Fly Fishing Species 2023

[snagged in outlet 3]

4 minutes ago, Ham said:

bummer on the dead turtles. I wonder what killed them. Fish kills below dams I attribute to poor oxygen levels etc., but what took out the heroes on a half shell ?

I don’t know but there were a lot of them at that one dam.    Leather back, soft shell turtles.   Dead river shiners by the bucket full.  Skanksville!!😂

[Ham]

83) Koi 

@FishnDave took me to Valhalla today. 

[Ham]

84) Goldfish

These little jerks where a real PIA to hook until I busted out the maggot fly then I kinda abused them. 

[Ham]

85) Black Bullhead

enjoying that low 99’s vibe at a hotel water feature.

these Poot black bulkheads were born in a terrible location. I 100% feel bad for them, but I will absolutely pound the Easy Button into pieces if given the chance.

Thanks Dave! I absolutely would not have gotten the koi, goldfish, Black Bullhead ( and more) without your help. 

[Ham]

86) Common Carp

Dave did al the heavy lifting on catching this one. He picked the fly and put it on his rod then handed it to me while showing me where to fish it and telling me how to fish it.

at least I listened well. 

[Ham]

87) Silver Carp

finally landed one of these beasts. I had gone like 0-10 on ones previously hooked.

This one ate a fly. I thought it was a Bighead because they will take lures, but nah. Silver Carp. 
I hate that they’re here, but Happy to get one. 
My Sidney Crosby fish was a nasty invasive fish. 

[Ham]

88) Channel Catfish

when you least expect it, Bam! A channel cat whacks the fly. It hit so hard I expected it to be a foul hooked something. The fly that caught my Silver carp and the Channel Catfish was an articulated streamer that I rescued from a tree on the White River below the dam on Bull Shoals. It was returned to the wild when it snagged on deep rocks. Live Free Mystery Fly! It was nice to throw ya!

[Ham]

89) Wedgespot Shiner 

I have a Great spot to catch these guys, BUT  it’s a lot better when the water is flowing. I’ve been there when they were so aggressive that I had trouble catch any other species. 
It was stagnant today and they got a long look at the fly. Finally got the right eat. Quick pics and release. Then I fled to my next spot. 

[Ham]

#90 Blackstripe Topminnow 

These guy’s are unavoidable if you have a piece of worm on a small hook and are trying to catch other stuff, but are spooky and much harder to fool with a fly. 
Once again, I had to travel to get one. All my local water has the Blackspotted Topminnow. This one came from a ditch in  Russelvillie, AR. 

[Ham]

91) Hybrid Striped Bass

After a quick stop at the ditch, I went a little further to the Arkansas River looking for Blue Catfish and Striped Bass. I caught Drum, White Bass, Yellow Bass, Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, and Skipjack Shad.
I also caught a number of odd looking White Bass with broken lines. I’ve been in this spot before and either @Johnsfolly or @FishnDave  (or both) asked about the toothy patches on tongue. That time I had not looked and I still wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I took pictures and read about it later. I’ll try to swap it out a much larger specimen if I can later.

I fished through a whole lot of White Bass and the funny looking White Bass hoping for a Baby Striper. Didn’t happen so I climbed out and went home. Another 270 miles on the truck, 15 K steps, and 43 flights of stairs.