Fish of a thousand casts…

Hello fellow anglers, hope everyones well! Last night Southern Nevada received over an inch of rain in a major thunderstorm threatening flash flood in just few minutes. Short as it was the rain helped curb the heat wave we westerners been getting these past weeks, so this morning I headed out to have some fun early armed with just 1 lure tied to a 2lb SOS line attached to a rod so light it’s rated at 1-4lb max. I wasn’t going for number this time, just the opposite in fact. Although bluegills aren’t known as the fish of a 1000 casts ( muskies are), they are however known for not very good at chasing lure, especially in crystal clear water once they see you. I read somewhere that only larger bluegill or sunfish will usually chase lure and that’s what I was hoping to catch. Unfortunately bluegill are no where to be found but giant green sunfish….14 in all. The larger one being my largest to date, about 8 inches!! Enjoy the pictures!
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Nice fish and pics. I have had all sizes of sunfish hit that type of small crank, just got to catch them in the right mood.

Thanks for the share. Beautiful scene.
Bob

Those are worthy adversaries as well

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Originally Posted by moonrunner

Nice fish and pics. I have had all sizes of sunfish hit that type of small crank, just got to catch them in the right mood.

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Moonrunner, thanks for pointing that out and i have no doubt they do in fact go after many topwater lures....ive seen it done on Youtube. I just failed at the few attempts I tried miserably and assuming its hard to do from shore and in shallow water like these ponds we have all over town. Not to mention I wasn't good at it....loosing lures left and right swimming it too fast, too deep lol. I've learned a lot since.

You would have a hard time NOT getting a Green Sunfish to hit your bait on the lakes I fish, if you get within <2ft of the rocky shorelines of those lakes. They hit our Road Runners, jigs, and "would" scarf up any form of live bait ... if we used it. I can't say as I've ever caught a Green Sunfish that big, but have caught several Warmouth that were bigger ... casting small cranks for Bass. And I've sent many a flyin' over to the other side of the boat, on the hookset, when "worm fishing" for Bass in the Spring. :Rofl

With their voracious appetite I'm surprised the Green Sunfish don't get MUCH bigger !!

Nice post. Enjoyed the pics.

Very nice. In the waters I currently fish there are not many. I wish I could get into them.

Regards


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Sounds like a wonderful morning. Love those tiny cranks!

Digging further showed these greenies not to be that big at full grown comparing to such sunfish like the Redear (aka shell crackers), according to US wildlife experts. In fact Nevada state record of 12.5 inches was caught back in 1992 by a Joe Burgess and the world record was caught in 1971, since than no ones really talk about green sunfish much let alone how big or strong they get as game fish goes. I’m not chasing record here but who, as UL anglers would not get a big smile when they hook into one of the big one…to me that means over 7 Lol. This was caught last week!
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I'd take those any day!

Man I miss that type of fishing. I just dont get a chance to do it anymore. I loved casting those little cranks down a shoreline and just catching whatever bit

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Originally Posted by Kevin22

Man I miss that type of fishing. I just dont get a chance to do it anymore. I loved casting those little cranks down a shoreline and just catching whatever bit

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Kevin22, why is that you don’t mine me asking? I saw your YouTube video seem you got all the ideal waters at your disposal.


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Originally Posted by Fishfishwish

I'd take those any day!

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Fishfishwish, I totally agree. A game warden told me one time they stock them regularly to keep channel cats and what few largemouth they have in there happy and says the rest rely on self sustaining efforts by the sunfish. I guess they do grow to a good size if given the opportunity ( not be eaten)…Lol.


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Originally Posted by Alphahawk

Very nice. In the waters I currently fish there are not many. I wish I could get into them.

Regards


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Be careful what you wish for, Alphahawk…Lol. Reading various fish forum turned up lots of anglers hating these green sunfish for being pesky, aggressive, stunt, and invasive. That last one leave me dumbfounded. I always thought they are part of THE sunfish families, including largemouth and crappies that they be more accepted as the norm. At the places I fish sometimes I catch more bluegills than these showing they are anything but invasive. Cheers!


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Originally Posted by LVSpinfisher1

Kevin22, why is that you don’t mine me asking? I saw your YouTube video seem you got all the ideal waters at your disposal.


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Unfortunately that was a fishing trip about 550 miles from home, I can only dream of having an area like that to fish all year long! Where I typically fish, the Mississippi River, theres only a few weeks each year when the conditions are correct for shallow fishing and they usually collide with something else I am doing (walleye fishing in the spring and hunting in fall mostly). That's why I have the last of my little cranks for sale in the classifieds, just dont get a chance to use them.

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Originally Posted by LVSpinfisher1

Be careful what you wish for, Alphahawk…Lol. Reading various fish forum turned up lots of anglers hating these green sunfish for being pesky, aggressive, stunt, and invasive. That last one leave me dumbfounded. I always thought they are part of THE sunfish families, including largemouth and crappies that they be more accepted as the norm. At the places I fish sometimes I catch more bluegills than these showing they are anything but invasive. Cheers!


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They are a borderline invasive species where I am in Iowa. In fact, they are considered a baitfish and dont count towards limits. They get into ponds and completely ruin them, we just had this happen recently to one of my buddy's best crappie ponds. We would go and put $5 down on the first 16" crappie each trip, it was that kind of pond. Green sunfish got in there (nobody knows how, probably birds) and it went from a great crappie pond to 10,000 green sunfish and 4" crappies within a few years. They have big mouths and feed on fry mostly, so they are a predator of a sunfish... If there's not a large population of bass and catfish to eat them, they will slowly take over. They will also hybridize with bluegills (I caught one in that video I posted) and these hybrids are almost sterile, so they can ruin a bluegill population by hybridizing as well.

They are really fun to catch though, like someone else said you can toss anything that moves down a rock/riprap bank and catch them here. I've caught big ones while bass fishing on crankbaits before, 10" or so. They turn almost jet black when they get big which is kind of cool.

Kevin22, sorry to hear your fishing water so far away, brother! I felt same when moved out here from California, away from so many bass lakes and not to mention surf, jetties, and piers are now 4 hours away. About the green sunnies, glad the game wardens kept them in check with channel cats and some bass so bluegills population is still in balance. :)


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About 06 or so, I decided to throw a crank at a shoreline for some small to medium LMB that I’d seen feeding there a week or so before. A small chartreuse with white belly mid depth crank was my choice and I’m sure the bass would have loved it, if the crappie had left it alone. I learned then to be happy with what you get. The greenies are sure enough pretty and I’d like to play with them sometime but not sure where they live in relation to me. I like your snap beans and wouldn’t mind trying them but I’m one of those guys who that can’t get away from what he knows works where I am. The painting was well done..

in the BEST TROPHY white crappie ag pond in the entire world they dominate the pond in herds !
My avatar fish in the 4 lb range came out of there and many others in the 3 up range as well .
one must totally understand how ma nature works , in this case the aggressive greens in numbers keep the lil crappie in check and feed the big crappie .(always heard white crappie will ruin a pond, not ALWAYS )
mind you there are days when you ketch 100 greens and one crappie if you are lucky , but it might very well be the BIGGEST crappie you have ever seen !
besides all that on a day when NOTHING will bite the green sunfish will always save the day :Rofl
that first fish is a hybrid and they are pretty cool fish with an aggressive green like attitude and lots of real nice colors and patterns .

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

in the BEST TROPHY white crappie ag pond in the entire world they dominate the pond in herds !
My avatar fish in the 4 lb range came out of there and many others in the 3 up range as well .
one must totally understand how ma nature works , in this case the aggressive greens in numbers keep the lil crappie in check and feed the big crappie .(always heard white crappie will ruin a pond, not ALWAYS )
mind you there are days when you ketch 100 greens and one crappie if you are lucky , but it might very well be the BIGGEST crappie you have ever seen !
besides all that on a day when NOTHING will bite the green sunfish will always save the day :Rofl
that first fish is a hybrid and they are pretty cool fish with an aggressive green like attitude and lots of real nice colors and patterns .

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Until the big crappie die off from old age, then you are stuck with 10,000,000 green sunfish and baby crappies (like the pond I mentioned). Up here we have a slow growing season and one spawn, so crappie are not as prevalent as down south.. If you have a species that eats the fry out of a pond like the fry vacuums green sunfish are, the growing crappies have nothing to eat and will stunt out. Like you said the big crappies will eat the green sunfish (and small crappies) but once they die you are in trouble. This particular pond was in tip top shape, self sustaining with no fish kept out of it for 25 years. Green sunfish got in and the pond was ruined in one crappie generation.

First thank you all for chiming! It always make a good read. After reading some responses here and a few online articles from mostly pond management enthusiasts, I can’t help but think of the green sunfish (lepomis cyanellus) are mostly misunderstood if not misrepresented. There are different camps of angler who view them as anything but “trophy worthy.” On the one hand they can overtake a crappie lake and on other stunning out bluegill fisheries, and I can empathize with them if crappie fishing is their livelihoods. However I feel they are very good fish to fish for for someone like myself who’s without any other options. Maybe I’m naive because in my neck of the woods we don’t have crappie ponds or streams to be invaded by them, so I can’t comment or disagree. What I can vouch for though is that where I fish they seem to live just fine along descent size bluegills…..Attachment 405477
Attachment 405479….channel catfish, and largemouth bass, and with UL or even a JDM xul rod in hand they are every bit as fun to catch if not more so than me pulling 3lb catfish out of the same pond. Cheers!


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Originally Posted by skeetbum

About 06 or so, I decided to throw a crank at a shoreline for some small to medium LMB that I’d seen feeding there a week or so before. A small chartreuse with white belly mid depth crank was my choice and I’m sure the bass would have loved it, if the crappie had left it alone. I learned then to be happy with what you get. The greenies are sure enough pretty and I’d like to play with them sometime but not sure where they live in relation to me. I like your snap beans and wouldn’t mind trying them but I’m one of those guys who that can’t get away from what he knows works where I am. The painting was well done..

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Skeetbum, green sunfish originated from eastern states and now are pretty wide spreads. From my understanding they just like water without too much turbulence (hence ponds are ideal) , so perhaps creeks or small streams maybe. Alphahawk also mentioned there wasn’t much where he fishes also I wonder if he meant Nickajack Lske. Anyhow they do get big…I wish I could retract what I’ve said in past post about them being 7 inches I’ve seen. Apparently my now personal best is 8 if not closer to 9 ( gotta hold it in hand to see the sear size of it.) And as for trying new lures go I’m same, my tried and true rig had always been Float-N-flie or flie drop shot, but forum members here opened my eyes to new possibilities. Here’s a repost of my PB greenie!
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That’s a fattie!! The redbreast I get here are seldom over 7” but fight extra hard for their size. I never find em any bigger but I’ll bet they do get bigger in the right conditions.
I like the little rod too.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

That’s a fattie!! The redbreast I get here are seldom over 7” but fight extra hard for their size. I never find em any bigger but I’ll bet they do get bigger in the right conditions.
I like the little rod too.

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Thanks, it's a Major craft trapara 56xul....my first JDM rod if you will to test these UL water before I went full blown with my most expensive Tict RF..lol.