Taming of wild fish

[id10t]

I've had wild fish eat out of my hand when snorkling or scuba diving, esp. in the local springs using hotdogs, cut meats like balogna, etc.

I've even had some bluegills attack a weird mole I have on my back while standing in the water...

 

[kzimmerman]

To get more skittish fish acclimated faster, I suggest providing a little more cover. BTW, I would have some redears if I could catch them. I can get bluegills out the wazoo, green sunfish, and pumpinseeds, but thats about it for the centrarchids. Kind of a shame, I wish I could get some blackbanded or bluespotted sunnies too. maybe I'll get lucky this spring when I go to get my bowfin from across the bay, after I finish up my 400 plywood build. 10' or so of native fun!

 

[fishkeeper1]

you can raise 1-2 LMB in a 400! Dont stock minnows unless there food

 

[Pomatomus]

We have had lots of success taming centrarchids at our marine laboratory, although they don't always come up to the surface.

We have (wild caught) redear sunfish, spotted sunfish, bluegills, bluespotted sunfish, dollar sunfish, LMB, and warmouths.

I have not had much luck taming dollar sunfish and bluespotted sunfish. They are a bit too small and skittish.

 

[YOOPER]

As somebody stated, try weed cover to make them feel more secure. Gills and greens (and bass) were always easy for me with crappie and rock bass taking more time. Try feeding worms.