Recent Fishing Photos

I have had a LOT of time to fish in the interim between my job at Covenant and my new job at Petsmart. Here are some recent photos with brief descriptions.
This is lake 36 out at Busch Wildlife; it was hot, but once the rain started it cooled off and the fishing really picked up. The Greenie below was taken just shortly after I took this picture.

I have had a lot of "luck" recently with beadhead prince and nymph patterns, and so I have been fishing those a lot. This 8" Green was taken on a #14 BH Pheasant-tail and put up a strong fight. The hole I found him in was bordered by rocks on the left and millfoil on the back and right, so I was really thankful I had stuck to a 3X tippet. The picture doesn't really do him justice; his mouth was enormous (Green Sunfish mouths always amaze me) and he was just as fat as could be.
This little 9"-10" LM was also taken on a beadhead nymph, but quite unexpectedly. I had a #18 on for sight fishing for bluegill and redears on lake 10 at Busch. I had just finished a strip-in and was neatening up my line when just in front of me I saw a LOT of movement. I suppose this guy just had the opportunity for a very small snack and took it; it's always funny to take larger fish on tiny flies (and the opposite is even funnier). Since he was hooked so close-in, he didn't get tired out fighting and was a real trouble maker out of the water. (Just for perspective, a buddy caught a 17.5" LM from 36 just a few days ago, also on a 3wt).

Here is one of my largest 'gills to date. This was from a private pond. I had been fishing a BH nymph but decided to switch it up a bit and tied on a #14 Olive Drab Crackleback. I had heard something about how these are great fished deep and slow--and they ARE! I caught two more just like this one seconds after the cast letting the fly sink down. I'm always astonished how hard these little fish fight, pull and jump, but this one put the rest to shame. I was convinced it was a bass until I got a look at him. One thing I've learned about anything nymph or beadhead--they take them deep really quickly; only about 1 in 6 arrives with the hookeye outside the mouth.

And here is my trophy bass. I challenge anyone to catch a smaller one!

Guys' Camping

So as many of you already know, Cheryl and I are fairly avid campers (we are well on our way to earning the Missouri Campers' Award!). She is really responsible for getting me into camping, and so I took the opportunity last weekend to branch out and do some without her. Since she had some friends coming in for the weekend (read about that here), I rounded up some men from work and we went out to Sam A Baker SP (Cheryl and my favorite campground) for camping, fireside talks, good camp food and fishing.


We caught somewhere around 70 fish from Big Creek and its tributaries, but only kept 7-8 Green sunfish and Longears for cleaning and eating. This was the first time I had ever attempted to clean a fish and then cook it--by the third or fourth one I finally got the hang of it and was producing miniature (but very delicious!) filets. We caught some Smallies, but all were just under the 12" limit (these were extremely fun to handle on my 3wt rod!!).

What the heck am I doing?

I am a therapist for 14-18 yr old boys in a residential facility. Most of the boys were placed here because of behavior problems (including criminal charges i.e. assault, weapons and drugs.) The first two weeks were pretty good with these guys. They were all pleasant with me and were pretty compliant. I have been telling people that I love my new job.... well, I may have spoken too soon. Today I got cussed out by two of the guys and I had another one refuse to come to his therapy session. My supervisor told me that they are just testing me. Maybe they have all realized that I don't know what the heck I am doing. How do you get kids who are (hopefully former) gang members, drug dealers, etc. to talk to you about their problems? Even more, how do you get them to recognize that they have problems? They are not motivated to do anything and attempt to get into a power struggle with you any time they are required to do something.

Today the boy who refused to come to therapy eventually came after my supervisor spoke with him. He stated that he wasn't going to talk. I told him that was his decision to make. He sat in my office for about 30 minutes and stared at the ceiling and did not say a word! I asked him 3 questions throughout that time to stir him a little and he just sat there. Let me tell you... 30 minutes is a long time to sit in silence and stare at someone!!! There are two things that could have been going on with him... 1) a power struggle OR 2) resistance to therapy. He just found out earlier in the week that he's not going to be able to live with his mom and other family out of state. He is stuck in St. Louis in Children's Division custody. So, from knowing this, I choose to believe that it's #2. I noticed that his eyes were a little watery but he insisted at the end of our session that it's not a big deal. After I dropped him off, I went into our beautiful chapel here and had to pray. I'm really thankful for that chapel. I think I may spend a lot of time there.

I really feel like I'm in over my head right now. I really want to help these guys but I don't know how. I don't remember covering this stuff at Covenant. This isn't exactly the population that I pictured myself working with. I think that I have the potential to learn a lot about therapy from this job and am really excited about that. I'm pretty sure that it's going to take a lot of work and a lot of prayer. So, if you think about it, please pray for me.

Will's New Job

Well, I've finally secured some fulltime after grad employment! It is not necessarily my dream job, but it gets me off campus, out of PPD, a fulltime pay scale and benefits. I'll be the Pet Products Manager at the South County Petsmart starting in a week or so. I used to be a stocker at a few Petsmarts during my undergraduate, so it'll be a little surreal going back and a little like going home. I am honestly excited about a few different aspects of the job: being around a lot of non-Christians is one of them. I'll update as needed; thank you for all your prayers! I'll continue to seek dream jobs and study Arabic, but for the next while I'll be making sure people's doggies and kitties are fed and happy!

Why I Enjoy Fly Fishing

I suppose I could write a long, involved, and airy post about the merits of fly fishing, but I won't. I will, however, relate the multiple reasons why fly fishing has quickly become a real addiction for me, more so even than bait-casting fishing.

It's odd; I grew up fishing and have spent countless hours on rivers, ponds, lakes and even some surf, but I never enjoyed it as much as this. More interesting is the fact that I never enjoyed that sort of fishing in the same way as I enjoy fly fishing. There is just something about the entire activity of this that I enjoy: casting is not just a means of getting the "lure" out to the fish, stripping/pulling/fishing the "lure" back or away is not just a technique to attract a fish, and walking along/through the water is not just transportation.

I told a friend the other day that fly fishing, for me, is like getting drunk...without the side effects. There is nothing else I have ever done that so sneakily can make the rest of everything fade out. It's not till I stop fishing and am leaving in my car that I realize that I had forgotten about all my worries, stresses, mistakes, and even hopes...when I "sober" back up. Everything in the world just seems right when I'm fishing, probably because when I'm fishing--everything is right, what is not right dies for that short time. I don't find myself wanting to go fishing now for the excitement of catching a fish--even a big fish--but for the rest that it offers me. I should have been fly fishing all along; I just didn't know it.

Fishing Report

A friend and I caught 45 of these each today over lunch (about an hour). No, I will not tell you where...well, maybe for a 12 pack I might.

Castlewood

Caught and released this amazing little sunfish out at Castlewood the other day. Also caught some nice Creek Chub, but no good photos of those for y'all.

This is a confirmed Longear Sunfish, by the way.