The Spotted Sunfish

Spotted sunfish (Lepomis punctatus) are a member of the Sunfish family and are nicknamed “stumpknocker” because they orient strongly to stumps where they find food. They are dark olive or brown on top, with light green or olive sides, covered with small black spots and dusky orange fins. Most are less than half a pound by weight. They are found in the Ocmulgee, Oconee, Altamaha, Ogeechee, Ochlockonee, Suwannee, St. Mary’s, Satilla and Savannah River basins. They prefer heavily vegetated, slow-moving lowland streams and warm shallow ponds.

The Georgia state record was tied this year . It weighed a whopping 12oz .

I’ve noticed them locally in the past couple of years . All have been small to tiny specimens caught mostly out of one creek .

I know to most folks they’re all just brim , or bream , but I enjoy checking out the different varieties of sunfish.
I caught four yesterday at the mill creek . All came from right against the dam in a small pool most folks wouldn’t even fish .

I used to drive two plus hours to trout fish in small streams searching for native Brook trout .
I find chasing the difference varieties of sunfish to be much more enjoyable.
Folks talk about how colorful and pretty Brook trout are , well sunfish put most Brook trout to shame IMO .

Nice. Thanks for the stumpknocker info.

Beautiful little fish!

Nice little catches, Chaser! I've learned that although no single US state will contain all species of sunfish, Florida has the most. I'm most certainly a species (AKA "whatever bites" )type of fisherman I will be intrigued if ever run into an opportunity to take a few sunnies not available this stateside. When asked, Pumkinseed, Longeared, and Orangespot often came up to mind as being very pretty catch.

Very cool , they don’t live in these parts , but boy howdy I used to love chasing native brookies up in northern Pennsylvania, a 6 inch fish was a pretty good one ,for up in them tiny creeks in the mountains

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

Very cool , they don’t live in these parts , but boy howdy I used to love chasing native brookies up in northern Pennsylvania, a 6 inch fish was a pretty good one ,for up in them tiny creeks in the mountains

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If I lived closer to a cold water stream or two that had brookies , I’d be all over them .
But , IMO they’re no more special than sunfish.

Never have caught one but they are some beautiful fish.

Neat color definition on the lil feller. 12oz! USA FLAG

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Originally Posted by BuckeyeCrappie

Neat color definition on the lil feller. 12oz! USA FLAG

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Yep , 12oz . Those biggins come from South Georgia rivers .
As
With most sunfishes . When they grow up and get bigger , their colors fade and they’re not as colorful as when they’re younger.
The redbreast are one of the few that keep their brilliance even when bigger . I think the pumpkinseed do too .
The green sunfish fade when bigger and start looking a little grotesque IMO .
Bluegills seem to keep their colors pretty good.
Maybe that’s why I like the little ones so much .

Our big bluegill get way more colorful as they age a bit , the younger versions tend to need ripening :Rofl