This past week...

I couldn't really think of a catchy title so I just defaulted to the obvious. 
This past week I  was able to get out every day before work.
Monday: secret pond - small handful of nice fatties, nothing huge but nice beauties and a few bass mixed in
Tuesday:  Busch C&R lake - About 35 nice gills while a man and four boys he had with him murmured at me catching all the fish (I didn't catch ALL of them)
Wednesday: Des Peres Park pond - 20+ fat gills and gill/greenie hybrids, and I proved that there are bass in there with a 6" and a 13" bass.  Hard fighters too.
Thursday:  Busch Lake - only two gills but really hit a casting groove
Friday:  a few moments at Klondike Park - I'm on 'vacation' until Tuesday and took the wife and kids to this nice little county park in St. Charles County that has a quarry pond.  We hiked around for a while.  After some time at the swing set I was able to wet a line and caught a really fat little 6" bass.  The kids thought is was the greatest.  After about ten minutes it proved that fishing just wasn't a great idea for the day so I rolled it in and we continued our walking and playing.  Very muggy but fun.

We were supposed to be on our way to Broken Bow, OK today for my family reunion down there but our 12 year old beagle, Emma has had some health issues and is in some pain so we decided it was best not to leave her behind.  We're pretty sad not to be able to go.  We love our family.  They have quirks but they're tolerable and we always have a great time with them.  Besides we were going to get into some decent fishing down there.  I was going to be able to do some actual cold water trout fishing!  We're going to try to make the best of our time.  I didn't tell the folks at work that I was actually staying in town.  I've learned that's a necessary thing to do...
I don't have any pictures this week because during a downpour running from building to building my not so trusty Blackberry spy phone flew out of it's holster and into a small intermittent stream.  That was it's soggy end and the end to my picture taking for a little while. 
Oh well, it's nice to be out of touch for a little while.
I'm not sure what the next few days look like for water time but I'm sure I'll fit a little in here or there.
Until next time...

A storm's a comin'

John Gierach said in Standing in a River Waving a Stick "Bass or panfish are acceptable as long as they don't involve more than an hour's drive." when talking to his fishing buddy A.K. Best about where to go on their next outing. I clearly disagree.  But he lives in Colorado and is surrounded by trout waters to distract him.
Later in the same breath he says "in the long run, a trip is more about who you're traveling with than where you go or what you're after."  This is absolutely right.  Will and I had a terrific little 4 hour outing this past Saturday. We had an absolutely great time. I've never laughed so hard while fishing in my life. The boat shook we were both laughing so hard at times about little things and big things alike - most of which I don't remember what the subject was. 

On to the fishing...I caught a record amount of redears.  Like this nine incher.

And this three incher.

Will got the big fish award with this solid ten incher on a hopper.

There were a few other fish mixed in like some bass and bluegill as well as the token catfish.  About a fifty fish day overall. 
Toward dark we saw some fairly ominous clouds in the distance.  Will called them Jesus Clouds since it looked like the Apocolypse was coming.  He asked me if my affairs were in order and I answered "I'm here aren't I?"

The cloud was complete with lightening and thunder.  It seemed pretty far away so we kept on fishing.  Besides, the bite was getting better and as Will said, loosely out of context, "I haven't seen what the fish that lives over there looks like."  We were both in the zone.  Making good casts. Then all of a sudden I noticed that Will's backcast was getting a little too close to my head.  Then WHACK!!!  I was nailed in the forehead with his size 10 hopper.  Being in the zone, I was least expecting to be attacked so I let out the most heinous sound I've ever uttered and that's ever been uttered on this particular lake.  It was a combination of grunt, squeal and trying to continue to hold my pipe in my mouth.  It was a full 30 seconds of all out laughing, crying (very manly crying due to laughter), and general loss of a few key bodily functions before I could explain to him what had happened.  Needless to say we didn't see the other clouds begin to surround us when we got back to fishing. 

At that time we decided it was best we get going as the lightening was closer and it was also about time to get the boat back.  About halfway across the lake (we were at the exact opposite side of the lake to the boat ramp) we heard the trees start to howl.  The water had been glass smooth but all of a sudden huge gale force winds came up.  We started to secure our gear but missed Will's lucky Tilley hat.  It flew out of the boat and sunk before we could circle back around to pick it up.  Honestly, I thought that the size of the waves was going to capsize our little jon boat.  Before we knew it we were blown to the far shore but we eventually made if back to the ramp.  We were able to get our stuff to the cars before it started to rain.  And rain it did.  Will was wise to make the comment "I can't believe it's not raining yet" just seconds before it started to pour.  Literally.  There was not time for "see you laters" we just got in our cars and took off.  Turns out that when I returned the boat key there was some extra food leftover from the day's earlier Outdoor Expo.  I thankfully received two cold leftover bratwursts and called Will so that I could share one with him. 

Gierach was right.  Fishing alone is fine.  Fishing with no catching is fine but not exactly the point.  Fishing, catching and laughing with a good friend is what makes an outing worthwhile and memorable. 

Friday morning fishing funk

This morning before work I hit a C&R lake at Busch for a little bit.  Caught a few small bass and missed several good solid hits.  You know the kind where you see your leader twitch a few times and then start to swim off by itself.  The first time it happened I just watched it and forgot to do anything about it.  The next few times I reverted back to my tournament bass fishing days when you're fishing a plastic worm and you haul back like you're trying to rip the lips off the fish.  When you do that with a fly rod, you're likely to lose the fly in the veggies behind you or hook your fishing buddy.  Good thing Will wasn't with me or he would have been a goner.   
My casting was out of whack too.  Or, more like it, I was just whacking around.  Whatever it was, I hope it's temporary. It probably has something to do with the moon being nearly full and my pants being too tight this morning.
More than likely it's an issue of feel and timing with the hook set and casting.  Regardless, I was glad to be out on some water and I'm sure I learned something. 
Tomorrow I'll wear looser pants - I bet that'll help.

Mid week water time: thoughts on leaders and tippet

I was able to find a little water before work the past few days. Wednesday was at a C&R lake at Busch and today was at Jefferson Lake in Forest Park.
Busch produced a handful of decent bass and bluegill. Jefferson gave up one small but feisty bluegill.

This week I've been thinking about my casting connections more. I've been using Feather-Craft furled leaders for the past few years, mostly in the six foot configuration but I also have a five footer and a six foot fluorocarbon from F-C for a sink tip configuration. I really like their simplicity. They require very little thought and cast very well. Just choose a fitting tippet and tie a few feet on and you're set. I have also used a few other furled leaders made of nylon fly tying thread and monofilament like the ones from F-C. I'm not sure what the differences are between them but I've found that the F-C leaders work really well for me.
Anyway, I decided to dust off my five footer and tie on some Maxima Chameleon mono 3x and give them a shot. I've been using Feather-Craft fluorocarbon 4x for the most part this season and have noticed that my loops aren't what they should be and it seemed more like an equipment thing than a casting mechanics thing. (In reality it's probably a combination of issues: me, rod, line, leader, tippet, underwear, moon phase, etc.) I'll give it some more time but since the change my line has laid out much smoother and I'm more accurate. We'll see.
I'll probably go back to Busch in the morning.
Hopefully this weekend I'll get to have a little more time on the water than an hour like I've had before work lately. I have to say though that it sure is nice to be able to begin some tremendously hectic days at work with some time on the water. I think it helps me handle what comes to me better I think, almost like a good beer.

So far this week...

Since I 'took' Sunday off I decided to get back after it on Monday.  After work Will met me at the C&R lake at Des Peres Park (pronounced "da pair" for you out of towners) for a little while after work.  It's loaded with nice solid 8+/- inch bluegill and bluegill/green sunfish hybrids along with some catfish.  I caught a few nice hybrid green/bluegill.

Before work this morning we visited our favorite secret pond and caught some nice bluegills and a few small bass.

I caught them on a size 14 grey foam popper that Gene sent to me.  There was a pretty significant storm system coming so I figured a top water fly would be a good idea.  Will caught a bunch of nice ones on a hopper imitation.  I love it when hopper season gets going!
I don't think I'll ever get tired of catching these scrappy, tenacious and extremely intelligent fish.  Though I don't think it's quite fair to call them scrappy because that word reminds me of Scooby Doo's little sidekick.  These fish are anything but a little second rate, iritating, go-get-em sidekick.  Alright, maybe I'm taking myself and my little obsession too seriously.  That's okay as long as nobody gets terribly hurt.  Anyway, what I was trying to say was that I won't get tired of them.  Especially since I always seem to lose a few nice ones each time out and that keeps me coming back for more. 

Will is still going with Day 9 under his belt.  He's going for 30 consecutive days.  By the way, he chose a couple of my cherished (and apparently coveted) Briminitors for his bounty.  Well deserved I might add.

Day seven: When spousal priorities don't line up

Well, we have a winner of the first ever Will and Chris fish-a-thon and it isn't me.  I had intended to slip out this afternoon after church and before some friends came over for dinner.  One thing I forgot to do was to check with the wife to make sure she didn't have conflicting plans.  She did.  Will suggested that I try to cast a bit in the back yard to qualify for day seven.  I didn't feel right about it.  He said that he'd give me a pass for a day when things are out of my control but I don't feel right about that either.  
Will got out today and hit a favorite pond after he got off work.  He's officially the winner and my hero.  I'm going to push him to see how far he can go and I'm still going to try to fish every day.  My wife said she could tell a difference in my attitude when I went fishing and when I hadn't gone yet (it was positive after fishing).  Maybe that's just the spoiled little boy in me not getting his way?
One thing I learned from fishing consecutive days is how much I enjoy casting and improving my casts.  I could tell a difference from day to day how I was doing and making small improvements each time out.  It's definitely a very enjoyable part of the fine sport of fly fishing.  I'd say casting ranks in the top 5 behind catching fish and being on water.  I'm still amazed that with all that line slinging through the air more naturally occurring knots don't happen.  Don't get me wrong, I am able to tie quite a few knots without using my hands but it's more infrequent than before. 
Tomorrow I have to meet an electrician early so I have to try to figure out if I can get out during lunch or on the way home...another week begins.

Day six: it's HOT

This morning I drove to Busch and got a boat on Lake 38.  This lake has never produced for me in the two other times I've fished it.  It didn't today either.  I hooked a small bass and a small bluegill but didn't get either of them to the boat.  Lost about 133 flies on underwater timber.
At 10 am I decided it was best to go somewhere else so I turned in my boat key and decided to go to a pair of catch and release lakes that are walk-in access only. 

First cast produced a nice little bass.

Subsequent casts produced several similar bass.
Then this:

I think it's a shiner but I'm not sure.  It's definitely the biggest minner I've ever seen and I have no idea what it's doing in that lake.  It's a artificial lure, catch and release only lake and I'm guessing that someone released some contraband bait in there at some point. 
I walked over to a shallower section of the lake and stood on a bench at the water and cast to some weed beds and caught nearly a ton of smallish redears.

With a few small bluegill mixed in.

While I was catching these fish an large catfish swam by and hung out right in front of me.  It just circled the area for a few minutes not paying any attention to the fish I was catching.  I think it sensed me and was looking for my fly to make me catch it.  I wised up to what it was all about and walked over to the other lake nearby.
This lake is not nearly as clear as the previous one and I've never heard any positive reports about it - purporting that it's not as pretty.  I figure that may mean that the fishing there would be good.  I had about fifteen minutes to go so I tried to choose a spot with an easy get away.  Every cast caught a bluegill.  Sizes ranged from a solid 3 inches to about seven inches.  The fish had nice colors too for cloudy water (I usually associate clear water with more vibrant colors but that was not the case here).  I broke two fish off on some underwater brush.  I saw one of them was a very nice sized bluegill.
As I was walking back to the bluegill mobile (that rhymes if you say it right), I noticed that I was not tracking straight.  I didn't realize that I was so exhausted by the heat even though I had kept a steady stream of water going in me.  Could have been a combination of the air quality index being orange today and the 350 degree heat index.

I just got a text from Will saying he's headed down to a local smallmouth river.  I hope he gets into 'em.
Day six over and survived. 

Day five: close call

Will nearly won the bet today.  I woke up this morning with a bum back due to unnecessarily rigorous work yesterday.  So I didn't get to work until 11:30 and couldn't hit any water on the way in.  After the kids went down to bed and after the wife (she no longer wishes to be called "Mrs. Bream Bum") got back from running an errand I high-tailed it to Carondelet Park.  Aside from Old Man River, that's the closest water to my house.  I was able to fish for about 45 minutes until I got one of the most unreal "night knots" I've ever had.  A night knot is very similar to a wind knot only you get them at night.  I called it quits after that. 
I was fishless but happy. 

Day four: casting practice

I fished a pond at Busch Conservation Area that I haven't fished in a while this morning. Lightly overcast and a gentle wind and it felt a little less humid than the past few days which is surprising because the heat index today will be around 109. There were a few insects dimpling the surface and a few large rises but not much. Apparently it was a good day to practice casting to work on getting that 'J' out of the end of my cast. I caught one 3" greenie when I was dangling the fly in the water to look at the action. Not even worth a picture. On a "last cast" I got a solid hit but nothing materialized.
Still, it was nice being out.
That was Day Four.

Also, as an addition to yesterday's report, I looked up species information and I think what I caught yesterday is a longear and a redbreast.  The redbreast is the smaller one and smaller fish tend to be harder for me to identify and the longear is the more colorful of the two.

The gauntlet is going down...

So Will just challenged me to a duel. Who can fish more consecutive days.
The rules:
•No fish have to be caught
•An outing can be 30 minutes or a fish caught or a tippet change (but that is a necessary change).
•Begins 12 July 2010
•Conway road park (across the street from my work) does not count (this is a bummer as it definitely gave me an advantage)
Winner pays for gas on the following long trip and has his choice of 2 of the losers flies.

Who will win? It doesn't really matter.

Hump day creakin'

As a continuation of proving my bumness I fished a small, healthy creek this morning. 
The first fish I caught was a small tarpon or a minner.  I couldn't decide which it was.

I saw some smallies but didn't catch any.  I caught this nice little largemouth though. 

I caught probably 15 green sunfish but somehow forgot to take a picture of any of them.
I also caught what I think is a pumpkinseed sunfish.  I get confused between longear and pumpkinseeds so it may be a longear.  Whatever it is, it's stunning.

And my first Missouri longear, which helps me meet my goal of locating a healthy population of them.

It was a very muggy morning and I'm glad I chose a creek because they tend to be cooler than stillwaters.  I'm also glad I brought an extra shirt because I ended up sweating so much I was soaked through by the time I got back to my car and needed to wet wade for a little bit which made me glad for my extra pair of shoes and socks.
I'm not sure what tomorrow will hold as I have to be at work extra early.  It may be a lunch time or evening outing.
I'm not sure who I'm trying to prove this to.  Probably just myself.  I probably just chose the wrong words to begin with and felt that I needed to continue the wording.  Regardless, I'm having fun and I'm catching good fish.

Bumness proved: day two

This morning I went to Will's sectret spot for an hour.  Second and third casts produced a couple of nice 8 1/2 - 9" gills.

I also caught a few small bass:

Stunted bass tend to be a sign of a good bluegill fishery so I was happy to see the little fellas.
Toward the end of my time, on one of my "this is my last cast" casts I hooked this nice 9 1/2" fattie:

Check out the colors on this guy!  Absolutely stunning , even to a colorblind guy like me.  This fish fought like a freight train.  I tried to get a picture of the bend in my rod but I needed to concentrate on the fight.  It would run then give up a little then barrel out to the middle and took a few courageous jumps like a largemouth bass. 
What a great way to start a Tuesday.
I'm really looking forward to see what the rest of the week holds.

Bumness proved: day one

I got up early this morning before work and hit a catch and release pond at Busch Wildlife.  This is part of my goal to fish every day this week. 
It was sunny, muggy and warm and with a slight wind. Last time I was there it was overcast and I caught twenty+ fat bluegill 7-9" on a bream killer at some submerged timber.  It was slower today but I still caught a few bass and bluegill.

I think in the morning I'll go to a little 'secret' spot Will recently discovered.

Sick day

Last Thursday Will and I took off to go to Hartell Conservation Area. He had a day off and I called in sick. I consider it a 'mental health' day that I needed very badly.  In fact, I need them about once a week.  Hartell is somewhere northeast of Kansas City and northwest of Columbia, MO.  It's managed to be a trophy catch and release bluegill and bass fishery which is what lured us. 
We started out at 3am and got there a little after 7am and we didn't get lost.  Will brought his campstove and percolator for us to have fresh coffee in the boat at all times.  Which we needed.

We didn't catch enormous fish but they were good sized and lots of fun.

I hooked and lost a huge bluegill though.  It must have gone over my desired 10" and very possibly could have been a new MO state record.  We'll never know.  It's funny how the one that got away is the one you remember most. 
Will caught a decent bass and a crappie. 

It was a terrific time with a good friend on some nice water.  We had some terrific conversations and we actually made it home awake after only a few hours' sleep. We were dead the next day but it was definitely worth it and I'd do it again any time. 
We'll definitely be back.  For now we may be concentrating on a few 'projects' around our home waters.

Proving my bumness

My goal for the week: to fish every possible morning before work.  I've done it before.  Some days I'll have to meet contractors at 7am so we'll see if it works out for those days - maybe on the way home or during lunch would work out.  But for now, I'm going to prove my bumness by hitting a few ponds and maybe a creek here or there.
My wife calls me fanatical.  I think all fisherman can be called fanatical.  I prefer to use the term 'dedicated'. Sometimes when a person is under a lot of stress, an activity that helps to redirect and recharge them is worth losing sleep over.  And if a person enjoys doing something and goes out of their way to do that thing, would you call them a fanatic or dedicated?

On another note, I have have some catching up to do on my trip reports - see Will's blog for his side of the story.  I hope to post my thoughts tomorrow night.