Before today I thought I could tell you I knew every species of every fish in every one of my family farm ponds. But the reality is, no pondmeister can ever really never know what's going on in their ponds 100% of the time. This is one of those times.
I was fishing one of the ponds trying to get a head start on harvesting - the perfect tool for a fly rod. The pond is full to the brim, only about an acre in size. This pond, despite its small size, has always produced high RW fish. It's in Guthrie, OK, where winters can be cold enough to kill TFS. Plus, this pond is only 6 feet deep...surely it can't support a threadfin population, right? Perhaps wrong.
I was fishing a tan 1/0 saltwater pattern I tie that doubles as a bass fly. I felt a bump and set the hook. Thought it was a bluegill until I got it to hand. What I saw in the attached picture had me absolutely bewildered. I have compared this picture to dozens of TFS on google images and I am on the fence as to whether or not it is a TFS or not. It sure looks a heck of a lot like one. I started thinking back to the times I've fished the pond, and I remembered noticing little silver flickers at the top of the water. Seems to be on-brand for a TFS. Plus, if this isn't a TFS, it's doing a great impersonation.
On the other hand, these fish are so hard to get, I'm not sure how they ended up in this pond. They must have been stocked years and years ago.
Posing the question to the forum - Is this a TFS? It it's not, what in the world is it? And if it is, this is very interesting scientific information for Oklahomans (and everyone on the Central OK longitudinal line) tending to support the premise that TFS can survive Oklahoma winters AND eat flies tied to 1/0 hooks. Pond management teaches me something everyday.
