Boogieman and the Seven Sunfish

[bluegillboogieman]

Stumpknocker

Warmouth....Redear

Crappie

Red Breast....Bass

Bluegill

.

.

.

Once Upon A Time

Like...last week, the Boogieman went fishing for the first time ever...on moving water! The Boogieman has always fished small lakes and ponds, but always thought that the black water under the curvy bridge at Vernon, Florida looked mighty fishy. He had no idea how right he was. Holmes Creek is a large, fast flowing, high volume creek that flows into the Choctawhatchee River. It is fed by very numerous natural springs that dot the countryside along it's path.

The seven sunfish pictured above were all minding their own business at the mouth of one of those spring flows into the Holmes Creek, when they met the Boogieman. He pulled his Boogieboat out of the maelstrom that is Holmes Creek and into a fifteen foot deep pool of black. The air temperature was 92 and the water temp was 71! That is cold in Florida at the end of August. The water looked black but was really quite clear, just deep. Visibility was several feet and the Boogieman anchored in about nine feet of water. He spied a twin log underwater structure near the bank and flipped his cricket there on his 12 ft Crimson pole. Before he left that "Honey Hole", all seven different sunfish in the picture had feasted on crickets and all ran under the same log. Unlike the "still water" sunfish the Boogieman was used to, every one of these "moving water" fish DID NOT swallow the hook. All were hooked in the top lip and all fought like demons. The Boogieman was stunned by the difference in the intensity of the fight, and the duration and repeated runs by the "moving water" fish. It must have been the cold water and the fast current that made the difference. Whatever it is, the Boogieman was so impressed he is now a "Moving Water" fisherman.

Not pictured is the largest shellcracker the Boogieman has ever "almost" caught, a 4 to 5 lb bowfin that the Boogieman got right up to the edge of the Boogieboat, and numerous longear sunfish ( beautifully colored like a pumpkinseed) that he has no idea how he missed getting their pictures. They all ran under that same log. Next trip!!!

[Jim Gronaw]

Great variety. It would be cool to see just how many different species of sunfish a person could catch from one body of water!

[bluegillboogieman]

Jen, one and a half hours west of Tallahassee.

Jim, I was basing my nameing of the top fish on a colored drawing of the fish and a written description. The written description was small, dark on top and pale flesh color on bottom. I caught several miniature bull looking fish that fit that description. The one up top sort of looks like a male bluegill. I believe it changed color on me after I put it on ice. The others were less than half that size and looked like a full grown bull gill minus the colors and tiny in size. The flier description was close to what they looked like though the drawing did look more like your picture.

[Jen Nayfly]

Boogie, you must have had soooooo much fun. Great catch!!!!
Is this hole anywhere near Tallahassee?

[Jim Gronaw]

Hey Boogie, are you sure that top fish is a flier? I think they look more like this...

[bluegillboogieman]

Sharon, re-read the assignment, then take the test over.

[10.5" RES Sharon]

Test?

[bluegillboogieman]

Sharon, you have failed the test!

[10.5" RES Sharon]

Quite a catch on a pink pole. Fish usually prefer basic colors like red.