Thread: Strange Looking Redbreast Sunfish

That is one more good lookin creek.

If the River/Creek Redbelly that I grew up with in Alabama got to be 8".. I dont think you could land him .... pullin is things I ever stuck a hook in .. we have them here in NW FL and they are called river brim, swift water brim, willow Brim and Red Bellies.

Theres a strain of them in the Ochalockne River that will get over a pound .. looks a little more like a blue gill but has big mouth , long ear, streaked jaws ... these are found below the dam at Talquin down river .. do not know about above Talquin.

Have a good un
JSC

JSC, most redbreasts I catch in this creek are between 5" to 7". 8 inchers are common, but anything over that is unusual. Once 20+ years I caught a 9 incher below a larger waterfall. But 3 or 4 years ago I got a 9-1/2 incher out of my backyard. Caught it on a Rebel crawfish crankbait (I think or maybe a Rebel grasshopper). But 7" is about the norm, or if I were to keep a mess to eat, I'd probably put anything 6" or larger on the stringer. Not too many people fish this creek until it gets backed up in the headwaters of Watts Bar Lake.

Onto another subject, I fished my girlfriend's sister's pond this evening, caught about 6 bluegills and an 8" largemouth on a Blakemore Roadrunner with a 1-1/2 twister tail chartreuse grub. Some of the bluegill were puny, but I had one 8 incher and one 10 incher. I got the measurements, but didn't have scales. The 8 incher was a female, the 10 incher was a big black bull.

How much does anyone estimate how much a 10" bluegill would weigh? It had to be mighty close to a pound, at least 12-14 ounces, don't you think? Or more? I have the photo on my cell phone, but I'm not set up to send email messages and attach photos. It might costs a fortune to get that service we live so far back in the sticks.

JSC, Reckon those are the same species in the Ochalockne River as the redbreast sunfish? The Emory/Obed/Clear Creek/Daddy's Creek/Otter Creek/ and Little Emory River systems on the Cumberland Plateau holds a lot of these beautiful fish. I think they're a purty as a rainbow trout or yellow perch or even purtier.

Originally Posted by JSC

If the River/Creek Redbelly that I grew up with in Alabama got to be 8".. I dont think you could land him .... pullin is things I ever stuck a hook in .. we have them here in NW FL and they are called river brim, swift water brim, willow Brim and Red Bellies. Theres a strain of them in the Ochalockne River that will get over a pound .. looks a little more like a blue gill but has big mouth , long ear, streaked jaws

Have a good un
JSC

Originally Posted by Festus_Haggen

The fish is a redbreast, they are easily confused with the longear sunfish. I don't think I've seen a longear in my creek, but it's possible maybe downstream a few miles there could be longears. And it can't be a pumpkinseed, their body is much wider proportionally than the redbreast. There's a creek on the other side of the mountain from me called Crooked Fork Creek that contains (or used to) pumpkinseeds. I've never seen a pumpkinseed over 6".

Most people call this redbreast sunfish either redbellies or sungrannies. The female has a yellow belly, they're easily identified. Would like to figure out how this one I caught the other day had such a big mouth. It wasn't a purebred rock bass or redbreast, never seen anything like it in my life.

We catch a fish alot that meets your description. We always called them WARMOUTHS. They look like a bluegill-sunfish/redeye hybrid with alot of ATTITUDE...lol. Here, they live in dark places, like under a old boat dock or some other sort of cover in the water. They are MEANER than a mad copperhead and will slam a bait as hard as any bass. They are a blast to catch and a devil to clean. Seems they mixed the scales on these guys with some sort of SUPER GLUE because they won't come off...lol. They are pretty tasty though once you get past the armour....lol. Here is what I am talking about...http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/warmouth.jpg

Looks like a pumpkinseed to me. About 4inches is the biggest I have ever seen. Here in Idaho.

I have caught a bunch of them as a kid fishing small creeks. I dont ever remember catching anything over hand size though. They are in green river lake also. I always called them a sunfish, duh.

we call them red throats. catch them in the nottoway river, and they do get as big as you say, if you catch them at the right time. they migrate in the rivers we catch them in. tidal rivers.

Festus

That Ochlocknee (SP) fish is not like a warmouth at all ... it a little "Bluer" than the regular "Red Belly" and I think that may be from the color of the water (?) Catch them in the swift water and they will put a "Bend" in your Pole.

JSC