Nope, I'm not a bluegill!
This round of our Name that Fish Contest features one of my personal favorites…When I probably should have been spending more time studying Algebra or, better yet, perfecting my major league curveball, I was actually tromping around the streams and ponds near my house in Northern California chasing these little devils.
Native to the southwestern U.S., these scrappy little guys max out at 10 or 12 inches and are kinda “bluegill-esque” at first glance, but then you’ll notice these guys feature a much larger mouth…which, by the way, is designed to suck down they’re favorite food: crawfish.
Since our T-shirt printers are totally dropping the ball and haven’t (after two months) gotten our order to us, we’ll have to leave the prize outta this round. I know…sucks. But, just for kicks, can you guess this fish’s identity in the comments section?
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
GREEN SUNFISH, got one of the little monsters in my aquarium and he eats everything! (yes, I have checked, it is a he.)
My guess is a Green Sunfish
a perch
its a rock bass
Yellow eared sunfish
Nope…go to our facebook page for the answer!
Smallmouth Bass
Looks like a Warmouth. Good friend of mine has the CA state record measured in oz, not pounds.
Hey JD I have them in my backyard pond from the Russian river. They are on 5tjh generation. They seem to live 3 to 5 years, and only hang near rocks. I call them bulegills, and have since a kid. They are the only Perch in the russian , but can only be caught near rock piles or back slews. You rarely find this kind in lakes, and lake ones wont live in my 10 x 4 pond.
For clarity sake, there are several species of perch like fish living in the Russian River. In addition to the Green sunfish in the picture, there are bluegil, and also the Russian River Tule Perch, or Hysterocarpus traskii pomo. Tule perch inhabit anadromous waterways in Central and the southern end of Northern California. The Russian River variety is only found in the Russian River. I found one floating one day, almost dead at the time. Silver sides with golden/yellowish verticle bars. It was about 7 cm, but I understand they can grow to about 15 cm. They are closely related to ocean surfperch and are the only freshwater species of the surfperch group of fishes. Just FYI……
Hi JD, …..is it a Calico Bass?????
Okay, so i don’t ruin it for the folks still trying to guess, I’m going to post the answer on my Facebook page.
Green Sunfish, scrappy little devils!
warmouth. killer striper bait. they stay alive n fiesty on the hook longer then bluegill
Green sunfish,I think. Got one in my aquarium,he is about 5 years old now!
We’ve always called them Pumkinseeds…..
Yes Sir. Although not as colorful as usual, we call them pumkinseeds in Oregon.
green sunfish!!
My vote goes to Warmouth
Adam is right. It’s a warmouth- cross between a bluegill and rock bass.
croppie
I hate to admit it but I don’t know, Hey I’ve caught a few of these little guys on plastic worms bass fishing and I couldn’t figure out what they were, I was hoping to catch another one and send you a picture to find out what it was. I think a bluegill slipped into the wrong nest and got himself…. a little bass, Looks like a cross between a bluegill and a largemouth.
Beautiful little fish.
This would be a good ol’ blue gill.
Red eared perch?
That would be a green sunfish.
Pumpkinseed…
Pumpkinseed is it, we have them in Michigan.
I think it is a sun fish I’ve cought them as big as 1 lbs in Indiana when I was visiting my grandma in up state Indiana
Warmouth