FishnDave

@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:

Caught my PB Common Carp on a fly yesterday. 35" long, 22.5" girth, calculated weight of 22.14 lbs.

Take off, hoser! (for those that remember Bob & Doug McKenzie) For walleyes, vertical jigging is productive once you find them (I'm not a fan of random trolling). 1/8 or 3/16 oz jighead tipped with plastics (4" ringworms in root beer color, Berkley PowerBait Ripple Shad in white work great, sometimes Gulp! minnows work really well). For pike, larger plastic swimbaits on bigger Owner jigheads....make sure you have a steel or titanium leader. The titanium leaders are more expensive, but they won't kink like the steel ones. You can try big topwaters for pike too when they are over shallow flats or near weeds.

Do the smaller ponds and lakes freeze over in the winter in the St Louis area? I'm accustomed to icefishing during the winter here in central Iowa, its the only way to keep fishing during the cold months. If I had a choice, I'd prefer to just keep fishing open water all winter. Crappies and bigger bass especially stay pretty active during the winter. Oh, and about the trout. What size (length) trout does Missouri generally stock? Iowa stocks trout generally in the 11"-12" range. When I lived in Illinois, seems like they stocked larger trout...like maybe 14"-16" range. Again, I let everything go, but just wondered what sizes to expect.

Attached a few more pics. As someone who has never been there...the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area lakes look very intriguing...since they are close to St. Louis. What are your guys' experiences and reviews of those lakes? Are they worth going to? Too much pressure, or not too crowded?

Yes, thank you! I agree....looks like I've found the right place! 😀

Absolutely! I love fishing pictures too... I'll see if I can get some attached here: A couple nice flyrod-caught Smallies from a central Iowa stream: 19" Brown from NE Iowa: Bullhead on the fly! Channel catfish on a topwater bass fly: Brook Trout from NE Iowa: Lunch hour carp on fly: My Blue Sky Boatworks 360 Angler....pretty fun to fish from! 21.25" Bass:Pumpkinseed Sunfish:

Wow that's some clear water! I'm from Iowa, but will be moving to MO within the year. I'm not accustomed to seeing water like that. That's beautiful!