We’ve moved to St. Louis, Missouri! What a busy week, and still TONS of stuff to unbox and get organized at our much smaller place.
I got out fly fishing Saturday morning. Had to drive 30 minutes, but found a lake that is posted “C&R Only” and “No Live Bait or Scented Baits/Lures”. Perfect for me. There was one other angler when I got there, and he eventually left, so then I had the whole lake to myself. At a popular recreation area. Near St. Louis. On a Saturday. What??? :headbang:
First fish…a Redear Sunfish!
Later, another…with orange eyes?:
Caught some bluegills, didn’t take any pictures of them. Caught some suspected Redear/Bluegill hybrids:
I caught 3-4 bass (two on a popper). None were very big, this wasn’t the biggest, but it was really dark colored:
I caught quite a few Green Sunfish. Really good-looking fish, even the smaller ones. Some were pretty good sized, I measured one that was a good 8".
The water was reasonably clear. I was able to spot some Redears. The spawn was over quite a while ago…these were just going about their normal business of feeding, so I could watch their behaviors. It was pretty interesting. I could also watch them react to my flies/jigs. They’d feed anywhere from the bottom to the surface. They are very finicky…they’d look at nearly everything I’d try, but then refuse it.
Congrats on your move. Please continue your prolific writing; I especially depend on it since March. Hope you find many new waters with receptive fish.
Congratulations on the move toward warmer weather. Those are some nice fish, in the past I have found coloration on shellcrackers to vary quite a bit, I used to fish one lake where their belly would be completely black.
Dale, I owe my microjig/indicator skills ALL to you!
Oldster, I was fishing from shore.
Uncle Jesse, yes, I’m noticing that as well. I visited another small urban lake a few days later. Caught bluegills, a bass, a green sunfish, and another Redear. This Redear had some more typical/darker coloration. Pretty fish!
And the Green Sunfish:
Caught this last year in a retention pond in St Charles, a suburb of St Louis. Never know what you will find in Missouri That’s an 11 inch Tenkara handle…
Yes. And I could see quite a few Redears along the shorelines, just hanging out or feeding along…and frustratingly would inspect but not strike everything I tried. I did get a few strikes, but missed all the hooksets.
Green Sunfish are possibly the easiest fish to catch…and that seems to be about all I can catch lately.
I’ve seen some good channel catfish, but haven’t caught them yet here. Also saw some common carp and grass carp, but haven’t caught those here yet either. Seeing them is a positive sign, though.
Fished a couple small lakes on Saturday. Caught Bluegills, Largemouth Bass, Green Sunfish, and Redear Hybrids.
