Sometimes your expectations don't match your realities. I had high hopes to add to my species list this past fishing season, but unfortunately I just did not have the time to target many new species. I was only able to add 5 new species to my existing list of 23 species. The new species were: smallmouth bass, white sucker, common carp, freshwater drum and gizzard shad.

While I wasn't able to venture far from home, I did manage to put in a couple of casts now and then at my local creek. I should probably sell these to the neighbourhood kids.

I managed to catch some beautiful rainbow trout parr using pink trout worms while working the holes and undercuts of my local creek. While I would usually land Creek Chub upon the first pass of the holes or undercuts, I've found that if I return to the same locations shortly thereafter, I would manage to catch a trout. 

The beauty of small creek fishing is that one has a chance to test and experiment on a micro-level. It's easy to visualize fish and structure and it's also easy to take note of fish behaviour at a close proximity. I don't think you can learn this type of thing as efficiently while fishing a large body of water.

I was only able to microfish once this year. I had hoped to catch some new species of dace and shiners. Unfortunately I was only able to catch some the usual suspects.

I'm planning on setting some unrealistic goals for 2018 - so stay tuned. Pass or fail, microfishing and species listing is my summer meditation. It's about the quality, not the quantity.