Boogieman and the Seven Sunfish

[bluegillboogieman]

Stumpknocker

Warmouth....Redear

Crappie

Red Breast....Bass

Bluegill

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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!!!

[Michael Thompson]

cool pics

never seen or heard of a stumpknocker before. do they have another name for this fish?

really does look like a gill, only a little stockier and a bigger mouth. I bet it will hybridize with bluegills like most other sunfishes tend to do

[Shawn Anderson]

Very clever and fun to read !

[clint johnson]

like you said the size, a little smaller and they are more agressive fish for their size

[bluegillboogieman]

Clint, the stumpknocker looks so much like a bluegill in the picture. When I was catching them, most were half that size but had the full size look about them. They also were very dark along the top and very pale along the belly. What is the difference in a bluegill and this stumpknocker?

[clint johnson]

hey boogieman if you like catchin stumpknockers you need to go to ebro south of vernon to pinelog creek they get bigger than the one in the picture and bite white beetlespins with red dots

[bluegillboogieman]

Thanks Clint. I have corrected the blog to reflect the new name. "The Clint Johnson Stumpknocker". My first stumpknocker!

[clint johnson]

the fish in the top of pic. is a stumpknocker

[bluegillboogieman]

What??? You've never heard of Snow White and the Seven...you know?

[Patrick "Bullworm" Olson]

Great story Boogie! Your stuff is always a pleasure to read! How about a book someday?

[John Sheehan]

Excellent outing .You'll never forget that day as long as you live!Thanks for the report!