FishnDave

Hybrid Sunfish: Possibly another Emerald Shiner:

I wasn't expecting the micro opportunity, so I happened to be using the 8wt because of the other species I was fishing for. Could easily have used the 9, tho. 😜 Y'know... some anglers like to see how big of a fish they can catch on light line. I think they'd be pretty proud of a 10:1 ratio... a 20 pound fish on 2 lb test, for example. My best is probably a 35 lb fish on 8 lb test... 4.375:1. A ratio is a ratio. With the mosquitofish, the ratio went the other way. I didn't weigh the mosquito fish, but I looked up average weights for mosquitofish, and its about 1 GRAM! 1 gram is .0022 lbs and I was using 12 lb tippet! So... if my calculations are accurate... I just totally rocked a 1:5455 ratio! 🥇 🏆

Channel Catfish: Eyetail Bowfin: Common Carp:

Warmouth: Caught some Shortnose Gar as well:

Finally managed to catch a Western Mosquitofish on fly.

Congrats! You did it! 🏆

Those are good maps. There's another one that the Iowa DNR has put out in the past...I tried to find a link from their website, but a quick search didn't locate it. It shows all the Iowa trout streams, and tells you what trout species are in each one. I found this, but it weirdly doesn't list rainbows at all. I guess its just a list of the naturally-reproducing streams. https://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/fish/Wild_Trout_Streams.pdf There's also this list of streams...you can click individual ones to get more info about each stream: https://www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/Where-to-Fish/Trout-Streams And this interactive map: https://www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing/Where-to-Fish/Trout-Streams/Trout-Stream-Map

about 2.5 hrs . Probably a spot you know. I'll text you...

Skinny-dipping with the wife again?

Bird on my hat: Midland Watersnake:

Earlier in the week, I was unsure where I should fish on Saturday, what I should fish for, and overall not super-enthused with my usual prospects. I mentioned it to @Ham . He always amazes me with fishing places he knows! Well, he dropped some ideas on me. I let that fester for a bit...and soon I had begun to formulate new plans to include his suggestions. Driving was required. At least 6.5 hours round trip, and a 4-5 spots I could hit. Well, the first spot gave up some of the species I was planning to target at a few of the other spots...so I ended up not needing to go to some. I hit just 2 spots. Total driving time was still 6.5 hrs. I caught 16 species! Mostly micro's or nearly-micros. Darters were one of my main targets for the trip. I didn't see many. I did get one or two to hit the tanago fly...but they were just to small to eat it far enough for me to hook them. Pretty little guys, tho. I caught: Bleeding Shiners Striped Shiners Mimic Shiner Northern Studfish Blackspotted Topminnow Hornyhead Chub Longear Sunfish Green Sunfish Bluegill Hybrid sunfish Redspotted Sunfish Shadow Bass Smallmouth Bass Warmouth Western Dollar Sunfish and Golden Shiner Also had a bird land on my hat for a bit while I was fishing. On to the pics already!

I was surprised to learn that Rainbow Trout have been stocked on at least 4 of the Hawaiian islands! I caught a couple Peacock Bass on Kaui.

I hope you find your return to those waters to be as good or better than you remember!

That Blenny is COOL! 👍

Chasing species does require significant driving. I do love new species... I'd still rather be fishing than driving.

This spot was an hour from home. For a good uncrowded spot, I've found I'm occasionally willing to go as far as 3.5 hours away... And if @Ham gives me an invite, I've so far driven 5.5 hours one way, and even flown to Florida! 😲 In a month, we'll be driving down to Louisiana.

Ha! Well...You never know. The MDC told me there have been reports of them in MO, although they are not native here. Some pay-to-fish ponds near St Louis apparent have/had some, according to MDC. I also checked iNaturalist, there are no reports for them in MO... Can I at least start an uproar over whether they might be invasive, and walk on land, and eat every other fish in every water they are/have ever been in?

Fly-fished a new-to-me area. Caught some fish. Caught a few Warmouth. One was absolutely gorgeous! After trying other spots for awhile, I returned 6 hours later and caught the same one AGAIN! Didn't sight-fish it, the water was too stained, so it was pretty random.

Wait...White Cats? Tell me more!