• Characteristics - color varies from steel blue on the back to silver sides and a white belly, eye has a silvery iris, belly has a fleshy keel, teeth present on both jaws, often mistaken by anglers as a gizzard shad
• Distribution - limited to the large river drainages across Iowa including the Mississippi, Missouri, and Des Moines rivers
• Foods - plankton during the young stages of life switching to insects, mollusks, crayfish, and small fish at later stages
• State Record - 2 pounds, 4 ounces - Des Moines River, Van Buren County, June1992 - Mark Ikle, Farmington, Iowa
• Expert's Tip - 1/4 pieces of nightcrawlers fished on the river bottom can produce some ultralight tackle-busting action from this scrappy fish!

For more mooneye information, see Iowa Fish & Fishing.