The Push for 100 : STL Expedition

[Ham]

So, it seemed wildly inappropriate to try for 100 species on fly in 2023 since I only had caught 6o something’s species in my life prior to 2023, but I really wanted to try. The more initial successes I had the more singular my focus became. Now, I am aware that it’s just a silly way that my fishing obsessions are expressing themselves and my success or failure matters mostly to me. 
  I’ve done lots and lots of research on fish species, fish behavior, and locations that would have the fish and be fly fishing friendly. But, the best laid plans still come up fruitless so you have to try and try again. 
 It has been my privilege and pleasure to go fish with Dave on his STL waters. He has some fantastic spots loaded with all sorts of wonderful weird fish. I had caught several of them in previous years and the spots are so reliable that I was counting on getting a few of those guys. When you’re trying for 100 species on fly, you need to travel a lot, get lucky a lot, and take all the help you can get. Dave was nice enough to help me some more. 
 I stayed with Dave and his wife Teri. They are wonderful hosts and I was very comfortable and well taken care of. 
Monday 9/25 was Day One. I hit a couple of accesses on Big Piney on the way hoping for a fun micro, but nah. Eventually, I made my way to Simpson Park. Multiple people had “observed” Blackstripe Topminnows there. I hoy my Topminnow, but I think they are actually Blackspotted Topminnows. I also caught Longear Sunfish, Green Sunfish, Bluegill, and various Sunfish hybrids. 
We left there and went to the feature location of the day. This is a special place that I will not disclose for love nor money. Lots of Koi and Goldfish to try and fool which is noticeably more difficult since Dave had educated them so well. As usual, I was able to catch the small dumb ones and Dave caught the Big, Pretty ones.  I did get one really nice one and several smaller pretty ones. I also got lots of payback on the goldfish with a simple fly I came up with. Super excited to add Koi and Goldfish in the list. 2 of the big three I NEEDED to get on this trip. Helped me get less twitchy. I had a couple side bets on the trip. I want at least 50 fish and to catch a fish on all 5 flyrods that I brought with me. I caught fish on the TFO Bug Launcher and the 3 Weight I bought from Laker67.

We hit one last spot before calling it a day. I was hoping for a Red Shiner, but we only caught Bluegill, Green Sunfish, and LMB. I finished the day with 52 fish caught. 
We had a nice meal at a local Mexican Restaurant and got ready for Day Two.   

[Ham]

Day 2 starts after a good nights sleep and breakfast. we tried to avoid rush hour and mostly did. We had plotted our day to minimize back tracking /unnecessary driving. 
We started at Beatdown Creek which has an amazing array of fish. What it lacks in visual appeal it makes up for in difficulty to fish. Long walks with no shade and difficult descent down rip rap 45 degree banks covered with scratchy invasive and native plants. 
The main target was channel catfish. Dave seemingly catches them in his sleep and has several reliable spots on the creek. I was bound and determined to do it the Dave way instead of trying to Read and react to the water I was seeing. Dave has spent the time there and has been very successful. This was my third trip there and I had a total of like 15 hours of fishing time there. 
So Chartreuse micro jig under an indicator it was. Start at 18 inches and adjust depth as necessary. 
Now, I was there for a Channel Cat, but I’m not gonna turn down good opportunities that presented themselves.

walking along we start spotting Grass Carp and Shortnose Gar. I could resist for only so long, plus I needed to practice my steeple casting. A few bluegill and green sunfish over committed and came to hand.  After a few blown chances and near misses at grass carp, I got my first of three Shortnose Gar. I had to stop messing with the gar because the dang grass carp will troll you and always catch you with a tangle or after you have cast to a gar. 
We worked our way to the channel cat spots and gave them a good try. Nope.

We started working our way to car and had shot after shot at both Fun Sized and FULL sized grass carp. I had good chances blown up by thieving sunfish. I had grass carp educated by Dave spook when they recognized the micro jig. I had a grass carp eat the Indicator and pull the jig away from the other grass carp. Man, smh. The two chartreuse micro jigs that I had got destroyed by sunfish and gar. I had asked to relocate a few times because I wanted more MTC time , but the dang grass carp turned up in increasing amounts to flip me off on a drive by. 
Dave who fished very little because he was trying to stay out of my way , of course caught the first Grass Carp. He called me down to try for more in that group of fish.
So, I had played with fly design and come up with a Veggie Burger Fly that makes an inviting slap on the water and then settles very slowly in the water column, but I planned on using it on the White River at Batesvillie where I have pretty clear water and can see the take so I fish it without an indicator. 
There was an active group of grass carp holding in some deep shade. I could occasionally catch a partial profile glide by. It took a few casts with the veggie burger, but finally I might the right cast and thought that I might have seen the leader twitch. Snap set and Fish on. Luckily, I had gotten a good hookset and after a lengthy battle Dave was able to wrangle a fish too large for his net into the net. If you’re only gonna catch one, it’s cool when it’s a nice one. I think Dave said 31 1/2 inches. Really nice fish. Swam off super strong after just a little revival time. 
no channel cat, but a successful trip. Time to rehydrate and grab some tacos from a Fuzzy Taco. The second half on Day Two awaits 

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Welcome to Stl.  Hope you both are successful.   Looking forward to the rest of your trip. 

[Ham]

So having cooled off and eaten, we made a short drive to the water feature that had the Black Bullheads in purgatory.

I caught one quickly and was ready to flee, but Dave wanted to catch some BIG goldfish so he did. 

We loaded up and made the drive to the Blight. I zeroed last time there and on the walk in was begging Dave to help me catch something / anything so I would not be 0-2 trips there. I got a little whiney about it.

First stop had lots of big fish moving about in a small area. I got a lot of bites there. All from mosquitoes. I could not believe with all the visable bowfin and gar that we would go fishless, but we did. 
Next stop, Dave put on a fly and handed me his rod. He told me how to work it and where to fish. I did and before too long the Blight Monkey and the Common  Carp Monkey were both off my back. I was playing with house money and hit on 21. Now, I still needed Channel Cat and Yellow Bullhead and I worked a small fly in shallow water near riprap and other structures, but just caught LMB. we continued to wander the blight trying this mud hole and that. Slapping desperately at the insects that sought to drain us of all our blood. We noticed a nasty thunderstorm cell between us and the car. It seemed small but intense and we both hoped it would miss us. Spoiler alert : it did not. As it got closer and closer, Dave nabs a nice bowfin and managed to land it as the storm fell upon us big, cold raindrops and hail that forced us to grab whatever meager shelter we could find. But hey, we weren’t hot anymore and we got a Beautiful Rainbow out of the deal.

I had tried for my own bowfin before the deluge and lightening said NO. As the drops got less frequent the drowned rat version of me started up again and I got a visual. Very Fun eat and very fun time getting him out and then over the heavy veggies. ahhhh, but no trip to the blight is complete without me being trolled by lots of tailing carp. I had shots and lost flys, my patience, and finally daylight without getting a bite. 
Day Two ends with fish caught on my 6 weight and 7 weight. And two more very helpful additions to the 2023 List.
The day also ended with lots of leg cramps. I registered almost 20 Thousand steps and 540 foot of elevation gain. Beatdown Creek and the Blight take their toll. It’s Dave’s version of CrossFit. 

[Ham]

ñWell, time flys when you fish obsessively and it was time to make a decision about where and how to try to fish on Day 3. I was gonna try to not get home to late because I had a 0500 wake-up on Thursday. 
So, I had scoped out a lot of places and I am sure they are fantastic places when conditions are right, but I didn’t think they were gonna be right in early fall. So, I went off the board and decided on a Salt River spillway. Dave was willing to make the drive so off we went after I got all loaded out. Lengthy drive put us getting there about 1000. I needed to beat feet home at 1400. Let’s do this.

After negotiating the boulder field, we got to our first spot and right away saw several really nice Longnose Gar. They weren’t to willing to play tug of war though. Dave got one and I had one on for a bit, but then they went away.

Big gizzard Shad were daisy chaining around. Panfish in the rocks. Occasional bass sounding pops. Invasive carp rolling on the far side. Let’s Go!

I had found an articulated fly in a tree years ago and I was like yep, that’ll do. I touched up the hooks and started slinging it. In just a little bit I got a hard whack and was hooked up with a heavy fish. It stated down, but we got that silvery flash. Dave thought catfish at first, but nah. Asian carp. Because it ate the fly, I assumed Bighead, but it was a Silver. Woo Hoo! I was so Happy.I was sitting pretty with lots of time to go. I got lured in my the back Eddy and fish a it ivory on the other side. We moved and it mostly sucked. I got a hybrid Geeen Sunfish and a LMB.back again over the giant rocks carrying gear. I was using a double fly rig and got a nice crappie. I initially guessed 14 inches and Dave guessed 13. It was 13 1/2 inches. Now, Dave acts like I catch all the big fish. This is utter nonsense, but I do get lucky from time to time.

I went back to trying the higher flow main Current areas hoping for a sea monster while Dave dialed in The crappie and just put on a clinic. He figured out the retrieve and the area and the fished in to precision catching 15-20 crappie in very short order. I eventually couldn’t take it any more and shoe horned in long enough to get a little White Crappie. 
because i like being a Billy goat, we moved again, downstream. I think second cast, I got whacked. Nice fish! An amazingly enough it was a Channel Cat! 
right after that I hooked and lost a nice Shortnose Gar. Then I lost my found fly.. 

re-rigged but never got another bite. For the record, I was more mature than usual and quit on time. 
I celebrated the Lifer/Flyfer in now traditional fashion. Said some Hasty Goodbyes and fled.

Long, but not unpleasant drive home wrapped up the trip. 689 miles on the truck. 21 species between the two of us. I finished with 82 fish to hand and a few near misses. I did did get a few fish on the 8 weight to catch something on every rod I brought.

I appreciate Dave and Teri so much for hosting me and Dave for the expert guiding! 

I’m sitting at 88 species with less stress, more confidence, and some work left to do. Let’s Do This!