trophy pumpkin seed?

[BlueBillStacker]

what is considered a trophy pumpkinseed sunny? got one this spring that pushed ten" but i have no idea what is considered a trophy? got it in the freezer i need some help as to what to do with it?

[jwmiller33]

get it mounted! if you already have it in the freezer, mind as well!

[blackdog1101]

I've never seen one that size. Maybe they come that big dow south, but up here I'd say that's a trophy.

[HotPocket]

A 10" pumpkinseed is a nice fish! I got one last winter. I was going to mount it but didnt. Heres a pic of two 10" from that day.

[Greybeard53]

Just as a comparison - the state record pumpkinseed was 10.1" long, 12.125" girth and weighed 1.56 lbs. If it's true pumpkinseed, yours is a trophy.

BUT, quite a few lakes have hybrids that look just like a pure pumpkinseed but are actually a cross. Our lake has hybrids and we've caught them up to 11".

With that being said, anything around 10" is a dandy, and it's already in the freezer. I haven't seen many taxidermists that do a good job recreating the color on a pumpkinseed, but if you know of one, and like their work it would make a great mount.

[Scott M]

I'd do a mount. My biggest p-seed is 9.75 and gorgeously colored, especially for a winter fish. On colors alone I should probably get a replica.

I've seen some really nice pumpkinseeds in Cass and Itasca counties. The state record is off of Leech and I saw a fish in a bar in southern Minnesota that the bartender caught on Leech that was close to breaking it.

[carpmanjake]

a true pumpkinseed of that size is huge! but if its a hybrid, i wouldnt mount it unless it was almost or over 2lbs

[Bluegill1510]

Boy thats a nice pumpkinseed, I'd personally get it mounted regardless, thats if its a true pumpkinseed as that is a trophy. My biggest is 9.25" and I have that one mounted cuz I figured thats the biggest pumpkinseed I'll ever catch. Funny story that came to mind after reading carpmanjake's comment... a few years ago I caught some dandy pounder pumpkinseeds or what I thought were pumpkinseeds until I brought them to the Taxidermist and found out they were hybrids, but oh well pretty fish! I treasure the one mount of a 10.5" 1 lb 2 oz hybrid sunfish, and 11" 1 lb 5 oz bluegill (both caught on the same day & not during spawn) on a unique piece of drift wood. If I would of know those fish were hybrids and not pumpkinseeds before bringing them to the taxidermist I would of CPR'd them. As hybrids can get much larger I found out, than a pumpkinseed, oh well you live and learn! Got a nice school of true pound sunfish mounted, not to many guys can say that.

I guess its (the pumpkinseed) frozen, its a nice fish you might as well get it done or try for another bluegill or crappie or perch, etc to go along with it to put on a piece of driftwood. Its all about what you think is a trophy mostly and the memory of catching that fish, who was with you, etc. Doesn't always have to be the biggest IMO.

[half-dutch]

world record is 1 pound 6 ounces

A ten inch pumpkinseed will definitely beat a pound.

They will hybridize with bluegills, but those hybrids don't seem to have the size potential that the green sunfish/bluegill hybrids do. In general they are more of a North Eastern fish and outside of the coast line down into Georgia were not originally native to most of the South definitely not the Deep South. They didn't originally go all that far west of Minnesota either, and only this far in the north.

However you cut it that is a huge fish for its type. If you have pictures include them with the fish for mounting; so the taxidermist or replica maker can get them as accurate as possible. I would call a 10" pumpkinseed a very nice trophy. In this country any 10" sunfish is good for bragging rights.

[BlueBillStacker]

it is no doubt a true pumpkin seed i know my fish and it was no cross breed! as we got a few of them also, got her in a very popular lake in the metro this spring!!!

[StillwaterAaron]

Do you have a pic?

If you want a recomendation for a great taxi guy search josh knuth art and he is the best I have seen he loves his work and it shows!

Get it mounted it will look great!

[pushbutton]

is there an easy way to tell the difference between the real and the hybrid strains, found a lake that every year gets me close to the record, but after reading this i bet they are hybrids.

[IRISHbaseball]

dude that is a nice fish i would get it mounted i dont know but id say its a trophy and if not how often do u get 10+ inch pumkinseeds

[Steve Foss]

Any Pseed over 9 inches from a Minnesota lake is a trophy. I'd mount a 9+ incher in a heartbeat if I was into that.

I did a little math. Let's say the state record pseed was 11 inches (reasonable assumption for a 1.6 pound sunfish). Let's say the 9+ incher was a touch over one pound (also reasonable, I believe, given the compactness of pseeds).

That means the 9+ incher is about 2/3 as large as the state record.

So let's put that in walleye terms. If you caught a walleye 2/3 as large as the 17-lb state record you'd have a fish of 11-12 pounds. For most 'eye anglers, that's the fish of a lifetime. Would you mount that?