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Where did all the panfish go?!? From Friday, March 29th through April 3rd, we've had rain on a daily basis. And - not to mention cold snaps! Again! The stream I went to today was running a lot faster and was a lot colder than my trip out last Friday. I did not land one panfish. I couldn't even make a fish hit a top water pattern. I'm wondering if folks cleaned out my bluegill hole on Easter Sunday because it sure seems that way. At least from looking at the trash on the bank it does. I picked up some trash and a plastic rod combo cover with rod instructions and a "How-to-fish" booklet to throw in the recycle bin. (I caught the girl above on a Panfish Charley - it's for panfish you silly bass!).
This is why fishing holes get shut down!! It angers me because I've had a few get shut down to do hooligans and behavior related to drugs alcohol and graffiti. On one occasion, I was the first one to leave to lot and hit the stream. I came back a few hours later with a lot of folks bank fishing and diapers scattered willy-nilly! Or, is it hither-thither??
Check out my red eye bass! It's been a while since one of these nasty dudes hit the line. I drifted my Seek & Destroy for panfish and all I got was this bass, lol. The bass are moving! It's April and about time! We've had a late winter and I've been ready to stretch my legs for a while now. I drifted weighted nymphs for panfish without success today. The Woolly Bugger wasn't any help either. Soon, my friends, soon! Those panfish will be ready to jump into my creel, mwah ha ha ha.
This guy sure is purdy but what is he? A red eye bass or a smallmouth? If you look at this information, http://calfish.ucdavis.edu/species/?uid=75&ds=241, it could be a red eye but it looks like a smallmouth bass to me. The jaw line doesn't seem to extend far. So, maybe he is a red eye. But who cares right? It's a bass. Maybe it's a hybrid . . .
So, those bluegills heard I was out for them this year, huh. Well, I'll show them next week! Tight lines to all those chasing panfish on #yearofthebluegill.
Josh, to my knowledge there are no true Redeye Bass in AR. That's not to say there are no bass in AR with red eyes. Smallmouths and Spotteds both have red or reddish eyes too. True Redeyes (or their hybrids) have been introduced into CA (according to your UC Davis link)... something I didn't know, thanks for sharing by the way. I think the last bass in your pictures is without a doubt a Smallmouth. The second one you have labeled as a "Redeye" looks to be another Smallmouth to me too. Look at some of the pics on my blog of native Redyes from their native waters in the Coosa River drainage in AL. They share some characteristics with their Smallmouth cousins, like red eyes, but they look a little different than the these fish. Nice post by the way... and I think I'd take those bass over Bluegills any day!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jay. I looked at the pics. Are those Shoal Bass, lol. No, just kidding. They almost look to have to coloring of an Ozark Bass/Calico Bass.
ReplyDeleteI have caught more quality bass this spring than any other. I hope that means the rest of the year will be epic.
ReplyDeleteJosh
ReplyDeleteI have found that the big bull bluegills don't become active until the water gets into the 60's. That is when I actually start landing good size gills first on nymphs near the banks. I actually land my largest bluegill before they ever go on the beds. I try to get to the good size ones before the cork fisherman get to them when they go on the beds. In the lake I fish the cork fisherman know exactly when the fish go on bed and they usually clean all of them out in a couple of weeks. The big bluegills stay in the deep areas of the lake until the lake warms and that is when I start my nymph search, once the temps get above 65 the top action starts. This is the pattern I see here it may be a little different there. Both those bass had to be a blast on the fly. Thanks for sharing