Urban Fishing STL

[Tim McDougald]

I was out at Wild Acres Park, an urban park in St. Louis, on 3/16/16 playing with my 3 wt. It was a pretty windy day day so I didn't stay long. The first is a blue gill - which gave my 3 wt a work out.

 

The second looks like a black crappie - which surprised me because I did not know that crappie were stocked at Wild Acres. It was also surprising because it was much bigger than the blue gill but put up no where near the fight.

 

[mjk86]

Cool!  Nice crappie! Did you get a length on either?  When it comes to crappie...if they don't over run the lake,  there will be a small population of bigger fish.  There is another little lake in fenton where it's hard to catch a mess of fish from there, but if you manage a couple they will be 12 inchers or better.  Odd cuz in other little ponds your typically wading through dinks for a few eaters.  

Lb for lb bluegills fight as hard as any fish..and they eat as good.   it's like the perfect fish, if only they consistently ran 1-2 pounds.

[moguy1973]

I've never liked fishing for crappie because of that reason.  They fight for like 2 seconds and give up.  They are good eating though.

[Old plug]

Small crappie i  warm water do. Big black crappie can put up a good fight in the spring

[Johnsfolly]

MJK - I agree about bluegill. If they got to be over 10 lbs, you would never be able to land one. I have been fortunate enough to have caught Oscars down in Florida and they are bluegills on steroids. Great fun on medium light tackle. Last time I was down in that area they have "cleaned" up the waterways and there are very few fish in them anymore.

[Tim McDougald]

 

Cool!  Nice crappie! Did you get a length on either?  When it comes to crappie...if they don't over run the lake,  there will be a small population of bigger fish.  There is another little lake in fenton where it's hard to catch a mess of fish from there, but if you manage a couple they will be 12 inchers or better.  Odd cuz in other little ponds your typically wading through dinks for a few eaters.  

Lb for lb bluegills fight as hard as any fish..and they eat as good.   it's like the perfect fish, if only they consistently ran 1-2 pounds.

No, I did not measure either of them. The crappie filled my trout net pretty good so I estimate around 10-12 inches and stopped fighting about the time I hooked it. The bluegill was a bit on the smallish side and put a serious bend in my 3 wt.