John Ackerman, Rock Island, IL, is all smiles as he shows off his unusual catch. John hooked this 21" fish at the Hennepin Canal State Park while casting a #4 Mepps Aglia dressed with a white tail. It was identified by park officials as a paradise bass, a striped bass/yellow bass hybrid. Apparently the fish are rare, especially one the size of John's. "I wish you would have gotten a tissue sample from this one," Illinois state officials wrote John, "We (Illinois officials) have never verified one, so if DNA would have confirmed it, this might have been a state record to last a long time."
