then cast again to see if there would be another. Caught a gar instead. John's daughter, Livie, gets photo credit for this one: I want a chance to redeem myself, and help John and Livie get their species! Hopefully we can try again, and perhaps it won't be so hot!

Yep, that's the place. 😁 I'm still bummed I didn't meet up when you were there last year. Its like 10 minutes from the house. There's a bajillion goldfish there, and only a handful will hit a fly. Fortunately, its usually the big ones. Its about the only reason to fish there more than once/year. 🙄

You probably aren't flyfishing with your kids...but a #10 Woolly Bugger has had a pretty good hook-up rate for me. Maybe try very small, lightweight jigs...like 1/64 oz crappie jigs. If you can see them eat it, you may have to wait until they reposition it completely inside their beaks before setting the hook. Sometimes once they have it, a slow pull will start the hook point into flesh, whereas too strong of a hookset will pull the lure right out of their mouth.

Its been a few years back now...anybody remember seeing when Tim Matheson caught the Manitoba record Brook Trout? 29", 21" girth, calculated weight of ~16 pounds? Could've possibly been a new world record, but he released it. https://www.brooktrout.ca/manitoba-record-brook-trout.htm I may have told this story before, but its a good one. After this catch, In-Fisherman(?) did an short article on it. I saw the pictures and was totally enamored with that beautiful fish! As I recall, Tim worked out of a fishing lodge near Kenora, Ontario, not far from the Manitoba border. Anyway...I think I'd sent him an email at one point, congratulating him on his catch. Fast forward a couple months. In Ankeny, Iowa, during my lunch hour, I was heading to a local Sportsman's Warehouse. I was going down the road, and a pickup truck was next to me. I glanced over, and a sticker on the door said something about Kenora. I looked up in the passenger seat...and I recognized Tim! We came up to a stoplight, so I rolled my window down, I introduced myself, called him by name, and we talked for a bit, until the light turned. They were going to the same place I was, so we got to talk for awhile in the store as well, and I got to hear all about how he caught it, and the grief people gave him about it. Super nice guy! Anyway, that whole encounter was such a weird coincidence. Or was it?

I'm glad you caught some, and interesting ones! Those bigger ones give a great battle! I hope to see you next weekend! 👍

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/giant-colorado-brook-trout-breaks-75-year-old-state-record/ar-AA10bVKo?cvid=75e5f20783524a789839a50bbe73ffe9

Caught a new Personal Best Shortnose Gar, 26".

Is life really worth living if you can't play Wordle each day? 🙄

So.. the Beav is an orphan now?

Orangemouth Bass! 😄 That IS really cool! Looks just like the color of a Goldfish... Did you know Goldfish are born black?

no problems here...but I usually only upload links that display as images, so it doesn't take up your network/site storage space.

That DOES look good. I like the choices you made. I just learned I missed out on Nat'l Junk Food Day. Yes, its a real thing, apparently. It was last Thursday, July 21, 2022! Belated, but in honor of...

FeatherCraft and T. Hargroves are both great shops. Very different atmospheres, but I like them both. And they are really close to each other (just a few blocks, 0.7 miles), so maybe visit both, and there are BBQ places along Manchester Rd. I've been to Bandana's BBQ and The Hangar, both 0.7 miles west of T. Hargroves.

There's a LOT of Teslas (Tesli? lol) in and around Saint Louis. I saw one take off from a stoplight a couple years ago...I'm not sure what model it was, but I've never seen any vehicle accelerate that fast. Scary fast!

St. Charles was one of the cities hit hard by this morning's rains. @snagged in outlet 3 Are you home or down at Taneycomo? I hope you are safe, and your house is dry!

Caught 5 Grass Carp yesterday. Biggest was this one, 31": Also a couple KSB: And a couple gar. These both had a lot more spotting and markings than the usual shortnose. Wondering if they may be spotted gar, or hybrids, or just atypical shortnose.

Wishing you the best of luck!

Good reminder! Glad you were able to get ahead of yours. Sorry to hear about your buddy.

Yes, all from there. Let me know if you need any directions/suggestions on a good place to park/start. The gar are scattered around everywhere, of course. I might even be able to meet you there if its a weekend.

Caught some big Goldfish...biggest measured 12". Bullheads: