Do you love big bluegill?

Arkansas River 8/10

I know there isn't really any sunfish in this, but I did catch a Green Sunfish on a spinner here. I just didn't get it on video!

Well, the river called my name in the wee hours of the morning, and I had to answer her sweet call.

The water was low, only 292 cfs coming downriver, and slowly falling below that. Water temp was 79.7ºF in the main stream, but the shallow stuff, especially if it was in a spot that wasn’t moving, was even cooler, as last night got down into the 60’s. Wind was out of the north at about 3 mph. The water was as clear as I’ve ever seen it here; I could see the bottom everywhere, so I’ll call it 4’ of visibility, if not more.

This was a little more current than what was moving the last time I was here, on Monday. Monday’s trip was a bust, and honestly, I had a sinking feeling today’s trip would be a repeat. I decided that I would put out some minnow traps baited with cheap dog food, then try to catch some shad to use as live- or cut-bait. Well, my belief that the trip was going to be a non-productive one was reinforced, as I couldn’t catch any shad. I couldn’t see any minnows around, either.

I pulled out my artificials, and selected a Mepps spinner, and tied that onto my line. I prefer these, as the blades spin more reliably than a Roostertail, although the Roostertail is cheaper. Sure enough, the very first cast gave me a chunky little Kentucky Bass right at the current seam, where they normally hang out at this spot.

Successive casts yielded up a Green Sunfish of all things, and a few Sand Bass (White Bass), with the first one of those being a nice big one. After catching several smaller Sandies, I decided to go set up my video camera and start capturing video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4VfKXnUpHE&feature=youtu.be

I ended up catching the Kentucky Bass, a small Striper, the Greenie, and more Sand Bass than I can remember.

Many times while fishing, I would look around, and realize that it was just the egrets, herons, and myself doing the fishing. After a little bit, I saw a gent on the west bank, and he was catching them as well. I just love a hot bite when I’m out there.