Ugliest Fish on a Fly

[Jakeway]

Can anyone top this?

#10 Bead Head Wooly Bugger, brown, on a 5 wt rod. I thought he was going to break the leader or my rod tip when he went under my boat, but I was able to swing him around the trolling motor. I was picking up bluegills at the time.

Not sure how big he was; I have a 24" brass ruler on the boat, but he was longer than that.

[BigCliff]

Good ol Freshwater Drum there! (and likely the fish whose title varies most based on where its caught. In TX we call them a "Gasper-goo". (fer-real!))

They ain't the prettiest, but if you compare them to a flounder or a few species of catfish, and there's lots uglier fly-rod catches out there.

[shorthaul]

Tough fish!

We call them sheephead in Lake Erie---Ive caught them to 28" on 6# light spinning gear. I want to catch one on fly this year--Im thinking about an 8wt would be about right.

Some of them have been eating zebra mussels and turn bright orange on its fins and belly and have turned into heros.

[Jakeway]

I didn;t realize they were eating the Zebras...good for them!

Once you hook a few of these, you recognize the "fight" immediately. They pull slow but steady as deep as they can for about a minute or two, then come in like a dead log. I catch a few on teh fly each year, but usually they're between 12 and 16 inches. I've caught a few over 20 though.

[MrEsox]

There is nothing such as an ugly fish. Take a look at who it looks...you'll start seeing what makes this fish unique. Just like a red fish or a black drum. These things can get big. I was to say will hit the 50lb range but not sure. They are known to make sounds out of their swim bladder and we up here call them sheeps head. They are suppost to be good to eat but kinda have a dank smell that I know puts me off. This is one of the fish on my let go if caught list. Like the marine drum they love to eat crustations, buggs, and muscles.

[BigCliff]

Esox brings up a good point. One thing I recall about the freshwater drum we have down here, is that while they're generally ugly, if you catch the sun coming off their scales just right, they're iridescent and quite pretty.

And fish that grunt when you hold em just have a whole 'nother kinda cool goin.