Three Creeks Conservation Area, Boone Co.

For my final fishing trip in Missouri before our move, I decided to visit Three Creeks Conservation Area in Boone County. I first visited this area sometime in the summer of 2010, when I discovered fly fishing. I was tired of fishing in lakes, and this area offered the closest access to a good, old-fashioned creek that I could find.

I think I caught ~20 fish on various little foam flies on my first visit. All little Bluegill, Green Sunfish, and Longear Sunfish, but I was hooked! So much so that I brought Diana back a few days later and made her fish with me! I started visiting the area every chance I had, and I think I pretty much exclusively fished Bonne Femme Creek.

For my final trip, I decided to visit an upstream part of Bonne Femme Creek that I had never been to. I had a feeling my favorite hole had changed greatly in the two years since my previous visit, and I wanted to remember it the way it used to look.

When I got to the 'new' part of the creek I was amazed at how intermittent it was, even with the recent rains. My usual stretch always had pretty decent flow, but this part was pocked with a little hole behind a tree here, a narrow furrow there, a slow run here, tons of gravel there...

I brought a microlite spinning rod, my fly rod (just in case!), and my tenkara rod. It took a surprisingly long time (~20 minutes) to get the spinning rod and tenkara rod ready to go, but it only took one cast to catch a....wait for it....Creek Chub!

I hope these guys are less abundant in Maryland.

My second cast with the microlite rod was also technically successful:

I wasn't even mad.

After those casts, I was done with the microlite rod for the time being, so I tried to find some minnows or darters with the tenkara rod. I found some little Bluegill, Green Sunfish, and Longear Sunfish, but again, no Orangespotted Sunfish for me.

This poor fish was used as bait for a Longnose Gar I saw swimming around. The gar never bothered with him though, so he was eventually set free, although I imagine s/he had a sore jaw for the rest of the day.

However, the minnows that were present were interesting. I managed to catch at least a half dozen of the species shown below. At the stream I thought, "Rosyface Shiner!" but when I got home I couldn't find that species on any of the range maps/collections for Boone County, so I erroneously assumed the green coloration meant I had Emerald Shiners. Luckily, the helpful members of NANFA set me straight and identified these fish as Carmine Shiners, my third life fish in three days! And life fish #46 overall (either Rosyface or Carmine would be new, so I'm counting it)! At least I was pretty much right with my first guess of Rosyface Shiner (Carmine was split from Rosyface).

In hindsight, that mouth and 'small' eye should have told me, "No! I'm not an Emerald! Stick with your gut!"

I went downstream a bit and found a pool that was about 3 feet deep and maybe 4 feet in diameter behind a root wad. I dropped in a hook and pulled out what I think is a Red Shiner:

There were probably 20-30 of these guys stuck in that tiny pool! They were not too eager to bite, however.

After spending 10 minutes trying (and failing) to catch another shiner, I decided to try my dipnet and I pulled out something unexpected!

I think this is a Stoneroller, probably Central. 

I eventually moved on to a big swimming hole at the confluence of Bonne Femme and Bass Creeks. Downstream of the hole is where the flow really starts to pick up, and in the past I only made it up to the pool one time (I preferred to avoid the crowds while fishing). Unfortunately, the fifth piece of my tenkara rod snapped when I cast it! No clue why, all that was on there was a tanago hook and teeny tiny split shot. This will be the third replacement piece I'll have to order for it! (The first two broke because I was being careless in my kayak in October 2013).

Luckily, if I can say that, it broke near the base so I was still able to fish with most of the rod the rest of the day.

The pool is where I found many more sunfish, a Longnose Gar, darters, shiners, and other minnows. I was blindly casting when I pulled out another Central Stoneroller!

Then I saw some darters and ended up catching three or four Orangethroats in quick succession. I think I'm finally getting the hang of darter fishing! Or, maybe not. We'll see!

Finally, I spent some time trying to catch some little Northern Hogsuckers in a deeper run with some redworm on a size 18 hook. I never caught one, but I did bring in some Creek Chubs, Red Shiners, Common Shiners, and this very eager Largemouth Bass:

And that wraps up my fishing in Missouri for the foreseeable future! I wish I had started microfishing years before I did, and I really wish I hadn't packed all of my fish-related books back in May.

My note taking became less detailed once I started microfishing, but I know I caught well over 1000 fish in Missouri from 2010-2015, with almost all of them coming in 2010-2013. In fact, I think I only caught 5 or 6 fish in all of 2014! Of the 46 species currently on my life list, only two were caught outside of Missouri: a White Pollack in Dingle, Ireland, and a couple Redbreast Sunfish on the New River in Virginia.

Here's a roundup of all the fish species I remember catching or seeing (*) at Three Creeks CA over the years, in no particular order:

1. Largemouth Bass
2. Bluegill
3. Green Sunfish
4. Longear Sunfish
5. Creek Chub
6. Longnose Gar* (had one briefly hooked, but I still haven't caught one anywhere)
7. Golden Shiner* (caught by my friend)
8. White Bass
9. Common Shiner
10. Redfin Shiner
11. Carmine Shiner
12. Central Stoneroller
13. Orangethroat Darter
14. Flathead Catfish* (I watched it swallow my live bait, then I over-eagerly tried to set the hook and lost it! Still haven't caught one!)
15. Red Shiner
16. White Crappie
17. Bluntnose Minnow* (dipnetted)
18. Northern Hogsucker*

Grindstone Creek, Boone Co.

I wanted to get down to Grindstone Creek behind our house at least one more time before we move. I tend to not visit the creek during the summer months due to the chiggers/ticks/poison ivy/thorns, but I had to make an exception this time!

Looking down towards the creek from our deck. It's way down there in all the trees, about 150-200 feet away. Very easy to hear it when it's flooding.

Due to all the rain the creek was higher than normal, and the deep holes/runs had really shifted compared to 2013.

About 100-200 feet downstream of our home in 2013. 

Same section of creek as above, but in June 2015.

One of the new holes that didn't exist prior to this year. This used to be a riffle.

I spent most of my time marveling at the changes in the creek, which required me to find a lot of new paths to bypass the deep water. There were hundreds of ~1/2" long crayfish shooting around the gravel bottom, but I didn't see a single fish. Luckily, I knew I could count on Creek Chubs if I plopped my bait into the water. A little noise and the buggers appear out of nowhere to annoy me. I remember when I was frustrated (in 2010) that I couldn't catch a single Creek Chub! Those were the days!

The last fish I'll ever catch out of the creek behind our house!

I wasn't always fishing back there, and I probably only went down there ~15-20 times over the years, but here's a list of fish I either saw or caught in Grindstone Creek behind our house from April 2010-June 2015:

1. Orangethroat Darter
2. Largemouth Bass
3. Creek Chub
4. Green Sunfish
5. Bluegill
6. Central Stoneroller
7. Bluntnose Minnow
8. Blackstripe Topminnow
9. Common Shiner
10. Red Shiner
11. Northern Hogsucker

Hinkson Creek, Boone County

I finished all of my Owen-related chores early last night, so Diana let me go microfishing for a couple hours when she put him to bed!

I didn't have too much time, and I wasn't sure which creeks had running water (Grindstone Creek behind our house...a tributary of Hinkson Creek....is bone dry), so I headed to Capen Park. I've been driving over Hinkson Creek there all week on my way to the corn field so I at least knew it had standing water, if not running.

Luckily, the water was running at Capen Park!

I saw a group of small sunfish almost straight away. I started with a scented rubber band on a tanago hook, but in the dim light it was impossible to see and I wasn't catching anything. I quickly switched to bright pink PowerBait worms on a tanago.

Almost immediately upon switching, a small sunfish took the bait.

Unfortunately, that was the only fish I caught in my first hour. I had ~5-6 fish out of the water, only to have them fall off before I could get them over dry land. I think they were mostly minnows, but one was almost certainly a darter! I still haven't caught a darter on hook-and-line, so that one was particularly frustrating.

I worked my way over to some deeper water beneath Capen's cliffs and pulled out a ~5" Green Sunfish. Normally, I pull my bait away when I see a Green Sunfish/Bluegill heading for it, but I just wanted the monkey off my back last night!

Green Sunfish

Hinkson Creek

The deepest pool I encountered last night. Probably ~2-3 feet deep in the middle. This was a crayfish/Green Sunfish hotspot.

Once I caught the Green Sunfish I started having better luck. I tried to catch some small Largemouth Bass, but a Creek Chub darted out and stole my bait.

Creek Chub

There were large schools of minnows flashing in some shallow riffles, so I spent a lot of time trying to catch them. I had three or four fall off the hook (it's very hard for me to get a hookset with the tanago hooks) before I caught two back-to-back. I have no idea what they are yet, and have started a thread at NANFA hoping to find an answer.

Edit: Looks like it's a Sand Shiner, lifer #39!

As it crept closer to sunset, I started getting more bites, but still not many more caught fish. Another sunfish came in and just barely got the tip of the hook:

I spent a few minutes trying to catch a topminnow to finish the night:

Blackstripe Topminnow

After de-hooking the topminnow I just tossed the bait into the water so I wouldn't get it tangled. Naturally, a Green Sunfish darted out to grab it.

This stupid fish got himself hooked deep. Luckily, the forceps I carry for dealing with the tanago  hooks allowed me to safely extract it and release the fish.

Species encountered:

1. Longear Sunfish
2. Green Sunfish
3. Bluegill
4. Largemouth Bass
5. Creek Chub
6. Shiner sp.
7. Orangethroat Darter
8. Blackstripe Topminnow

Also, while not a fish, I lucked into my 70th life herp species yesterday!

Prairie Kingsnake

Three Creeks CA, Boone County

Despite the cold (35°F) weather, I opted to visit the Bonne Femme Creek at Three Creeks CA (Boone County) this morning. I know of a few deep (>6 ft.) holes that aren't too far apart, so I headed out in hopes of catching my first winter fish.

After a short walk down the trail you're greeted by a view from the top of the cliff. I enjoy the vista because it looks like there is no sign of human activity for as far as you can see.



A little more walking brings you down to the creek. The Bonne Femme eventually drains into the Missouri River, but it has many miles to go from this point. Just upstream from the point in the photo the Bonne Femme connects to Turkey Creek and Bass Creek.

 

I took my 4 weight fly rod this morning, and I started out with a bright orange wet fly that I tied last winter. I made a few casts into the first deep hole and noticed it was bouncing around underwater. Fish!

I watched the fly on a few more casts and decided I needed something a little smaller, so I switched to a size 12 nymph. The first cast brought in my first winter fish ever! A 5" Creek Chub.



Another few casts resulted in a similar sized fish, and a third Creek Chub (5 15/16") was eventually caught.



Despite about a mile of creek walking, the only fish I even saw were Creek Chubs and Orange-throated Darters. Still, it was nice to get out again for the first time in ~4 months and catch a few fish.

Next weekend, weather permitting, I hope to take the kayak to Little Dixie Lake CA with my new wetsuit and fish finder!