The Field Guide
Twelve fish, twelve mugshots. Hold yours next to the phone, match the picture, check the one telltale mark — then log it in the journal before it flops back in.
Pink-red stripe down a silver, peppered side — and the spots run onto the tail. The everyday catch below the dam.
Buttery gold with big dark spots and a few red-orange ones; tail nearly clean. The river's trophy fish.
Silver slab with faint vertical bars and 5–6 dorsal spines. Pontoon target #1.
Speckled like cracked pepper, no bars, 7–8 dorsal spines. Same school, same fry pan.
Ragged dark stripe nose to tail, and the jaw hinges past the eye. The green football.
Bronze with vertical bars and a red eye; jaw stops under the eye. Pulls twice its weight.
A largemouth's stripe broken into blotches, spot rows on the belly, jaw stops at the eye. No daily limit.
Hand-sized; ink-black ear flap and a dark smudge at the back of the dorsal fin. The all-day bite.
A bluegill wearing red-orange trim on the ear flap. Locals say "shellcracker."
Chrome sides with lengthwise pinstripes; roams open water in schools and hits like it's mad at you.
Whiskers, deeply forked tail, freckles on silver. The lazy line off the back of the boat.
Gold, a glassy marble eye, white tip on the lower tail. 14" minimum — and the best eating in the lake.
Portraits: mostly Duane Raver's classic paintings, plus U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service photos — all public domain. Flathead catfish and hybrid stripers also live here; if it's huge, flat-headed or striped and angry, take a photo and ask the fly shop.