Purple sunfish?

[Dispatch273]

Today I took my sons fishing for the first time this year. We went to a river right near a waterfall. There was a little pool for the little guys to splash around in, while my oldest and I were trying to catch some fish lol. I have never fished in a river and wasn't really expecting to catch much. What we ended up catching were these small sunfish, not bigger than 5", that had a lot of purple on them. They were beautiful! I would have taken pictures but unfortunately I did not have my camera. I'd love to bring one home but I'm pretty sure that's not legal here in CT They were the nicest sunfish I've ever caught. Has anyone ever seen a purple sunfish? What kinds of sunfish live in fast moving rivers? I'm going to go back on Friday and bring my camera this time....

 

[MN_Rebel]

Anything can be a purple sunfish...bluegill, green, warmouth etc...

 

[wantokeeptrout]

it might be a colour morph. there's a similar thing with walleye in canadian lakes. In lakes with a higher exposure to sunlight and UV radiation the fish develop a chemical incorperated into their slime coating and skin which acts like sunscreen. This natural sunblock has a bluish or purpleish tinge so the fish in that lake are differently coloured despite being the same species. For a little while it was thought that they were a remnant population of the extinct lake erie blue walleye....

 

[Dispatch273]

Hmm...I'll have to get some pictures when I go back. Also I looked on my state's website regarding information about keeping fish I catch in my tanks, but I couldn't find anything. Where can I find out if it's legal to keep these guys?

 

[Creek_stomper]

In my experience, the most often encountered "purple" sunfish is the warmouth, but it really could be just about anything.

Josh H

 

[MN_Rebel]

In my experience, the most often encountered "purple" sunfish is the warmouth, but it really could be just about anything.

Josh H

I have seen purple bluegills and purple greens before. It's not uncommon for find purple bluegills by currents or flowing waters, and it's not uncommon to pulled up small purpleish greens out of rocks. Also it is possible that it's not a sunfish but a pirate perch which often looks like a purple sunfish.

 

[Rairdog]

I catch lots of purple bluegill. Especially when water is cold. Did it look like this?

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[Dispatch273]

I catch lots of purple bluegill. Especially when water is cold. Did it look like this?

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Nope it didn't look like that. The body was a bit different and it was darker. Had a yellow/orange breast and purple hues on its belly.

 

[Steveo McNello]

It was definitely a warmouth. They look like a purple variation of the rock bass.

 

[MN_Rebel]

It was definitely a warmouth. They look like a purple variation of the rock bass.

Except there's no pictures of the purple sunfish he speak of and it can be anything....I know warmouth can be purple but so are other sunnies or even other sunfish-like fish.