March 30, 2024

[FishnDave]

Nice warm day in the mid-70's.... kinda windy. Had a good outing, lots of walking.... I need better shoes. I caught 7 Bowfin, and lost a number of others. I got to sight-fish some of them, which the water clarity doesn't usually permit. It was interesting to learn that when the fish would hit and not get hooked, even if I tugged on them for a bit, they didn't go far once the fly escaped them. The just pretty much settled back to the bottom, and I was able to get repeated strikes from several, and eventually caught a couple of those fish. The male Eyetail Bowfin (Amia ocellicauda) are already sporting good spawning colors, and a couple of the females had very interesting markings!The fellas:The ladies:I had tied a fly with a Cohen's CGH Swim Tail, size Small. It didn't have the swim action I was looking for, nor vibration... (I'm sure it was because it was poorly tied by me...first time using these!), but the bowfin seem to really like it all the same.I caught 3 Common Carp:

[FishnDave]

There were some large schools of Mosquitofish / Gambusia, so I switched to micro flies to try for them. They'd hit, but couldn't even get hooked on the tiny Tanago fly!I caught some Green Sunfish, tiny Bluegills, and a couple other fish, which I think are probably both Golden Shiners, which I've caught before..so they weren't something new. I like new. Some other things seen while out.... a Bald Eagle carrying a fish:I rescued a Red-eared Slider turtle that got high-centered on a stick:I saw a number of different kinds of ducks and geese...Wood Ducks, Canadian Geese, a Greater White-fronted Goose, Mallards, some other kind of duck...possibly Common Goldeneye(?).Also saw a number of different kinds of snakes...pretty cool. Turned over 2 rotted logs next to the creek, one had nothing under it, the other had a snake tucked up in it, which I coaxed out for a photo op.

[Rick Z]

Nice set of fish and pictures.
Rick

[BadBug]

Nice catching Dave. A snake coaxer & a turtle rescuer, does that pay minimum wage nowadays? I'll bet the male bowfin like those spotted ladies better than the plain looking ones. There can't be too many more varieties of fish you haven't caught in the US. Dennis

[FishnDave]

A snake coaxer & a turtle rescuer, does that pay minimum wage nowadays? Dennis

Well, that's a good question, so I checked out what the going pay rate is. Turns out, what I do isn't appreciated financially. But, I COULD earn up to $19.99/hr if I was, instead, a Snake Rescuer and a Turtle Coaxer! Shucks, I was SO CLOSE!!