FishnDave

Excellent! I'm sure you'll have a great time, Phil! I can't think of too much down there that you'd have to worry about cutting your line...Bluefish aren't normally that far south, are they? Maybe lizardfish...those little guys have sliced through my superlines like a hot knife many times. If you DO decide to use a metal leader, I'd recommend titanium leaders over steel. Steel kinks pretty easily, but titanium won't.

Thats great!

I took pictures of the photographs using my iPhone. Then crop as desired.

2010. Iowa. First fly rod grass carp. 36.5" ~25lbs.

Was it an accidental, unplanned trip? Is that how you got started with boat/motor repair? 😜

2010. Iowa. 2nd fly rod Grass Carp. 33".

Copied from Dictionary..com Kilroy was here graffiti followed US soldiers across Europe, reportedly to the confusion and concern of opposing troops, who thought Kilroy might have been a spy. Eventually, Kilroy was here outgrew its wartime origins and became a popular symbol across the US. and: WHAT DOES KILROY WAS HERE MEAN? Kilroy was here, or Kilroy for short, is a popular military graffito depicting a man with a long nose peeking over the top of a wall. WHERE DOES KILROY WAS HERE COME FROM? imgur.com The graffito of a bald man looking over a wall—his long nose falling over its surface and fingers curled around its edge—is commonly called a Kilroy and usually accompanied by the message Kilroy was here. Its original creator is unknown, though subject to much speculation. One of the oldest known versions goes back to World War I, when Australia, New Zealand, and British forces scrawled the image all over walls, bathroom stalls, and railroad cars, but with the caption Foo was here. British servicemen seem to have continued using this image when World War II broke out, but by then, the cartoon character was named Mr. Chad and accompanied by captions like Wot? No tea? in reference to low supplies. At some point during WWII, it appears American soldiers started drawing the popular military graffito, featuring the now-familiar tag Kilroy was here. Kilroy was here graffiti followed US soldiers across Europe, reportedly to the confusion and concern of opposing troops, who thought Kilroy might have been a spy. Eventually, Kilroy was here outgrew its wartime origins and became a popular symbol across the US. Even in the 1940s the source of the name Kilroy was hotly debated. The American Transit Association held a radio contest to solve the mystery in 1946, with dozens of Kilroys coming forward to say they were the inspiration. The winner of the contest was a shipyard worker named James J. Kilroy, who claimed to have coined the phrase when his superiors made him continually recheck tanks he’d already inspected. By writing Kilroy was here in yellow crayon on the top of the tank, Kilroy indicated that he’d already looked over his work.

1996(?) Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. Peacock Bass. Same trip...Spotted Tilapia: ~2003. Des Moines River, Iowa. Freshwater Drum. ~2003. Nungesser Lake, Ontario. Northern Pike. 2005. Same lake. Northern Pike. 2011. Same lake. 41.5" Northern Pike. (next several pictures) Mid- to late- 1990's. A Lake Michigan tributary in WI. Big Brook Trout: Steelhead: Chinook (King) Salmon: I hooked one of these on an egg-sucking leech pattern in a small pool above a broken lowhead dam. It charged downstream over the dam, and just kept going, through some logs, sticks, around a creek corner, etc. I chased it downstream, slipping on algae-covered riprap and rocks, dunking my rod & reel under the logs and sticks to get to the other side...I was scraped up and bloodied, but finally caught up to the fish and landed it. I returned to the pool. Next cast, another salmon did the exact same thing...went over the dam...I was worn out. I decided not to chase the fish, and just gave it a bunch of slack line. Wouldn't you know? The fish turned around and swam right back up into the pool, and I landed it without all the drama! ~1996. Fishing near a creek mouth along the shore of Lake Michigan. 27.5" Brown Trout. 7.5 lbs.

Check out the Kilroy ahead of the rear tire! 😄

~1995+/- 30" Northern Pike from Big Creek spillway, Iowa 1983-ish, on a southern Iowa farm pond Rock Bass from Nungesser Lake, Ontario...@2009 @1996 - Coho (Silver) Salmon from the shore of Lake Michigan, WI. @1992 My first Yellow Bass, Lake Icaria, Iowa

Jumbos!!

I hear you. I totally agree. It is ridiculous that this happened. If it was one of my favorite lakes, I’d want it returned to its former glory ASAP...knowing it’ll take years to accomplish. I’ve seen some ponds produce big fish year after year despite all the fishing pressure, while others never seem to. When you find one that does... that’s a “keeper”!

What a great fish! Look at those shoulders! 👍

Spring 1993. 22" Bass...~6.5 lbs. 2003(?) Iowa. Bigmouth Buffalo. My son, in this picture, is the youngest of my 2 kids, and will turn 21 this year! Flathead Catfish in Iowa...I haven't caught one since probably at least 2008, these are all before that. I can't say I've ever been a Giants fan. My brother lived in California for a number of years...I think he probably gave me this shirt. Sweet biking cap, right? ;o) Hard to guess when or where this was. Maybe in Iowa around 1990? But just the fact I'm lipping a walleye bare-handed... NOOB.

Totally understandable! 😂 I had some college roomates and friends that were all from Chicago suburbs back in the late 80's. It was easy to be a fan of the Bulls and Michael Jordan back then!

30" Northern Pike. 1988(?). West Okoboji Lake, Iowa. West Lake Okoboji is a 3,847 acre natural lake with a maximum depth of 138'. Early 90's, I think....Shorthead Redhorse Sucker. Saylorville Lake, Iowa. An MGD had I got free for "throwing kegs" at an outdoor Paul McCartney concert at the ISU football stadium. A t-shirt that says "BEER GOOGLES - DRINK 'TIL SHE'S CUTE" from VEISHEA. VEISHEA (pronounced "VEE-sha") was an annual week-long celebration held each spring on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. By far the biggest annual, week long, student run celebration in the world, finally cancelled after 2014 after a series of riots. ... The name of the festival was an acronym for the colleges of the university that existed when the festival was founded in 1922: Veterinary Medicine. Engineering. Industrial Science. Home Economics. Agriculture. Ok...what else do we have here...Tie-dyed shorts? c'mon! Fanny-pack? This guy has a strong future in solitude. 2002(?). 27.5" Walleye. 7.5 lbs. Saylorville Lake, Iowa. During this fishing outing, I was wearing my prescription glasses, swatted at a bug in front of my face, and knocked my glasses off my face and into the water, over the wingwall of a spillway. All I had left to wear was prescription sunglasses...and had to drive home in the dark wearing them. Couple of 24" walleyes from Iowa. 2003-ish? 2007 or 2009? Nungesser Lake, Ontario. Check this out! I'm on the left... a guy in our 4-person fishing group for the week-long trip caught this 32.5" Walleye! Enormous ol' gal! We didn't weigh it.

That's a big bass! Who caught that?

Right? It was about the same length as the MirroLure jerk-bait I caught it on! Aggressive lil' bugger.

Yep, I said it. You know you want to! We've all got 'em! I'm starting this partly because I haven't been fishing for a couple weeks and I'm going bonkers until I can catch some more fish! Since this will be an "old fishing pics" thread...should we put a limit on it? Like...the pics have to be at least 10 years old? 15? Let's try for at least 15 years old, but we won't care if some are more recent. Maybe ones you haven't had the opportunity or occasion to share on OA before? Maybe say a little something about each one if you want. ok....I'll kick this off. (And sorry if I've posted any of these here before, its not intentional.) Y'know...I'm sure I'm the only one that looks at their old pictures and thinks, "Wow, I was an ugly dude." And then I realize that hasn't changed. 😬 This was back around...1998-ish? In a lake near Hayward, WI. My co-worker's in-laws owned the Happy Hooker bait shop there. Very nice folks. I caught 2 muskies on this day, and this little one was the bigger one. ;o) I'd caught a small...like 17"...Tiger Musky in Iowa when I was in grade school. I don't think I have a picture of that fish. The pure-strain musky below was my first Iowa musky...probably 1998-1999...around Halloween. Some Lake Erie fish....circa 1997. Not everyone could pull off wearing flip-up sunglasses over prescription glasses. Including me. The Iowa state record largemouth bass is something like 23.5" long and 10.5 lbs. The fish below measured 24", but only weighed 7.5 lbs. Caught Sept. 26, 1993 on a spinnerbait. Stingray. Caught in Florida near Wabasso/Sebastian. Late August 1993 on our honeymoon. Also from that honeymoon trip....a Black Sea Bass ...Mangrove (Gray) Snapper: Snook: ...a tiny barracuda: ...Red Snapper: ...25 lb Cobia: ...Gafftopsail Catfish: ...Sheepshead: ...my wife also caught an American Eel on that trip, she didn't want to land it, so I have a picture of that somewhere, but not handy at the moment. We also caught lionfish and toadfish, and some other kind of poisonous fish a charter boat didn't want to bring on board. Pretty good trip! I'll add more pics later. And hopefully you will too!

By wits, wisdom, luck...and sheer cunning! 🧐👍

Excellent! Glad you caught something!

Dang! Didn't something similar happen to your favorite Redear pond about a year ago or so? Man....that really bites. It takes a long time to grow big fish like that. Maybe the best scenario is to make sure the City/County/MDC are informed, so they can get those ponds restocked ASAP. Maybe they can even put some adult fish in it. Its starting over, but at least its a start. Better than waiting for it to fix itself, right?

178 boats! I don't follow tournaments....is that normal? I can't quite wrap my head around what that would look like. This, maybe?

One member of the 2-man team flyfished only, and contributed half of the winning fish. It won't always be a good idea, especially if the fish are in 30'+ of water. But pretty cool they gave it a shot at this tournament, and beat out 177 other boats! https://fishsecrets.com/fly-fishing-team-wins-178-boat-bass-tournament-out-fishing-conventional-tackle-teams/

@Gavin Is your mailbox full?