Check out these sunfish! (pics)

[Slyster]

I usually fish for bass.. but once every week or two I go out for sunnies with the kiddies... and wow that's a great time! Some of those big ones really put up a great fight! My son Luke said today "I love that sound" (referring to his drag pulling out)... I love that sound too! We caught 100+ sunfish in just 2 hours.. beetlespin with tubes.. bobber with rat-tails and paddle-tails.. they pretty much hit anything. We call our secret spot "Sunny City"..

Beautiful Pumpkinseed! (Is it a pumpkinseed?)

Check out these colors on this bluegill.. beautiful fish!

Here they are.. all waiting their turn to go flying!

Man this one was big! Beetle spin and a tube.

Kelsey caught this one by herself.. I just grabbed the rod to take the pic.

Nice one... he's happy! (not the sunfish)

Gotcha!

[lotsofish]

Cool! Nice fish! I like it when you can sight fish them.

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Beautiful Pumpkinseed! (Is it a pumpkinseed?)

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I think it's a green. The 6th one ("Nice one... he's happy") is a pumpkinseed. The second one is probably a hybrid.

[fisherman-andy]

Those all look to be pumpkinseeds besides the blue gill. You won't see greens with the zigzag like stripes unless their some sort of hybrid.

[Slyster]

It seems no one knows for SURE what kind of sunfish a picture is showing. There must be a spectrum of fish instead of just 3 and 1 hybrid? Seems the bluegill is the only certain species everyone agrees on.

[Kyle Sandberg]

The bottom is definetaly a pumpkin. It has the orange running all the way up to it's mouth and almost looks holographic. First one is a hybrid.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

It doesnt matter the type of fish all that matters is the kids were having fun and want to do it again...

With that said the second is a blugill the second from last appears to be a pure pumpkinseed. The rest appear to be hybrids because of their large mouths and lack of a distinct red mark on the gill cover.

[fisherman-andy]

After substantial research and viewing a bunch of different photos of sunfish at different angles I have come to this conclusion:

1st picture is a Green/Blue Gill Sunfish Hybrid

- Notice I said Green/Blue for Green male and Blue Gill Female? They sure don't have the same markings as the Blue/Green hybrid that I seen. The Blue/Green don't have the zig zaggy body colored lines. I can't seem to document of find a similiar pix of these fish posted here anywhere. So their either BG/G hybrid or G/BG hybrid sunnies. It's also possible to it could be another variation of other different types of sunfish crossed. Either way I am certain forsure its a green sunfish crossed with another different sunfish family due to the fins shapes & color.

2nd picture is Blue Gill

3rd picture is another Green/Blue Gill hybrid.

Unknowingly it could almost pass as a Pumpkinseed but the distinct markings & colors on head, body and the lower rear fin gives it away. The body type of Pumpkins & Gills are usually also more circular not like of a Green Sunfish or hybrid.

Pumpkins & Bluegills also have more rounded rear bottom fins while the Green Sunfish have sharper arrowhead like rounded fins.

Reason for saying so is I have seen lighter or brighter warm colored Pumpkinseeds with totally different coloring. Plus it has a very distinct reddish orange marking at end of the gill, not faint.

Unless its some sort of Pumpkin/Green hybrid or Pumpkin/Blue Gill hybrid that we don't know of?

Anyhow Green Sunfish or Hybrids are horrifying aggressive and with their larger mouths will attack just about any bait or lure you can throw at them. I consider them to be the peskiest panfish around and there are alot of them. I see alot less Gills & Pumpkins, or orange spotted sunnies these days due to this. Most of the lakes or ponds I fish are over run with hybrids & greens. But for the kids they are very easy to catch which is the main goal of why they were stocked in the first place. There is the misconception that these hybrids grow as large or faster than the Blue Gills. They don't. Under studies I found that to be false. The Gills will outgrow hybrids at a bigger and faster rate in the same enviroment with proper feed.

Pix's of Pumpkinseed Sunfish: (click to enlarge)

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Detailed drawing of Blue Gill:

Detailed drawing of Green Sunfish:

Detailed drawing of a female & male Pumpkinseed:

Pictures of Hybrid Bream (Blue Gill/Green Sunfish cross)

Picture Hosting - PicTiger

[Slyster]

Wow. I think I'll just go back to calling them all sunnies.

They all taste the same though right?

[Kyle Sandberg]

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They all taste the same though right?

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I wouldn't make that a question. But yea, they all taste the same with a littly lemon juice.

[The Grebe]

Nope, they don't! Not to to me anyways. The pumpkin seeds tend to have a different tasting meat that I really don't care for....I never keep those things anymore, nor the hybreds, no matter how big they are. The pumpkinseeds tend to have alot of those yellow grubs also, kinda like a rockbass.

I'm sure there are a bunch of people that would disagree, but this is my take.....I'm sure that the family of walleye, saugers, saugeyes and Zanders all have different tastes and qualities to the discriminating fish eater, why not the panfish?

[B@ssDoctor]

I agree. No pumpkin seeds for me. I think the reason for the taste is their willingness to stay in shallow when the temps heat up...

[fisherman-andy]

Im very pick when it comes to eating Sunfish. I rarely eat them anymore anyhow. Alot of the lakes I fish at have infested Sunnies with black spot parasites or yellow grubs or some sort of disease problem. Plus they don't taste so good in the summer due to the algae blooms and watery foul smell. I find them best tasty in Spring or in cold water lakes.

The only Sunfish I may be willing to eat would be a pure bred Blue Gill that is not infested with such problems. Otherwise only Crappies is on my panfish fry list.

[lookincalifornia]

wow, i just thought it looked like a great day on the water. you've got a couple of cuties there. how can ya beat that? oh yea, i love that sound too