Printable View
Anybody here target warmouth when out fishing? Over the last couple of days I have been catching them while Crappie fishing. One good size and some small ones. Don't hear much here in Michigan about people fishing for them. I think down south they are more numerous. Good eating from what I hear also. Attachment 266700Attachment 266701Attachment 266702:hatchet:
Good eating and fun to catch.
Good looking fish no matter how big they are. The guy that showed me said they like wood. He would pull into a downed tree and drop a 1'32 jig with a chartreuse curl tail and do well for them. It's a developed technique. I used to pitch undercut banks for them also, but they wouldn't hit it unless you bumped the bank with the jig.
I've caught many over the years,just didn't know what they were called.Folks around here always called them rock bass,most are caught in small streams and creeks in my neck of the woods.
We have more rockbass up here in western Pa. The Lake Erie shoreline rocks are loaded with big ones during their spawn in late may, early June. Jig and bobber will fill your bucket for you.
They were all caught on a 2" Gulp Emerald Shiner. The small ones were in the rip rap near shore. If I drug the minnow thru the rocks they would come out of the rocks and attack. They hit very hard for a small fish. The big one come out of 6 ft of water. I was fishing about 18" below the bobber. Sure are fun to catch.
The top one may be a warmth (hard to tell). The bottom 2 look like green sunfish. You are correct they are plentiful in the south. Greensunfish can be found in just about every water body in arkansas. I also catch them while crappie fishing cypress trees on my home lake. Some down here call them rice slicks because they catch them in the ditches of rice fields. They do taste good and they also make great flathead catfish bait.
Will have to try fishing them the next time I am in Arkansas. Our daughter and her family are in Searcy.
Small world. If you ever make it down around Lake Conway, stop by my office on the south bank and say hi. I might even be able to put you on some fish.
I agree with Matt...top one maybe warmouth...bottom two green sunfish. The only place I have caught true Warmouth around here is at the Duck Creek refuge which is basically a swamp. They are a subspecies or separate species which is slightly different than the goggle eye or rock bass you catch in the streams around here. Green sunfish are one of the easiest fish to catch I know of. Live in the rocks in shallow water and are as aggressive a fish as they come. Good catfish bait and good to eat if you catch them big enough to clean. Had them plow into a buzzbait or spinner bait when bass fishing.Caught some today on a slider when fishing a dam riprap.
I would say yep top fish warmouth ,bottom 2 greenies ....fun fun .....keep up the good work
I am in Georgia and all of them look like what we call Warmouth. A blast to catch on ultra light rod dropping crickets around stumps and downed trees.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Very aggressive little fish. Makes them fun to catch
Catching Green Sunfish around these parts is as easy as just getting your lure close to the bank ... especially rocky banks. Warmouth, on the other hand, tend to run a little deeper ... and grow considerably larger.
Many people confuse Rock Bass & Warmouth ... but, they are two separate fish.
Here's a link to a thread from 2004, where we had a discussion on these fish :
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...sunfish-2.html
I've caught a few rock bass in the same area as the Warmouth and green sunfish. They go directly from the lake to the frying pan. I've have to start keeping any warmouth and green sunfish of a decent size.
In northern Arkansas we have three species of "goggle eye". They are Ozark Bass, Shadow Bass, and Rock Bass. They all look pretty similar but live in different streams. We also have Warmouth and Greensunfish. These are also called "goggle eye" by anglers in Arkansas. I have caught and eaten all of them and they all taste good. Here is an Ozark Bass that I caught in a creek in northern Arkansas last weekend on a flat trip. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8fd321a23c.jpg
That's a nice looking fish.
Don't mean to butt in but..
How big do the green sunfish get?
I love those thing. Very feisty fish. They are a thick string fish.
They have larger mouths and can take larger baits and lures.
I have never targeted them myself, but I have never complained when they end up in my ice chest. They seem to be a perpetually angry bugger and I like that in a fish!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
The bottom 2 fish are green sunfish and I suspect the top one,also, is a green sunfish. They are very agressive.
Just tossing this in,a hybrid bluegill is a cross between a male bluegill and a female green sunfish.That being the case,why do I never catch a hybrid bluegill in the creeks and streams where both gills and green sunfish live.Of course I'm speculating that I haven't caught a hybrid,what say ye?
I checked a state record website and each state record green sunfish is close to a pound or bigger. Some state's records are almost 2.5 pounds!Quote:
Originally Posted by Smoltz
Wow that be a hawg!
Most I get are around the 6-7" mark but thick and heavy shouldered
Me too. It is hard to picture a 2 pound green sunfish. I also used to have a hard time picturing giant research and bluegill until I saw Sunny's pictures.Quote:
Originally Posted by Smoltz
I can only imagine how the strike of a 2lb green sunfish would feel. Those little ones really smacked my jig.
I got a 8" last nite. My biggest
Just got back from a quick trip to the lake. Second cast, caught this Attachment 267829
those are 8" pliers. I guess we do have some nice size green sunfish in the lake :biggrin