I never said that the PFBC should stop stocking Bass, don't put words in my mouth. I'm coming from a different perspective, that Warmouth should be taken off the list in PA. I was just noting the irony that the PFBC makes rules against anglers, which does little to nothing to help this fish, yet stocks their biggest predator. How can artificially increasing the bass population possibly help the warmouth in areas where they are not abundant? I don't know, I give up, we are getting outside of the scope of this thread.
ID this Sunnie
- Thread starter divemaster99
- Start date
I never said that the PFBC should stop stocking Bass, don't put words in my mouth. I'm coming from a different perspective, that Warmouth should be taken off the list in PA. I was just noting the irony that the PFBC makes rules against anglers, which does little to nothing to help this fish, yet stocks their biggest predator. How can artificially increasing the bass population possibly help the warmouth in areas where they are not abundant? I don't know, I give up, we are getting outside of the scope of this thread.
Peace friend, I never claimed to be an expert, so there is no act to drop. My opinions are based on experience from 40 years of casual fishing, and 15 years as an advanced hobbyist keeping various Lepomis from Eastern PA and New Jersey. I have no strong attachment to my id.
Looking at this fish on my monitor at home, the belly is bright orange, right in range for a redbreast in PA. But when I looked at it at work today, it looked golden. Perhaps the over saturation of colors on my home monitor fooled me.
The ear does look longer and bigger than the average bluegill, and shorter than the average redbreast, to me that seemed reasonable for a hybrid. The ear has no hint of the pumpkinseed red dot or blue-silver lining.
Yes, the mouth is a bit small for a redbreast hybrid. The overall shape does not look redbreast either. But for that matter, I see no pumpkinseed in the shape, compared to the ones I catch and have kept that is. Maybe the local variation around Erie is different. The pattern is not strong pumpkinseed, and the eye color has no orange or red. The fin colors are pure bluegill, I don't see pumpkinseed in them either. It doesn't have the shiny reflective look of the pumpkinseeds silver-blue.
The bluegill x pumpkinseed hybrids I have pulled from the wild have had stronger patterns and colors than this fish, and usually some hint of pumpkinseed in the fins, eyes, and ears.
Is it possibly just an unusually colored bluegill purebreed?
In my opinion that we should leave the warmouth on the endangered species list of PA due to the limited distribution in PA. Also like I said it before, Warmouth are never been abundant in many waters in their native range anywhere so it has nothing do with bass stocking affecting the Warmouth populations. In fact Warmouth are thriving in stocked bass ponds and often competed with bass for same prey items.
Trust me on it, this is NOT a hybrid of bluegill and redbreast. Many pumpkinseed hybrids do not always displaying red spot on the ear tho some do have red spot. Many pumpkinseed hybrids will displayed blue-silver lining which is common trait for pumpkinseeds. The pattern is very strong pumpkinseed and I don't go the eye colors since all red and orange eyes can occurs in all sunfish species. The fin colors looks like pumpkinseed to me since bluegill do not have mottled patterns on their fins, the pumpkinseed do have mottled patterns on their fins. The shape looks perfectly for a pumpkinseed shape. It is 100% pumpkinseed hybrid. Remember you thought that a minnow is a trout in other thread.
I have very little experience with trout or minnows. Sunfish on the other hand, I've caught hundreds, maybe thousands. But I realize that there is quite a bit of local variation.
What do you make of the attached photo? Bluegill or x Pumpkinseed Hybrid? It was caught 2 years ago at Marsh Creek Lake, and at the time had a bright red belly, that later turned golden, but the belly color is all but gone now unless you look closely. I've always considered it a purebred bluegill for many of the same reasons previously mentioned. Bluegill colors, bluegill shape, the absence of red eyes or ear spot and the body color is dull instead of the pumpkinseed shiny silver-blue, but, but, but with a distinctive pumpkinseed like pattern that is not typical. It's also a fat wimpy fish that other Lepomis kick around, Southeast PA Pumpkinseed among them, which are generally stronger, faster, more athletic than bluegill in this area. Hybrids that I've caught tend to even bigger and stronger still than the purebreds. Pumpkinseed in this area do not have the deep round belly. I'm curious, is body pattern alone enough to say hybrid?
Its hybrid pumpkinseed all right. The fish in picture absolutely lacks of black spots on the base of dorsal and anal fins which is a trait of bluegill. This fish has a mottled pattern in dorsal & anal fins suggests a pumpkinseed trait.
Guess I'm sticking with a green for the 30 then.
Heres another one I can't figure out: pumpkinseed or longear?
It doesnt have the red splotch behind the gill cover like most P-Seeds do.View attachment 1015019
Unfortunately you would have to stick with the pumpkinseed or green anyway. The longear and warmouth are endangered in PA and would be illegal to keep. I wish they weren't though as they are both species that I would love to have!
The PA regs are crazy strict:
[h=4][SIZE=+1]75.1. [/SIZE]Endangered species.[/h] (a) General. The species of fish, amphibians and reptiles and invertebrates listed in subsections (b)—(d) are classified endangered. The catching, taking, killing, possessing, importing to or exporting from this Commonwealth, selling, offering for sale or purchasing of any individual of these species, alive or dead, or any part thereof, without a special permit from the Executive Director is prohibited.
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Seriously, even catching them is prohibited. Divemaster broke regs just by hooking his.
