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Jacks Grampa

I.D. this fish

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Just about all bream in hot muddy cattle ponds around here are green sunfish really light colored.  Survivors! Problem with them they are mushy compared to the others at the cleaning table.

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34 minutes ago, Mark Knapp said:

Do they ruin the habitat or just replace the other fish. If they get real big and they fight hard, is it a huge loss? Other than liking the other species is habitat lost?

Just wondering not arguing.

Mark,

They don’t literally ruin the habitat but out-compete bluegill and sometimes bass. They force them out of spawning bed areas. They don’t get large - rarely exceed 6 inches as adults. They do have very large mouths and feast on bluegill and bass fry. Hybridization is common with them as well. Commercially available hybrid bluegills for stocking are actually a green sunfish bluegill cross. I’m just an old fart that hates seeing my favorite panfish being replaced by something in my mind that is inferior. I guess I will get off my high horse now. Thanks for letting me blow off steam.

 

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1 hour ago, HookedOnFTF said:

Mark,

They don’t literally ruin the habitat but out-compete bluegill and sometimes bass. They force them out of spawning bed areas. They don’t get large - rarely exceed 6 inches as adults. They do have very large mouths and feast on bluegill and bass fry. Hybridization is common with them as well. Commercially available hybrid bluegills for stocking are actually a green sunfish bluegill cross. I’m just an old fart that hates seeing my favorite panfish being replaced by something in my mind that is inferior. I guess I will get off my high horse now. Thanks for letting me blow off steam.

 

I get it now, someone said the hybrids are bigger not the greens. I don't blame you.

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25 minutes ago, tjm said:

https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID=380 31cm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_sunfish 30cm

Most that I catch run about 10''-11'',  but later in the summer all the sunfish in  accessible spots will be down to 6-7"  or smaller due to some people eating all they catch. 

Look at the description paragraph in the wiki link you cited. It states: “The typical length ranges from 3 to 7 inches and usually weighs less than a pound.” In the next sentence it references the IGFA World Record green sunfish that weighed 2.2 lbs. and was 30cm (11.81 inches).

So you must be routinely catching near world record green sunfish. 

 

 

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Tennessee record green sunfish is 1 lb., 4 oz. but no length given. Caught in North Cross Creek, where that is, in June, 1981.

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12 hours ago, HookedOnFTF said:

Look at the description paragraph in the wiki link you cited. It states: “The typical length ranges from 3 to 7 inches and usually weighs less than a pound.” In the next sentence it references the IGFA World Record green sunfish that weighed 2.2 lbs. and was 30cm (11.81 inches).

So you must be routinely catching near world record green sunfish. 

 

 

Possible I suppose, not routinely though,  I don't really target small fish and the few sunfish caught are on bass flies, the size is a guess because they are turned loose immediately. Maybe the run of the mill types are too small to hit my flies and I just never thought about it. Very small rock bass are common on the same flies, though bluegill aren't. Typical bass in these creeks is 11-12'' but I catch more 15'' + than I do less than 15'', that kinda surprises me, because 30 years ago all I caught were <13'' and lots more sunfish, not sure when or how it changed.

>> The search thing says 31cm=12.2047244094488 inches, so mine must not be world class.

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