World's Largest Bullhead

Down by the water in the tiny town of Crystal Lake stands a fish that no angler ever landed. It is the world's largest bullhead sculpture, roughly twelve feet long and four feet high, perched on a pile of rocks beside a fishing pier. Two local men, Carl Frick and Russ Gabrilson, built it back in the late nineteen fifties to celebrate the lake's bountiful fishing.

Time and weather wore it down, until it was restored in the late two thousands. Painted bright green and yellow rather than the bullhead's usual muddy brown, it is not exactly true to life, but that is part of its charm. It is a proud piece of small town Iowa roadside whimsy, the kind of oversized monument that asks you to pull over, smile, and take a picture.