sex

[rockingroy]

No I'm not talking dirty. This may seem like a stupid question to many experts but I'm curious. So many posts specify the males or the females, How can you tell the difference? I've fished for 39 years, and the only time I've noticed a difference is when one is full of spawn.

[ole matty]

i cant really tell the difference but seem like my friend can. he know which fish is female which is male .. i still cant tell the difference

[Deitz Dittrich]

color is a major factor, and in the spring behavior. Males are usually much brighter in color and are the ones defending the beds usually. Other than that, the ones that wink at me must be the cute girls!!!!

[Matt Breuer]

Or in crappies and smallies, the males are much darker. The males are always the pretty ones...

[harvey lee]

Dietz

Do you have any winking at you???????

[delmuts]

deitz!! are you married?? if so, does your wife know about this?

[Cyberfish]

For gills it is pretty easy. look at the gills matt and ty caught (in the "whats working" thread) with the orange- red belly bright blue gills, dark green back and over all really colorful. those are males. now look at the gills I got last weekend they are mostly yellow green and white with less blue in the gills and a yellow belly, those are the females.

[Matt Johnson]

The dark-colored, black-finned gills are typically males. Females stay lighter in color and have more greens and yellows in them like Mike mentioned. The purples, oranges, dark blues, are usually males, and it's very apparent this time of year because of the spawn. A lot of the fish you find on the beds right now will be males. A good size male is around 8.5 inches in my opinion. Seems like the 7.5-9 inchers are common for bed-dwelling males... at least that's what I've seen this year so far...

[DEADhead]

Quote:

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A good size male is around 8.5 inches in my opinion

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you gotta get out of the metro and fish up here Matt; Fisherdog19 and I have been consistently catching males the past few weeks up here that are ranging in the 11-12" range.

True Slabzillas!

[Cyberfish]

DEADhead, do you do any guiding up there? I would really like to catch a 12 inch bluegill!

[DEADhead]

sorry for the brainfart; I was talking about crappies and matt was talking about gills....

I don't do any guiding, but I have pulled my fair share of 9.5" plus gills out of the area lakes....

[Matt Johnson]

I was about to hop in the truck and head up when I thought you meant gills

Was that 9.5-incher a male? Nice fish!

[DEADhead]

hard to tell if those sunfish were males or females, since the majority of the big sunnies I catch are through the ice and not during the spawn. Also, since they were all C&Red no way of knowing without a proper dissection

There are plenty of 9" plus pumpkinseeds around here, and if you know where to look on the right lakes, plenty of 9.5"+ gills....

My problem is, when the big bulls are out guarding beds and easier to find, I'm usually chasing after trout. Although I have managed to catch a few nice bulls on my fly rod

[Cyberfish]

Doh! ya had my getting the 12 inch gill itch! I don't think I have got one over 11 yet. I love getting gills on a flyrod too, I made some foam poppers that really get em...