Month: June 2018

The fish are the obvious part, but it’s often the bits and pieces on the periphery that make the lasting memories. The otters on the ice at the beginning of a nearly fishless day, or the coyote pups resting on the mud flat while I stalked carp – these are the mental trophies that have stood the test of time. Fishing was just the vehicle that put me in position to see those things.

This is an encounter from last week that I will remember for a long time.

And a few more memorable moments:

A trip to a small local river added a few species to “The 2018 Fly Fishing List”.

The species in the pic above is one of my favorites. As a kid, I incorrectly referred to these as longear sunfish. Looking at the opercular flap, you can see why. It is, of course, the redbreast sunfish. This colorful, willing biter is quite common in this river and many others in the east.

This redbreast, and many of his neighbors, ate a fuzzy nymph with a brass bead head. The tail of this specimen is worth mentioning. I would assume that he wore that down digging a spawning bed. The wound looked fully healed and he seemed none the worse for wear.

A couple small rock bass came next using the same generic bead head. There’s not much to say about a rock bass. They have lots of bite, but not much fight –  especially at this size.

The green sunfish was the final species of the day. This little guy was the only one of his kind that I found that day. A switch to a glass bead head nymph lead to his capture.

 

“The 2018 Fly Fishing List” so far:

1. Brown Trout – Salmo trutta
2. Brook Trout – Salvelinus fontinalis
3. Rainbow Trout – Oncorhynchus mykiss
4. Landlocked Atlantic Salmon – Salmo salar
5. Creek Chub – Semotilus atromaculatus
6. Northern Pike – Esox lucius
7. Largemouth Bass – Micropterus salmoides
8. Chain Pickerel – Esox niger
9. Black Crappie – Poxomis nigromaculatis
10. Bluegill – Lepomis macrochirus
11. Bowfin – Amia calva
12. Pumpkinseed – Lepomis gibbosus
13. Common Shiner – Luxilus cornutus
14. Redbreast Sunfish – Lepomis auritus
15. Rock Bass – Ambloplites rupestris
16. Green Sunfish – Lepomis cyanellus

To close out May, I made a quick stop at a stream I have been frequenting for the past few months. I only knew this stream to hold three species for certain, but suspected more. With a change of seasons and a little flexibility in tactics, I discovered three additional species dwell here.

The day started like my previous visits, with rainbow trout in fast water. Creek chubs and sunfish filled the middle by probing deep slow pools. A sprinkling of brown trout fell evenly throughout. The grand finale was a new fly rod species for 2018 – the Common Shiner (Luxilus cornutus).

The outing spanned just a couple hours and less than a mile of stream bed. Although the fish were diminutive, the variety and numbers of each were excellent. From a multi-species angler’s perspective, I picked it clean.

“The 2018 Fly Fishing List” so far:

1. Brown Trout – Salmo trutta
2. Brook Trout – Salvelinus fontinalis
3. Rainbow Trout – Oncorhynchus mykiss
4. Landlocked Atlantic Salmon – Salmo salar
5. Creek Chub – Semotilus atromaculatus
6. Northern Pike – Esox lucius
7. Largemouth Bass – Micropterus salmoides
8. Chain Pickerel – Esox niger
9. Black Crappie – Poxomis nigromaculatis
10. Bluegill – Lepomis macrochirus
11. Bowfin – Amia calva
12. Pumpkinseed – Lepomis gibbosus
13. Common Shiner – Luxilus cornutus