# Beautiful and Big



## flyfishingmike (Nov 26, 2010)

Chris, Grayson, and I went to the river yesterday in search of fish. We caught two types . . . . Beautiful and Big.

Sunfish and bass were orienting to the top of the water column, presumably in search of wayward insects, frogs, and such. 

Anyway, when Chris tossed a Llanolope near a vine infested bend in the river, it was attacked with a vengeance by a behemoth bass in search of an easy meal. The bass reacted violently, and immediately buried itself into the adjacent structure. 

Chris was able to extricate the trophy and pose for a quick pic, before saying "goodbye".

You never know what will happen when you toss a hook in the water.

Let's go fishing


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## Finn Maccumhail (Feb 16, 2009)

Awesome pics as always.

I guess it's got to do with the water clarity but none of the sunfish I catch around here have anything remotely approaching that color. They tend to be much darker fish.

This is a typical coloration in the darker, tannin-stained water around here:


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## flyfishingmike (Nov 26, 2010)

Finn Maccumhail said:


> Awesome pics as always.
> 
> I guess it's got to do with the water clarity but none of the sunfish I catch around here have anything remotely approaching that color. They tend to be much darker fish.
> 
> This is a typical coloration in the darker, tannin-stained water around here:


You are right. Water quality and clarity, shade and vegetation, food sources, time of year, and spawning activity are just some of the variables that cause these bathing beauties to alter their physical appearance.

The fish you showed is a bluegill, which tend to be less colorful than some of the other sunfish species.

Having said that, here are a couple of bluegill beauties . . . . one from earlier in the summer, and one from yesterday.

They are all beautiful in their own way.


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