Iowa Redears

Every so often, I get the urge to catch some species I haven't caught for awhile. Redears floated to the top of my target list. After a lot of research and homework, I settled on a lake in Iowa I hadn't even heard of before. The research paid off. Iowa Master Angler Redears must be 11" long or better. I caught 2 over 11", which made me pretty happy. Biggest was 11.75", weighed 1.45 lbs on a handheld digital scale before release. REALLY nice fish, and a new Personal Best Redear for me. I can't even imagine a 14.5-incher like the one our very own James Smith recently caught in Georgia!
The biggest one was caught on a #8 purple leech pattern with a pink glass beadhead. Many of the others were caught on a #8 Briminator.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psqhwie6bf.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...pspdhiwmil.jpg

This is the 2nd biggest one...@ 11 1/8".
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psq1roggej.jpg

And a few of the smaller ones...mostly 9"-10" fish:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psvty0pvzj.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psijzhzu3d.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...pshjhfl3bs.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psqfxx3loq.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psvw3ijgmz.jpg

Also caught a couple Redear x Bluegill (?) Hybrids:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...pslk6tfgr5.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psyq4yihgc.jpg

Good going, Dave! They're great fish. We call them shellcracker. I catch most of them on nymphs under and indicator. Years ago, I was competing in a fly tournament on Lake Okeechobee. I was told shellcracker would hit a popper. Guess what I caught on a popper?

Here's my largest ever. Caught it on a prop Wooly Bugger in The Everglades:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...psra9m9mmt.jpg

Nice! So....yes on the popper? Or nada?
I've heard they will hit poppers too. I tried them but didn't have any success, so I switched flies. I should have tried the popper on the shallower fish I saw later. I've seen YouTube videos showing a guy flyfishing for Redears with something that looked like a small floating Caddis imitation. But he said those fish were trained to hit bread, and the fly looked like bread... ;o)

Yes, I caught one a popper right after I was told they wouldn't hit them. I do agree that you probably won't catch them routinely on poppers.

Beautiful fish and congratulations, any Redear over 10 inches in your neck of the woods is a VERY nice fish. The longer growing season down here in the South lets them grow bigger and fast than their Northern cousins. I grew up in New England and I don't believe I ever caught one over 8 inches and even that was considered a decent fish. Pound for pound, I think they (all of the bream) are one of the strongest fighting warmwater fish in America.

Jim Smith

Y'all catch some beauties!

Bob

Nice fish. They look like what we call bluegills here in Pa, but ours don't get that big.

I looked at the Pennsylvania website...looks like you guys don't have Redears/Shellcrackers, lastchance? I couldn't find them listed... But you do have Redbreast Sunfish, which we lack in Iowa.
Here's a quick male Bluegill vs male Redear photo comparison:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psaoqhio0j.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psvty0pvzj.jpg