This sunfish chased down a bass lure. Don't know where it thought it was going to put all that food. Must have been full of spawn.
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This sunfish chased down a bass lure. Don't know where it thought it was going to put all that food. Must have been full of spawn.
Wow...Thats a big un...looks like an air hose was stuck in there and forgot about.
man what a belly
Lotta eggs or somebody is full of food!!!!!!!!!!
Fatman
Looks like I feel leaving the pizza buffett:D
Gotta be a beer belly !
Thats a big belly.
A sure sign of a diet of Biscuits & Gravy !
Thanks for the responses, folks; I didn't know whether anyone else would find this as unusual as I did.
I released the fish. There are lots of 4" sunfish in the lake, and I figured that if this one was full of eggs, the lake would benefit from having this robust fish's genes in the pool. It might just contribute to stunting, but at least this one beat the odds.
I use to catch big ones on rubber worms fishing the edges of the TN river. I saw one like that in a small lake the other day and hisbelly was so big he could barely swim.
... and the coloration of the fish, and the orange along the fins --- I'd say that was a Warmouth. :p
And yeah ... they'll keep grabbing food, even when they don't have room in their bellies for anything else. I've had them in my aquarium, and once made the mistake of putting in a dozen or so minnows ... bad idea :p
Though the fish was probably only 6" long ... that rascal scarffed down all but a couple of those minnows :eek: And, at one point in his feeding frenzy, had about 4-5 minnows IN HIS MOUTH, and was still stalking the other minnows :eek:
I've caught them on numerous baits ... and a few pushed a pound in size. They're really bad about grabbing a bass jig, or plastic worm, & swimming off with it ... and usually end up getting launched into the air and clear over on the other side of the boat, when they do ... LOL !!! I can't even begin to tell you how many times my heart started racing, thinking a big 'ol Sow Bass had picked up my jig/worm & was easing off with it .... set the hook, and send them little rascals AIRBORN :D
... cp :cool:
Quote:
Originally Posted by crappiepappy
I agree...it looks like a warmouth perch. I caught one on my flyrod the other day that looked just like it. It looked like it swallowed a baseball.
Could have been a warmouth; I'm not familiar with that species. I didn't take a side photo because the belly was what interested me, but because of the helpful suggestions (thanks!) I looked up an illustration of a warmouth and that seemed similar to what I recall having seen.
It chased down from behind a skirted bass jig with a 4" split-tail trailer I was cranking in at a good clip for my next cast. I couldn't believe that it hit far enough forward to get the hook.
They can get a 6-7" plastic worm in their mouth, a 1/2oz jig/trailer, and some good sized crankbaits, too :D (their mouths are more like a Bass' mouth, than a gill/sunfish)Quote:
Originally Posted by split handle
Biggest ones I've caught, came on cranks ;) .... so, yeah - if they want it bad enough, they'll chase it down & nail it :p
If they're big enough to clean, they're right tasty little critters ... and I don't think you'll be doing those waters any harm by taking them.
... cp :cool:
i notice one thing about warmouths,they are so agressive!we don't have them here in nj,but i caught plenty dinky ones in wv.i just wish that they got bigger.i've never caught a really big warmouth b4.would be interesting if some scientists created a hybrid warmouth that would grow really big in a short amount of time :D imagine the possabilities?!?