Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations red eyed sunfish??

i have caught numerous bg this spring in my pond that have really red eyes. is this common? all of them are about 5" long, they seem to be a lighter color than my larger bg, and have very pronounced dark vertical bars. i'll try and get a pic of the next one. i have stocked from a couple different suppliers, just curious if it is a cnbg or not?

I don't recall ever seeing a northern BG with red eyes, but I do regularly see CNBG and fish with a percentage of CNBG genetics with red eyes.



Rock bass are also known as redeyes as they usually have bright red eyes.

For some reason that's more common in southern areas even with the non CNBG strains. Could be like CJ says perhaps they are CNBG intergrades? Keep in mind too that many fish suppliers even in the north get their stock from southern sources as in the big fish farms in Arkansas.

Not without a lot of permits on both ends can they ship north.

Three fish farms in Wisconsin were charged, indited, and lost at trial for not having proper permits to import fish from Arkansas and other states.

Now they are pretty much screwed because they are being monitored and the six figure fines would make a sunny day, well, not look sunny!

I can just imagine the paperwork that Rainman has to deal with to move fish around as much as he does.

what paper work??????

You need a $150 permit just to drive through Kentucky with fish!!! I like Indiana...all the permits are free. I just have to send in quarterly reports for grass carp, even if none were delivered.

JKB,

That's interesting and it doesn't surprise me. But it wouldn't surprise me if those permits were drafted up as reprisal to those states, as the baitfish industry down there allegedly was instrumental in getting VHS on the front burner. Any possibility of a link to that story?

Sadly paperwork, permits, a paper trail etc. are nothing new. I've been dealing with that for years when I was fish procurement officer of a trout association, and of course when bringing in fish for my use. The biggest problem is all the darn states are different and as much as folks have tried, will not come up with the similar regs to simplify things. And some of the testing in downright silly IMHO and of course can be cost prohibitive. In New York fish have to be tested for diseases they aren't susceptible to! And once VHS raised it's ugly head, it got more complicated and expensive to move fish from any Great Lakes state.

If anyone is interested here is a link to some state regs for moving fish in the north central states.

http://www.ncrac.org/roadmap/regulations.html

I am willing to bet the vast majority if not all of the disease transmissions are via bait bucket releases, live well transfers, and the average "Joe" moving stuff around, not professional fish farmers. Not much the state can do to control that... Almost impossible to do with the lack of man power, so they make laws that make the law abiding people's lives miserable and affect businessmen greatly.

BINGO!

What's really sad is when I bring up VHS to anglers that come into my shop most have never heard of it. Someone's doing a piss poor job educating anglers.

To date NOT ONE farm has come up positive for VHS and probably won't unless they are dumb enough to collect broodfish from the wild and not have them tested before hand. But yet we were the first entity to be restricted, penalized, and charged to death when the virus became known.

The thinking now is VHS may have already been here for some time and the fish that didn't die from it have developed an immunity. So much for the end of the world as we know it which is the way the feds were treating it. Apparently the feds fast tracked out of Microbiology 101 when it was offered.

DOJ Document:

http://www.justice.gov/usao/wiw/Press/Ja...20Sentenced.pdf

"Between January 4, 2007, and continuing until May 14, 2007, Gollon Brothers transported and received bait fish including white suckers, shiners, and fathead minnows, having a market value of $586,621.75, from companies in Minnesota and Arkansas"

Jeez, just how many fish did they move in 5 1/2 months?????

In the south CNBG tend to have red eyes because they are up late partying!

Especially those living near Miami...

maybe some of my beer cans are rolling in the water and some of those juveniles are doing a little sippin?