FishnDave

Are you SURE you aren't a robot?? 😅

Maybe its a "fish size" issue. Others post pictures of big fish...they don't show up. I post pictures of little fish, they show up everywhere. 😁 I don't know if this is part of the issue, but folks may not be aware of the different ways you can post photos to forums like this. If you copy and paste a photo, that photo resides on the site, and is stored with it. Can you imagine how many pictures are on this forum? That's a big memory issue that can cause other issues to arise more frequently. The best way to help avoid this is for everyone to store their photos separately elsewhere...for example, I currently use gifyu.com, but there are other photo hosting websites. Then just copy the photo's URL link to your post on this website. The photo shows up fine, but isn't physically stored here, keeping the OAF website smaller, faster, more streamlined. I've posted photos both ways here, but mostly I post the URL links. I don't know what anyone else is doing, just throwing this out there.

Great! I appreciate confirmation....I never really saw black bass hybridization in Iowa, so these are new to me. Are you thinking Smallmouth / Spotted Bass hybrid? I've caught spotted bass, largemouth bass, and suspected hybrid black bass in this water, but I've yet to see or hear of any smallmouth in it. But who knows?

Caught my new Fly Rod Personal Best Freshwater Drum. 25.5" And a few more nice drum: And a Goldeye that looks like it got chewed on a little: Glad to catch some fish....better than taking a goose-egg, right? About that...I did SEE one (a goose egg)...on a rock....under water...

(FND19) Shortnose Gar (Piscidentists dream)

(FND18) Hybrid Black Bass (Micropterus mutticus): Lower flank stripes of a spotted bass, but brown, and no lateral line stripe. Not a smallmouth bass, smallies don't have those lower flank stripes. So...Hybrid.

(FND17) Saugeye (walleye/sauger hybrid) (Sander sanderson) I've caught walleye and sauger from this spot, so I'm sure this is a naturally-produced hybrid....my first Saugeye on a fly rod!

Cool! I didn't know they were in central Iowa! I saw a beautiful bird this weekend...unfortunately it was not alive. Indigo Bunting.

Beautiful fish! Love the blue fin edges and purple tones. The more I look at it, the more colors I see.

I think I will just throw some pics here throughout the year that aren't shown elsewhere on the forums. Here's a few from April:

That's a cool fish! Good job, John! Also really like that Mud Sunfish!

Happy Anniversary!

That's an excellent trip! Its a long way down Holiday Road...

Bummer about the pain! Glad they were able to at least knock some of it down for you.

Congrats! Such a cool fish! I've always thought they were the "missing link" between crappies and other sunfish.

I didn't watch the video, I don't know what the guy looks like.... just his creativity and zest for living a full life made me think of this movie quote:

Niiiiice! look at the green fins on that papa! Love it! I wanna catch one!

Wow, that's cool!

Had one in my back yard last week, here in the city!

Very interesting! My experience has been just the opposite, almost all of mine have been sight-fished, and they are typically NOT very willing to cooperate. If muskies are a fish of 10,000 casts, Smallmouth Buffalo cooperate about once every 30 muskies. 😅 I did get 9 more Freshwater Drum on the fly this weekend, too.

I hope you get into them! The buff was luck..caught blind casting. The goldeye..I had a couple others on that I didn't land. Saw quite a few dart to the surface and back down, but couldn't get them to strike. I KNOW they are there!

(FND16) Smallmouth Buffalo (Bison suckii):

(FND15) Goldeye (Oculus aureum):

I appreciate your efforts! Yeah, we'll get it done. I'm looking forward to it!

At the MDC link below, the far right column is the estimated flathead catfish weight per given length. For a 26"-28" Flathead in MO, estimated weight given is 7.65 lb- 9.65 lb. https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/fishing/species/catfish/catfish-tips-fishing/catfish-weight-chart