FishnDave

@Johnsfolly What you are saying only makes sense if Elvis is no longer alive and the Beatles are broken up. I caught a pretty big Hornyhead Chub earlier this year...on a BLOCKHEAD POPPER! It flipped out of my hand just as I was getting ready to hit the "take picture" button on my phone camera. I was SO BUMMED! It was the biggest one I've ever seen.

Sounds like it could be either, John. I'm gonna chalk this one up to "I probably would never be able to tell the difference." ;o) Descriptions of Hornyhead vs Redspot Chubs from Petersons Field Guide to Freshwater Fish of North American & Mexico:

There's a smallmouth river up here in Iowa that at one time, 3 out of 5 years it went basically dry. Water in pools, but no flowing water between the pools. The fish in the pools were pretty aggressive, as some others have noted in their streams. I was very concerned about the survival of the Smallmouth, so I contacted the IDNR here to see if we should get some fishing clubs together to try and save some of these fish by collecting them and putting them in some better, deeper water. They said not to worry about it. The Smallmouth have been in that river for a long time, with similar conditions, and they seem to manage just fine. He was right. The numbers seemed lower after that, but they were still there.

Oh...and don't use yellow flies...Smallmouth don't like 'em. 😉

@Johnsfolly Excellent! You may be correct. The hornyhead chubs I've caught have a red spot behind their eye. But that could be a spawning coloration or gender-specific attribute?

This one's a Green Sunfish. Those Longears are beautiful!

I've used 6wts for most of my smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing for a number of years now. With the popularity and success of Gamechanger flies, and multi-segmented Howtizer Poppers, ..these are heavier flies that I sometimes struggle to cast with the 6wts. I've uplined the stiffer 6wts, and that makes a big difference. Still, a 7wt might be in my future. 8wts have felt like overkill, so I haven't used the ones I own much. At all. But I'm definitely open to it, if the situation calls for it. When Tim Holschlag guides clients for smallmouth bass, he says he uplines his loaner rods 1 or 2 linesweights with a bass taper like SA Titan taper...says the clients find these setups easier to cast. I like Flysmallie's approach with 3 main types of flies, and Fishinwrench's patterns are excellent choices as well. For topwater, I like Holschlag's Blockhead Popper (with rubber legs). For mid-depth, I've done especially well with 3.5" Gamechangers and the FC Pearl Shiner. And for bottom, I like a yellow fly with a conehead for weight.... similar to a Barr's Meat Whistle. Take my choices with a grain of salt. My smallmouth fishing experiences have been in Iowa, where the water is usually not very clear. Although I use the same patterns in the Volga River here, which is very clear. Thanks for this thread...I'll be moving to Missouri within the year, and am very interested in the whats/wheres/ and hows in the streams there.

@Greasy B 😁 Do you use these? The blockhead popper (Tim Holschlag's version, plus rubber legs) has been a very effective fly (for me) in catching big largemouth and smallmouth bass for a number of years. Howitzer Poppers have been very good as well for Largemouths.

A couple fish from this weekend: One of two 18.5" bass (the other was really skinny): A nice Green Sunfish, with a purple-colored edge to its opercle that matched the color of the flowers on shore:

That stretch near Marshalltown or Colfax is probably closer to me, but I've never fished that part of the river. It was only a year or so ago that guys I know finally tried it, and found smallies there. Before that, nobody even fished that part of the river for some reason.

Whoah! That's crazy! What's your preferred fly for Hybrids? I don't get to fish for them often...when I do, Clouser Deep Minnows have worked for me. Always willing to try something else, though. Apologies for the hijack.

Did you get a picture? I'd love to see it...I've yet to catch a Hybrid on a fly over 4lbs/20"+/-... But I'd sure like to! A buddy of mine caught a big one in the river a number of years ago...close to the Iowa record.

After work yesterday, I went home and changed clothes to get ready to go flyfish some local ponds. I looked at myself in the mirror...Hey! I'm wearing an @Al Agnew shirt! 😁

The South Skunk is the river I often fish for Smallmouth. Its wadable when the rivergages.com website for South Skunk River near Ames shows a river level of 3.8 or less. http://rivergages.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/stationinfo2.cfm?sid=AMEI4&fid=AMEI4&dt=S The Des Moines River from Saylorville Lake thru Des Moines has some big smallmouth bass... 20"+...but it is almost never wadable, except in the driest years...which we haven't had in a long time. And bank fishing access is extremely limited. But...find rock/rip rap shorelines, and you'll usually find smallies.

@Johnsfolly I wish! No, this trip was in central Iowa. One way I could tell? I couldn't see the bottom in 6" of water.

Took Tuesday off work to go flyfishing. The river I visited was muddy! Fished the first 1/2 of the stretch without a single strike. I actually got out of the river and was walking thru the woods, considering giving up on the fish in this river for the day. As I walked thru the woods, I saw all kinds of things. A large footprint:A 3" long millipede on a tree:A caterpillar eating a nettle:A red leaf caught on a spider thread that was twisting in the breeze and would flash really bright:And then there was this heart-shaped rock:Anyway.....Got back in the river and finally found a few fish. Biggest fish (landed) of the day was this 17" Smallmouth Bass:Caught 3 or 4 others, this one looked pretty good.Went to another place. Caught some largemouth bass, bluegills, crappies, missed a nice catfish, breifly foul-hooked a bigmouth buffalo, lost a smallmouth buffalo, and had 2 carp on (hooked in the mouth) for quite a while, but both eventually shook free. One of the carp was pretty big.

You've lived in some very diverse places! What did you think of the flyfishing in AZ?

Thanks fellas...that's what I was thinking it was too. 😉 This must be a female...the males have a curled tail fin. My apologies for the hijack of this thread!!

That's great that Fishes of Missouri is getting updated! Orangespotted Sunfish are a rarity in Central Iowa. The DNR has (had?) stream sampling data from around the state. In one year, they might find good numbers of Orangespotted Sunfish in a certain location, and then they aren't there in subsequent years. They never seem to stay in an area. I've personally caught them (once) in Blue Heron Lake in West Des Moines. A friend caught a large one (maybe 6" long) at Grays Lake in Des Moines. Both of those lakes occasionally get flooded by the adjacent Raccoon River. The trick may be to simply fish something small enough for them. There is a small pond between the office buildings where I work. With the company's permission, I purchased some Orangespotted Sunfish to stock into the pond. They have survived the past 2 winters, but I've never been able to catch them (only tried once). This year we stocked some Redear Sunfish into the pond as well, because there is a strong snail population. If I catch something I can't ID, I may take you up on your offer of help.

And tooth patches! 😜

Jim, I love using microjigs...panfish, bass, carp, trout...all love them! Surprising how many bass in the 20" range will hit these, especially late in the year...but any time really. Did you tie up the microjig yourself? Where did you find the jigheads...the hook looks nice and stout, and the shape of the head brings weight forward to help the jig ride horizontally in the water...and I really like those eyes on it! You said #12 hook, I believe...how heavy are those? I'd definitely like to get some.

Larry Tople, perhaps? He has done In-Fisherman magazine covers and calendars. Larry and Al Agnew are the top 2 names in fish art, IMO! Nobody has mentioned Paddlefish (as in Iowa) vs Spoonbill (as in Oklahoma)! I do my best up here in Iowa to try and help folks give the correct identification of their fish catches. We all started somewhere....At one time I wasn't even sure I knew the difference between a Rock Bass and a Green Sunfish. Until I finally actually caught a Rock Bass and realized what the differences were. I know freshwater gamefish, but there are still some freshwater fish I need help with....especially minnow species. Like Striped Shiner vs Common Shiner...I still can't tell the difference. Other species also have very minor morphological differences (I'm not usually willing to count fin rays and such)...like Golden Redhorse Sucker vs Silver Redhorse Sucker...and Smallmouth Buffalo and Black Buffalo. I can generally spot hybrid sunfish vs purebred species. Brown Bullhead vs Black Bullhead isn't always easy either. I used Fishes of Missouri for Icthyology class in college. Loaned it to another student the next year, who never returned it. I bought another copy that I still have.

Amazing! Congratulations! Beautiful fish! Maybe lightning will strike twice...and you'll get an even bigger one! Hope is what keeps many of us fishing.

Awesome! Where can we see the pics?

This is a useful chart for estimating weights of Canadian pike & walleyes based on length: