Re: ID This Fish
They are, in fact, a native species to the Mississipi River and tributaries and other river systems in the south and midwest.
They are only "invasive" to interior lakes where they can overpopulate to the extent that not only are other species pretty well wiped out, the yellow bass themselves are stunted. BTW, this phenomenon is not limited to Iowa.
For reasons that are not clear, this does NOT happen in every lake containing yellow bass. For example, Clear Lake in north central Iowa is a 3600 acre natural lake that has good yellow bass fishing and also maintains good walleye, yellow perch, crappie, etc. so go figure.