Thread: What have I got here?

From wiki...

"The Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes. It is native to North America and lives in streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds. It is commonly found east of the Rockies. It usually hides around, and inside, old tree stumps and other underwater structures. It can live in either deep or very shallow water, and will often move back and forth, depending on the time of day or season. Bluegills also like to find shelter among water plants and in the shade of trees along banks. Bluegills can grow up to 12 inches long and about 4 1/2 pounds. They have very distinctive coloring, with deep blue and purple on the face and gill flap, dark olive-colored bands down the side, and a fiery orange to yellow belly. The fish are omnivores and will eat anything they can fit in their mouth. They mostly feed on small aquatic insects and fish. The fish play a key role in the food chain, and are prey for muskies, walleye, bass, herons, kingfishers, snapping turtles, and otters."

They are a beautiful species for sure. Well done and good report. They take great pictures don't they?!

Originally Posted by Lenny

Can someone tell me what variety of fish this is other than "bluegill"?

The bluegill is a particular species of sunfish, and that's what you caught.

As you can see from the title of this forum, "panfish" and "bream" are often used as generic names for several other sunfish species.

For example:

TWRA - Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Sunfish Identification

Thanks!

I've fished extensively in California, Colorado, Texas, and Utah and caught tons of what we always called bluegill but knew that there were all kinds of of names attributed to them without knowing how much of it was local terminology vs. actual differences if species. My experience to date has generally been with smaller ones so I've really enjoyed seeing photos of some of the semi-monsters pictured here in the forums. Again, thanks for the inputs.

I think this may blow your mind some more...there are quite a few species of panfish...Texas Sunfish Fishing - Fishing For Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Hybrid Sunfish, Longear Sunfish, Redbreast Sunfish, Redear Sunfish, Rock Bass, Spotted Sunfish, Tilapia, Warmouth, White Bass, Yellow Bass, Yellow Perch & Other Panfish in TX

Good info

That's definitely a bluegill! Kicking back your picture is a Longear Sunfish!

I went back out last night for about an hour and caught just over a dozen, working the semi-flooded areas around trees and shrubs. I'd forgotten how much fun large panfish are to catch. Several of them had my drag working overtime. I let them all go to fight another day. - Good times!

Nothing wrong imo with a good day of catch and release