Finally, I Caught My Unicorn!

Finally!  It finally happened!  I finally caught my unicorn but I am getting ahead of myself a little bit.  If you recall, in my last post, I tied up a few gar flies that were to my liking and I was ready to chase a species of fish that had eluded me for years.  I had hooked a few gar, both longnose and shortnose, but had never landed one.  The fact that I had seen and heard about so many other folks landing gar on flies only fueled my focus and intensity.  I thought to myself, "If other folks can do it, why can't I?"  So I set out on a quest to catch a gar on a fly.  

One day, I set out for a spot.  I had heard that the spot contained gar and plenty of them.  However, I am from the Show Me State and, for the most part, I believe in what I can see.  So I set out for a place that I had not visited in decades.  I'm not the type of guy to keep fishing spots that are open to the public to myself and I'm not going to be secretive in this post either.  The spot that I was headed to was the Smithville Lake spillway. 

Aside from the hope that I carried with me to the spillway, I also had a little (and I mean a little) bit of confidence.  I had fished the Blue Springs Lake spillway a few times and had seen some gar there and even hooked one.  Heck, I even watched my buddy Luke land one there!  I was of the opinion that the Smithville Lake spillway might be similar and present, at the very least, an opportunity to land a gar.

The moment I approached the edge of the water, I saw a gar.  I made a cast, got it to bite, and in keeping with my pattern, I lost it.  That was the bad news but the good news was that I spotted another one quickly.  I cast to it, hooked it, and lost it.  To my shock, the pattern continued with a third fish.  After hooking the third fish in 10 minutes (and approximately my 7th gar in my lifetime), I was officially angry.  And if I am being completely transparent, I slapped the water with my rod and verbally communicated my frustration with some profanity.  It was a moment of weakness that I later apologized for when I eventually met the folks that heard me on the other side of the water.

After letting out my anger, I took a moment.  I tried to find a way to direct my emotions.  After cycling through some feelings, I remembered a couple of experiences in my life that were similar.  On one occasion on the Miracle Mile of the North Platte, I couldn't land a trout to save my life.  Again, while fly fishing for smallmouth in southwest Missouri, every fish I hooked came unbuttoned.  In each instance, I channeled my anger towards harder hooksets and both times it paid off.  I decided to replicate my actions and efforts.

When I spotted the fourth gar, I felt like I could get it to eat.  If it did take a fly, it was going to get a proper hook set with ruthless aggression.  My first cast was inaccurate and useless.  The second cast was ahead of the fish's path that it was taking and, with a few well placed strips, wound up right in front of the fish as it swam.  I watched it chomp down on my fly and ripped a hook set that might have changed the rotation of the earth for a moment.  The fish was on the line but I had lived this moment before.

I couldn't tell if the fish was tangled on the nylon rope, hooked by the treble hook, or had been pierced by the size 2 B10S Gamakatsu hook that was at the front of the fly.  My pulse quickened and my emotions turned to hope.  I hoped that I would get this fish in the landing net and finally end my quest.  To my surprise, the fish gave up rather quickly and didn't do much tail walking or make any long runs.  As it glided towards the bank, all that ran through my mind was "Come on.  Come on.  Come on."  As I eased the net into the water, positioned the fish under the net, and lifted the net to the surface...my quest came to an end.  

With both relief and satisfaction, I admired the fish and took some video as well as some pictures.  I know that gar are inherently tough critters but I tried to get the fish back in the water as quick as possible.  I wanted a story that had a happy ending for all parties involved.  As fortune would have it, I watched my unicorn swim off into the depths with a sore lip from a Gamakatsu hook.  

Catching this gar was the headline but it is noteworthy that I ended up catching two more gar (one being 33 inches long) on this outing.  I might have been able to catch one or two more, but it was so darn hot that I felt like I was going to vomit and that Waylon (my German Shorthaired Pointer) was going to have a heat stroke.  Each fish was duped by the same fly (see the last picture in this post) and were hooked on the Gamakatsu hook and not the treble hook or the nylon rope.  I feel like I probably caught the fish because of both better hooksets and a lack of pressure on my performance.  

I wish that I could state that I am sad that my quest is over and that life is about the journey and not the destination...but that would be false.  I'm thrilled that I finally caught a gar and I'm glad that I have grown as an angler.  I feel like I have a better understanding of what it takes to catch a gar on a fly and that my experience might help others be successful on the water as well.  I started this blog to both document my experiences and help others learn from my successes and failures.  Whether you are chasing gar, or a finicky trout, I hope you find the resolve to not give up and let your failures motivate you.  I hope you also get to experience landing your unicorn too because it feels pretty darn good!

I Tied a Couple of Gar Flies

I have been told by a few folks (some in jest while others were more sincere) that I'm kind of a weird guy.  It doesn't hurt my feelings.  I get it.  I think I see the world a little differently than others sometimes.  I don't mean that I think communism should replace capitalism or anything.  I just like some things that other folks don't.  And yes, sometimes I get fixate on things that others do not.  Take for example, my obsession with catching a gar.  

This species of fish has eluded me for years.  I have hooked a few but never landed one.  For one reason or another, they all got off.  After talking with a few folks about where to find some gar and how to catch them, I started mocking up some ideas for what I might be able to catch a gar on.  After doing a little research, I determined that I did not like the flies that I was seeing.  What I mean is that I recognized the ideas and the points of view of others, but I wanted to meld different ideas together to develop my own design.  

For example, some flies didn't even have hooks!  A lot of flies incorporated frayed nylon rope and I liked that.  The purpose of this was for the small teeth of a gar to get tangled in the rope which made the need for a hook unnecessary.  I decided that I was going to incorporate this idea but not utilize it exclusively.  I also decided to go to the opposite end of the spectrum in regards to hook(s).  Not only did I want a hook, I wanted a treble hook...at the minimum.  I also wanted to articulate this fly.  I didn't think the nylon rope would have a lot of realistic properties but a joint in the fly might give it a more lifelike action.  

In the end, I came up with three different patterns.  One pattern was made to be very light (the one with the big eye).  Another pattern utilized bead chain eyes to make it sink a little bit.  A third pattern had dumbbell eyes to ensure the fly sunk and didn't rest on the surface of the water.  I wasn't sure how buoyant the nylon was going to be, but I was hopeful that I would have three different sink rates.  That was the only variable that I wanted to tinker with.  My thought was that if I could get the sink rate down now, I could play with colors and materials later.

So there they are!  What I had in mind was pretty close to what materialized.  While that is fine and good, the real test will come when they are placed in front of a gar.  Will any of them work?  Will one work better than the others?  Will I finally land my unicorn that has evaded me for years?  Only time will tell so stay tuned!

Can Chicken Livers Catch Hybrid Striped Bass? For the First Time in Years, I Fished with BAIT!

Yes, I do indeed go by the moniker the Show Me Fly Guy and not the Show Me Bait Guy. With that being said, I recognize the idea that one has to try new things to become a better angler. Seeing as how the fishing at this time of year can get a little tough, I decided to switch tactics on a recent outing. For years, I had heard about catching hybrid striped bass by using chicken livers as bait. 

For a long time, I flat out didn’t believe it was possible. In my mind, I couldn’t help to question why a baitfish eating machine like a hybrid striped bass would ever eat chicken livers. However, I watched a guy one day catch about six hybrid stripers from the bank of Watkins Mill State Park on chicken livers. From that day on, I was intrigued and I had to give it a shot.

So there I was, on a boat with a medium-heavy action spinning rod, a circle hook, and some chicken livers.  I was joined by my buddy Justin who was also intrigued by the premise.  He hadn't ever caught a hybrid striper and I was hopeful that our tactic would work.  Our strategy was to put a few split shots on a line about 6 inches above the hook and drop it down to where we were marking fish in the main channel.  I figured that the hybrids would be around the thermocline which was between 6 and 8 feet deep.  

Prior to our trip, I watched a video on how to put chicken livers on a hook.  They are pretty soft and can fall off pretty easily with a strong cast.  As a result, I decided that just dropping the baits down into the water off the side of the boat would probably be the best approach.  In the video, I watched the host pierce the liver with the hook and then wrap the liver onto the hook while leaving the point of the hook exposed.  The video that I watched can be found below.

We had a plan in place, were marking fish on the electronics, and it was time to give this unproven method (to me) a shot.  I have to admit, it was a little intimidating.  I hadn't tried such an unfamiliar fishing tactic in so long that I had forgotten how it feels to try something new.  The fact that the bites did not come fast and furious gave me some pause, but eventually, I got a bite.  While I missed the fish, the boost of confidence was tremendous.  A little voice in my head told me, "Hey, this might work."  I think the mistake that I made was that I set the hook too hard.  What I have been told about circle hooks is that you aren't supposed to set the hook, but apply slow, steady pressure.

While this tactic was completely against my instincts, the next bite pretty much did the work for me!  The next fish hit so hard that hooked itself.  I landed that fish and after that, Justin and I started catching fish!  While we missed a lot of fish, we ended up boating about 15-20 fish with this technique.  We kept the baits about 6-8 feet deep and while the bites weren't fast and furious, they were steady.  

The fish we landed were mostly in the 12 inch range with a couple being around 15 inches and fish being 20 inches.  The bigger fish tipped the scales at 3 pounds, 3 ounces and was not only a new boat record but also the biggest hybrid that I had caught in that lake.  Regardless of size, they all fought really hard with the bigger fish peeling drag and putting a heck of a bend in a spinning rod.

At the end of the morning, Justin and I were thrilled with the results.  We had tried something new and got results that were better than we expected.  We ended up with a new fishing tactic and a new trick that we can utilize in the future.  Of course I would have rather caught ever fish on a fly rod, but I have to admit that I enjoyed the simplicity of bait fishing.  It took less work (there wasn't even casting for Pete's sake), and if I'm being completely honest, it was more relaxing.  

I love the intensity and focus that fly fishing requires, but fishing with bait took me back to my roots.  I was raised on sinking worms to the bottom of a pond for channel cats and my new-to-me technique reminded me of that.  Of course now that I am in my 40's, I have a little more patience and can wait a little longer for a bite than the 6 year old version of me.  No, I'm not changing my nickname to the Show Me Bait Guy, but I WILL be using this technique again!

The Largemouth Bass Bight is Slowing Down for Me, and That is Alright!

As water temperatures rise with summer chugging right along, I have witnessed the largemouth bass in my area change their behavior. They seem to be a little more lethargic and less willing to chase down large streamers. Earlier this spring, they would chase down 6-7 inch game changers with 1/0 hooks. Then they wanted size 6 woolies and occasionally size 1 complex woolies. Within the last two weeks, flies needed to be smaller and slower in order to entice a bite. In my last outing, a size 10, 1/80 ounce jig under an indicator caught largemouth when streamers would not. 

Where I live, this trend happens every year. It happens at different times depending on the weather, but it always happens. For me, it means that it is time to move on to chasing other species for the most part. In upcoming posts, you will notice my pursuit of other species and this will be the trend until the water cools down a little bit this fall. 

I plan on chasing hybrid striped bass and white bass in the mornings and evenings and maybe get down to southwest Missouri for some smallmouth bass and trout. I might even try to chase the unicorn that has evaded me for years. I am speaking of gar, both long nose and short nose. It has been a great summer on the water so far and hopefully that trend continues but only time will tell. Stay tuned for a change in content and get ready for some variety!

 

This Blog is 10 Years Old!

This anniversary snuck up on me!  It just dawned on me yesterday that not only is today the anniversary of this blog, but it's kind of a big one.  Today, July 11, 2025, this blog turns 10 years old.  It sure doesn't feel like I have been posting content for a decade...but here we are.  In keeping with tradition (because I'm a fan of traditions), I almost always do two things on the anniversary of this blog.

First, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.  Whether you read this blog everyday (I'm looking at you Pat), or you watched some of my TikTok and/or YouTube videos, or bought some flies from my Etsy store, I appreciate your support.  If you've ever left a comment on my Instagram posts, bought a copy of my book off Amazon, or if this is the first blog post you have ever read, thank you.  

What started off as a simple blog has turned into a network that I use to promote our beloved sport and share my experiences.  I never meant for any of my endeavors to be a means for me to brag or show off.  I have always meant to use my experiences to help others become better anglers and promote the experiences that can only come from being immersed in nature.  In full disclosure, I would have quit posting on this blog a log time ago if folks like you didn't read it.  The positive feedback and support that I get from so many kind people is what pushes me to keep sharing my experiences, thoughts, and feelings.  No matter what level of support you have given me, I appreciate it and it means more to me than I can put into words.  

Second, I always share my favorite video from YouTube.  While the footage comes from Michigan, the words come from John Voelker.  Voelker wrote an essay titled "Testament of a Fly Fisherman" and the words are as true today as when they were written.  Yes, it is centered around trout fishing but if you close your eyes and listen to the words, you can create your own images from you own experiences and it can get pretty emotional pretty fast.  Whether you fly fish for carp, smallmouth bass, or don't fly fish at all (for whatever reason), a flood of memories might come rushing back with little to no effort.  To me, fly fishing is pretty close to being a spiritual venture.  What I mean is that fly fishing makes me feel a stronger connection to nature, those that I'm sharing the water with, and a power greater than myself.  I hope you enjoy the video, make a strong connection in some way, and get on the water as soon as you can!

I Fished the Same Spot with Two Different Flies. One Worked and One Did Not!

A couple of weeks ago I was fishing at a lake for a largemouth bass. The lake had been on fire lately and I had caught a lot of small bass and a few nice sized ones as well. On this particular morning, it was hazy with a little fog and no wind. The fish that I had been catching in this particular lake seemed to be in shallow water around structure and cover. This felt like the perfect opportunity to throw some poppers and try to get some top water bites.  

I really only fish one popper and it has a bumblebee pattern. The head has rings of black and yellow with the tail and body incorporating black and yellow as well. This fly has done really well for me in the past and I was hoping it would produce on this morning as well. Over the course of the next 30 minutes, I probably fished 100 yards of shoreline and got one small nibble from a bluegill. I was pretty shocked that the top water bite was poor, but just kept plugging along.

Eventually, impatience set in and I started problem-solving. I had a strong feeling that the bass were located where I was fishing so I decided to change flies. I put on a streamer and headed back to where my drifted started. I started casting to the exact same spots with a different fly and it didn’t take long for me to catch my first bass. I caught a couple more and by the time I had finished drifting the same area I had five bass to show for it. 

Every time you’re on the water, it is an experiment. When you change depth, flies, color, size, or any other variable, you are trying to find the right combination that catches fish. When I decided to fish the same stretch with a different fly, that was an experiment. Sometimes experiments end in catching more fish. Sometimes they don’t. Regardless of the outcome, something can be learned. Learning what didn’t work is almost as useful as learning what did.

The fish I caught on this particular morning were not willing to change to eat a top water fly, however I was willing to change my tactic. I think that it is important to remember that you have to be flexible as a fisherman. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Don’t be afraid to change tactics if you aren’t feeling as productive as you think you should be. Sometimes you just have to find the right key for the right lock.

The Complex Twist Bugger for the Win! This Thing REALLY Looks Like a Baitfish!

Link to a chartreuse complex twist bugger: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1220312174/2-pack-of-the-chartreuse-caboose-flies

Lately, there have been quite a few posts that included an olive size 6 unhackled wooly bugger.  I have dubbed this fly the unofficial "fly of the summer" because it has caught a lot of fish and a few decent ones.  However, when I was on the water recently, I might have found a challenger to the throne.  The olive unhackled bugger caught a couple, but a white size one complex twist wooly bugger caught more an bigger fish!

It had been awhile since I fished this fly pattern, but I was quickly reminded why I have a dedicated part of a streamer box for this fly.  In my box, I have a few different color combinations on this platform but you can't ever go wrong with olive and white colors.  I also have a few black buggers and some chartreuse ones too.  It is a fly that is easy to cast and has a good wiggle when stripped.  My favorite component of this fly, however, is its profile.  The taper from the body to the tail looks just like a baitfish.  Most young baitfish have the bulk of its mass toward the head but get skinny at the tail.  The blending of three materials gives the fly bulk up front and the marabou produces a slim tail.

The complex bugger was definitely the star of the morning.  Aside from catching some smaller bass on this fly, I also managed to land a bass close to two pounds as well.  I think I am going to be fishing this fly more because fry grow quickly and I want my fly to reflect a similar size.  Maybe the "fly of the summer" just became the "fly of June."  Look out unhackled bugger, a complex twist bugger is looking to take your title.

Link to a chartreuse complex twist bugger: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1220312174/2-pack-of-the-chartreuse-caboose-flies

Matching the Hatch for Largemouth Bass?

About three weeks ago, my buddy Justin and I went to fish a farm pond. It is a place that I frequented quite a bit last spring and if you follow this blog closely, you probably recognize the spot. Besides the large amount of 2-3 pound largemouth bass in the pond, we had a sense of urgency on this particular day. The aforementioned pond is completely surrounded by row crops and those crops were limiting the accessibility to the water. In other words, we were running out of time to get to the pond until crop harvest this fall. 

On our way to the pond, Justin asked if he could keep a few fish to feed to his family for dinner. I gave him the green light because the owner of the pond has always asked me to keep fish if I wanted them or if I thought the population needed to be thinned out some. Me and a couple of other folks have pulled some bass out of the pond for the past three years and there has been a noticeable improvement in terms of the size of the fish. The fish have gone from exclusively two pounders to some occasional three pounders! I figured that keeping a few bass was a win-win situation for Justin and the fish in the pond. 

As we fished, we noticed that the number of fish we were catching was less than what we were used to. We were throwing the usual flies such as a 1/0 game changer and a big Lunch Money. I decided to try to catch some bluegill since the bass fishing was a little slow. We had enough bass to feed Justin and his family, so I thought I would see if the big bluegill in the pond were willing to take down a fly. I tied on a couple of size 6, unhackled wooly buggers and that’s when things took an unexpected turn.

To my surprise, I didn’t catch a single bluegill on this outing. Even more shocking was that I started to hook 2-3 largemouth bass more frequently than I had with the bigger flies I had been throwing. I didn’t land many because I was throwing a 5 weight rod with 6 pound leader. The fish would either get wrapped in vegetation or just become unhooked because of the size 6 hook. I unintentionally brought a knife to a gun fight and the bass were pretty good at shooting. I didn’t mind a bit though. It was fun to be overpowered by the fish. They had the advantage for once which made me feel more appreciative of their abilities. I did end up landing a few and those fish were the highlights of the morning.

Eventually, it started to get hot, the wind picked up, and we had to tend to the chore of mowing around my little hunting and fishing cabin. The fishing had slowed down and we had fished the entire pond, twice. We decided that it was time to start running mowers and clean some fish. As we were fileting the bass, it dawned on me that we should cut open some stomachs and see what the bass were feeding on. 

It took exactly two largemouth bass stomachs to teach me a lesson. Each of them contained finger length bluegill. A memory hit me like a freight train. While fishing earlier that morning, I had see a lot of fry. While these fish had hatched this year, I saw one year old bluegill in the shallows as well. I can only assume that the bass were focused in catching more, small fish rather than fewer, larger meals. That would explain why I hooked more bass on a size 6 steamer rather than larger, 1/0 streamers. 

I will be the first to tell you that I don’t know everything when it comes to fishing. I try to learn something every time I hit the water and to retain that information. I might brag to my wife that I feel like I know a lot about fishing, but the fact of the matter is that the amount of knowledge is a drop in a five gallon bucket. Fishing is. It something that someone ever masters. Yes, a person might know a lake/pond/river well enough to be an expert on the fishery, but if that person were put on an unfamiliar body of water, they would be challenged to some degree. One cannot master all types of fishing in all types of locations and in all conditions. It’s just not possible to accomplish in a lifetime.

John Buchan is credited for stating, “The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.” I love that quote and agree with it but I also subscribe to the ideal that hope is not a plan. I feel that if I have more knowledge, then I can formulate a better plan. What I learned on that fishing outing added to my knowledge and taught me a lesson that I will add to my mental fishing data base.