Shelbyville Spillway Success - Sort of!

[Johnsfolly]

We had to make a quick trip out to Missouri at the end of Aug to finally get our Columbia house rented. I was actually too busy and did not even wet a line in Missouri on this trip. However, we did want to get back to the lake Shelbyville spillway to try again for yellow bass, carp, and buffalo suckers. We had better weather for this trip than our last outing when we got rained off of the water. This time not only did I have a day license, but Livie and my Betterhalf did as well. I took advantage of having three people to fish by using different techniques. I had Sue start with a small trout magnet jig with a worm under a float. Livie was fishing a high/low rig with worms. I "baited the swim" aka chummed a spot with alfalfa pellets and canned corn. Then set up a rod with a Carolina rig using a 3/8 oz egg sinker, 6# PLine leader and a no 10 octopus hook baited with 2 to 3 kernels of corn. I don't have a baitrunning style reel, so I loosened the drag as low as I could to allow any fish to run with the bait. 

Sue had quite a few small bites, but only caught one green sunfish. 

It didn't take long and Livie was catching bluegill. and I was getting small taps on the corn. Then after 20 mins my reel was screaming drag as a larger fish took the corn. I got the drag set and set the hook as if it was a circle hook and the fight was on. It took a bit and I landed the first common carp of the day. 

I got the "carp" rod baited up again and Livie was on the rod. I went back to catching bluegill (spoiler alert we caught no yellow bass again) on the high/low rig. Livie got a strong bite on the corn, but broke off the fish. Sue was up next. I got the carp rod re-rigged and baited. I also added some more chum and dropped the bait. Less than 5 mins Sue was hooked up on another carp. She got the fish in and without a net I tried to get it landed and lost it before a photo could be taken  - seems like I have done this before @Ham would know that story. This was Sue's first carp ever and no photo of the fish. Now the last time that we came to this spillway I had specifically bought a net the morning of the trip in case we caught some big carp and buffalo. One would think that I could have remembered to pack the net this time, but that would be mistaken.

Livie lost another one when the hook pulled and her frustration increased. I caught another carp and convinced her that she should try again. We did find that sweetening the chum spot just as we cast the bait was the ticket to getting bit within a couple of mins. We also would strip a little line off when we saw stronger pulls and once the fish committed by swimming off with the bait we tightened the drag and set the hook. It didn't take long that Livie had on another carp. She fought this one admirably using the drag and back reeling to keep pressure on the fish as it ran. Finally we got it landed and photographed !

Livie was happier and she went back to catching more bluegill. I was on the carp rod and had one more fish scream off line. I got the fish close and saw that it was not a carp! So now I am the one afraid that we won't land the fish. Livie got a bit wet, but we did land the fish which turned out to be my first smallmouth buffalo!

Though I am still looking for that first yellow bass, I was successful in getting my wife to catch her first carp and to catch my first smallmouth buffalo. 

 

As a side note, the night before Livie and I fished a small portion of the Little Wabash river. It looked like a good spot for black bullhead. We got hung more often than catching fish. Only a couple of small bluegills were the only fish landed.

But I also did mange to land a spiny softshell turtle.

 

 

[Guest]

Deleted.

[Johnsfolly]

15 minutes ago, siusaluki said:

I know if I was fishing that spillway, I would have other types of fish in mind.  Lots of toothy critters in there.

I wasn't thinking about musky on this trip. I don't like targeting them until the water temp cools in the fall.

[Ham]

I’m Glad got herself a photo carp. Who else in your family can you hose on Their first carp?

[Johnsfolly]

8 hours ago, Ham said:

I’m Glad got herself a photo carp. Who else in your family can you hose on Their first carp?

Still have my oldest and my son🙄.

[Ham]

Are you SURE that was a Smallmouth Buffalo ? Couldn't it be a Black Buffalo ?
 

[snagged in outlet 3]

12 minutes ago, Ham said:

Are you SURE that was a Smallmouth Buffalo ? Couldn't it be a Black Buffalo ?
 

Uh oh!  Can't wait for this answer....😁

[Johnsfolly]

21 hours ago, Ham said:

Are you SURE that was a Smallmouth Buffalo ? Couldn't it be a Black Buffalo ?
 

There are supposedly black buffalo below the dam. So I looked at both black and smallmouth buffalo characters. I looked at the size and position of the mouth (subterminal vs semi-sub terminal). This fish has a small mouth with thin lips and it is definitely sub-terminal (i.e., directly below and nearly parallel to the line of the snout). From what I have seen is that the black's mouth is angled from the snout, almost at a 45 degree angle and is more semi sub-terminal. Also many folks state that the black has large fleshy lips, which this fish did not. Then the length of the fish vs the height of the fish. I didn't measure to get an exact ratio of length to height, but this fish is not overtly long in comparison to the its height. The black buffalo tend to be "slimmer" than smallmouth. Some folks have mentioned that the smallmouth has a large dark eye, which this fish has. The last thing that I looked at was the obvious dorsal keel in front of the dorsal fin. The length to height ratio and the strong keel were key features with Pflieger's dichotomous key for differentiating the two species. To me the weight of evidence is that this is a smallmouth buffalo and not a black.

[Mitch f]

I love it that your whole family likes to fish! My 10 year old is getting to the point where she never wants to go.

[FishnDave]

I've caught Smallmouth Buffalo on flies.  Not easy.  This fish seem like an outlier....

Based on your research, how would you ID this fish?