March 30, 2024
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:![](https://s9.gifyu.com/images/SVC4U.jpg)
![](https://s12.gifyu.com/images/SVClS.jpg)
The ladies:![](https://s9.gifyu.com/images/SVClb.jpg)
![](https://s9.gifyu.com/images/SVClz.jpg)
![](https://s9.gifyu.com/images/SVCdG.jpg)
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:![](https://s12.gifyu.com/images/SVClN.jpg)
David Merical
St. Louis, MO