As I was scrolling my Facebook feed, a photo by the Western Kentucky Fisheries popped up. The post described the potential state record flier caught while electrofishing the Clarks River Headquarters Pond. The flier was released back into the pond, maintaining the potential for catching a state record flier here in Kentucky. The possibility of catching any state record is interesting but I was more interested in a species of fish I had never heard of, living right here in our backyard. So, I went into research mode, and this is what I learned.
The flier has a southern range for the most part, but can be found in western Kentucky and into southern Illinois and southern Indiana. The flier has a circular shape with a green hue fading into silver with black spots covering the body. They have a dark green to black tear drop under the eyes and a black gill plate lobe. Fliers inhabit backwaters, ponds, and deep pools in creeks. Oxbows are perfect examples of these slack or slow moving backwaters.
As a member of the sunfish family fliers can be pursued accordingly. The flier spawns earlier than other sunfish and will begin making their beds to lay eggs when surface temps reach 57 to 63 degrees. This is 10 degrees cooler than other sunfish. Female fliers can lay 20,000 to 35,000 eggs that are surrounded by an adhesive-like envelope for protection. After laying their eggs the females leave and the male flier stays behind to guard the eggs and fry from predators. Like other sunfish, fliers feed on snails, worms, leeches and other terrestrials. I reached out to David Cravens, assistant Ichthyologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, to learn where we might find a flier here in Kentucky.
“Fliers typically inhabit lowland lakes and streams, surrounding wetlands in the western third of the state,” David said. “Try the lower Green River, Tradewater, lower Tennessee, and Clarks River. Other potential locations include Boatwright and Ballard Wildlife Management Area that have lots of areas that can yield flier catches. The flier prefers areas where water is clear, current is low, and aquatic vegetation is present, usually with a muddy or sandy bottom. Ideally, if an angler were looking for these fish, they should look for pooled side channels off larger streams or ponds that have these characteristics.” Dave concluded.
One more interesting thing about this little fish was its recognition in the name of a US Navy submarine. The USS Flier was commissioned into service in 1942. In 1944 the USS Flier hit a mine and sank. In the spring of 2009 the USS Flier’s wreckage was located and was confirmed by the U.S. Pacific Fleet submarine force in 2010 to be the USS Flier submarine.
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