We got on the road...Matt was lights out in the car while I jived to some Dash Berlin.
It was 8:30am and we arrived. Water looked lower than my last trip...but still pretty fast current. We suited up and started fishing by 9am.
We found the gar under a set of riffles sitting in the slower water below. Matt took a hit but missed. A while later, I took a hit and missed.
Then the sky opened up and started spitting...then drizzling. We missed a few more fish each and then it was dead. We decided to search downstream but found nothing...so back upstream we went.
Now the drizzle turned into pouring rain. The water started to rise and the water got murkier...but then the gars started moving upstream.
I missed a gar...and Matt missed one seconds later...may have been the same fish.
While I went slightly downstream to fish a small pod of fish, Matt hooked up and managed to keep it hooked. I did the honours and grabbed the fish. When we go the fish to shore, the fish was only barely hooked. The treble stinger was hooked on the right side of the jaw, the stinger hook line wrapped around the snout, the main hook on the fly barely stuck on the right side of the snout as well...and the teeth was tangled in the streamer fibers...talk about needing some luck landing these fish sometimes!
Congrats bud!!! A nice 24"+ fish
We missed a few more fish...then I decided to try find catch some spawning carp and redhorse suckers. None of them wanted to bite...but I caught half a dozen of pumpkinseed (beauty pic for my fish list)...
...half a dozen of rockbass...
...and then out of nowhere...a fallfish! Semotilus corporalis = species #195!!!
While I was bottom bouncing with worms for the above, Matt missed a couple of gar hits. I went back to the fly rod and the gars disappeared. A while of no action on the fly rod...and I went back to bottom bouncing worms when some carp moved in...carp disappeared...and the gars appeared...I swear...they are conspiring against me today!!!
I went upstream to look for some spawning carp...found a couple...tried to fish for them but the sunfish, rockbass and even a juvi smallmouth bass kept stealing the bait! Eventually the carp had enough and took off.
Went back downstream and Matt had enough...so we called it a day.
Before we left, we took a walk along the other side of the river...and that's when we spotted garasaurus!!! EASILY a 50" class gar...if not approaching the 60" class...the biggest I've ever seen. Matt tried to cast to the fish but could reach it with the cast.
I went further downstream while Matt chased the fish. There were no gar downstream...nothing in all the likely spots. I chatted with someone and he said the rain dropped the water temp and the gar may have dropped back to the lake since the river it colder with the rain.
I guess we did pretty well finding that area of fish given the lack of fish in the river.
Not the day I was looking for...wet...cold...very fish fish...even fewer biters...and only 1 gar landed...but I'm glad it was Matt who landed his first gar.
Always fun fishing with you bud! Gotta do it again next year...hopefully we'll have better conditions next time
