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Originally Posted By: canyoncreek


I also was VERY excited to see one of the kids pull in my very first longear sunfish. 2 years ago I stocked 25 each RES and LES. Not seeing any the next year, I added 25 more RES. It looks like both made it through 2 winters!

I have never seen a long ear in person. The colors seem right (lots of turquoise dots) but the ear isn't that long (maybe immature LES yet?) and do all LES have the orange on the ear tab? I thought the ear tab on LES were all black?





That looks like a hybrid LES/RES.

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I sprayed American Lotus today. Again. Still.

4 acres down, 1/8 acre to go.

I was standing chest deep in waders when I took this pic.



So, any guesses?

Length 26 1/4"
Gape 4 1/2"
Girth 19"
Weight??



AL

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wow AL that is great fish!


Fishing has never been about the fish....

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VERY NICE, AL~!

My guess is 8.75 lb.

Man, that is one healthy looking fish, congrats!

On a Fluke?


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I don't think it will go quite 10 lbs. Maybe 9lbs 11oz.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Well done, Dreamboat! Gotta be pushing 10


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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I'm saying 9.8. Maybe it's just me, but looking at the side profile of the fish, not knowing it's weight, it would be one that I'd cull just by looking at the size of it's head.

But then again I might be putting my foot in my mouth!


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Per Ohio DNR, yes, a LES can have red margins on the tab.
http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-habitats/species-guide-index/fish/longear-sunfish

So I'd be interested on exactly why folks thinking a cross with RES.

And one I just caught w castnet, likely a breeding male, has the barest of white margins on the opercle. Aren't they just beauts?

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Great fish Al! 9.25???


"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"

If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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Thanks guys. First, I DID NOT catch this fish. I was spraying coontail, and kept seeing something sticking out of the water. I finally figured out it was a LMB tail. That's not a good sign. I went and got a net and my wife, and we spent almost 2 hours trying to net her. I would see her upside down on the bottom, but she would swim away. I finally got her netted, but she felt soft in the belly to me. That's another bad sign.

I wanted to see why her stomach was so soft, so I checked. There was nothing there but a tumor/growth of some sort. Her liver was diseased also.

Short story long, she weighed 9.11#, but was 3/4" longer than the TX state record of 18#. RW was 87%. I do know she was in old age decline, but I sure would like to have seen her caught her in her prime.

But, I really try to save these larger fish for guests, so I hope she had been hooked at some point before. Whatever the reason for her demise, she probably gave me 9-10 years of her genetics. That ain't a bad thing at all.

All's well.


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BTW, I talked to Al before I "guessed" the weight of 9.11


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Scott hit it pretty close. 3 oz off, but he hit the cull part right. Even though she was long, she was skinny. Tough decision ensues.

Would you keep her for recreation, or cull her based purely on performance? Even if healthy, she was way under RW when others here near her size aren't.


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What I did at my pond today is watch the fish feeding -- still ravenous -- and put out stakes so the electric company can get us wired up.

One of the spots we'll need juice is for the aeration compressors, and it is HARD TO REACH in the summer with all the bushes, brambles, thorns, etc. Night was falling and we had quite a sweaty time getting there. As for making it back, suffice it to say that's the worst experience I've had in a long time.

Anyway, I measured water temp at 7:30pm, 84 F. My guess 88 or so during the middle of the day.

pH is still lousy, between 5.5 and 5.7. I'm gonna need A LOT of lime, and not just in the pond. Sigh.


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Al, that is a nice fish. I would have kept her for the recreation. She is still a trophy to most everyone I have fished with.

Tracy


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Al, knowing the goals for your pond, and the history, even if she was healthy I would have recommended removing her. She doesn't fit the goals, and the biomass could be used by an upcoming LMB.

It sure would be interesting if you can get her aged.


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I agree with esshup, with your goals in mind and only 87 percent RW you got to take that fish....

It would be kinda like having a 6 year old 130 class 10 point on your land that's full of 4 year old 155 class 10 points... Some just have to be culled..... that's part of it.

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Originally Posted By: DNickolaus
Per Ohio DNR, yes, a LES can have red margins on the tab.
http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/species-and-habitats/species-guide-index/fish/longear-sunfish

So I'd be interested on exactly why folks thinking a cross with RES.

And one I just caught w castnet, likely a breeding male, has the barest of white margins on the opercle. Aren't they just beauts?


Incorrect assumption on my part. I had never seen any pictures of LES with the red on the opercular. Also that there were only two species introduced, RES and LES, so the opportunity was there.


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Originally Posted By: John F
Originally Posted By: canyoncreek


I also was VERY excited to see one of the kids pull in my very first longear sunfish. 2 years ago I stocked 25 each RES and LES. Not seeing any the next year, I added 25 more RES. It looks like both made it through 2 winters!

I have never seen a long ear in person. The colors seem right (lots of turquoise dots) but the ear isn't that long (maybe immature LES yet?) and do all LES have the orange on the ear tab? I thought the ear tab on LES were all black?





That looks like a hybrid LES/RES.



I wondered about hybrid too because the 'long ear' is not very long on this fish. The eyes are very red too. Perhaps this is a pure LES with red on opercular tab, red eyes and a mini-opercular tab rather than a big one. The LES posted above has the longer long-ear sized tab.

Also the chest/abdomen of this LES is very golden, more like the ones on my RES. A true LES usually has that beautiful color pattern all over the chest and abdomen too like in the picture just above this post?

The size and stocking date of these fish suggest that they have not spawned yet which also makes me wonder if no hybridization happened yet, why this one doesn't look like the 'typical' LES. However, northern pond growth characteristics may be different and I don't know the true genetic source of the 1.5" long LES I bought from Brian Zimmerman (meaning did they come from a southern source?)


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On my pond this morning I watched something very amusing. It was only about 5 minutes before the first morning feeder went off so thousands of cnbg were ganged up and ready to eat....when a small moth about an inch long touched down on the water. A fish struck at it but missed and she flew off but only a couple inches off the surface and touching the water ever so often. It was almost as if it was toying with the fish!! It made about 3 circles around in the pond with what looked like something out of a JAWS movie following right on its tail wakeing and popping at it the whole time. It was hilarious!! Then it flew to shore and never saw it again but I can almost see it sticking its tongue out at the fish as it left. Smart or lucky? You make the call.


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Originally Posted By: FireIsHot
Thanks guys. First, I DID NOT catch this fish. I was spraying coontail, and kept seeing something sticking out of the water. I finally figured out it was a LMB tail. That's not a good sign. I went and got a net and my wife, and we spent almost 2 hours trying to net her. I would see her upside down on the bottom, but she would swim away. I finally got her netted, but she felt soft in the belly to me. That's another bad sign.

I wanted to see why her stomach was so soft, so I checked. There was nothing there but a tumor/growth of some sort. Her liver was diseased also.

Short story long, she weighed 9.11#, but was 3/4" longer than the TX state record of 18#. RW was 87%. I do know she was in old age decline, but I sure would like to have seen her caught her in her prime.

But, I really try to save these larger fish for guests, so I hope she had been hooked at some point before. Whatever the reason for her demise, she probably gave me 9-10 years of her genetics. That ain't a bad thing at all.

All's well.


This is the only scenario I can imagine being happy culling a trophy fish - you caught her on the definite decline and it's an easy call. Sorry to see her go, but there's more BG to feed the up and comers for sure. Fillets or the garden?


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TJ, I actually froze her. I talked to DD1 about her, and he had some great suggestions. Yeah I know, right?

I'm gonna try to get the otolith out, and get Texas A&M to age her and do a stomach eval.

If she had been healthy, even though underweight, I most likely would have put her back. I've culled underweight LMB up to 5-6# before, and it's awfully hard to do. Not sure I'm mentally tough enough to do what's needed to get those few large fish over the top.


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I hear you dude...I personally have a glaring deficiency in pond management - harvesting apex predators. My family isn't crazy about eating fish, and while I know I'm HSB heavy right now, hard to bring myself to pull any 20"+ fish.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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Panko bread crumbs and small nugget pieces pan fried, deep fried, or baked if you are more health conscious. Panko gives it some crunch. Add in a little flavoring if you like (we like 1/4 cajun fish mix seasoning with the Panko).

Fish has always been fairly low on my preferred list also TJ, but I'm telling you, fixed right, it is good eating.


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I fished the pond out of a boat for the first time yesterday. Surface water temp was 90 and a little lower around the diffusers but still pretty warm. Fly fishing for 21 month old cnbg. I mostly fished away from the 3 TH feeders because I was looking to see where else they might be hanging out. I had few bites unless I got close to the area where the feeders are. So, I am fishing with little luck and up pops a Beaver, right beside me. She dives under and pops up again maybe 50 yds away an then goes under again, never to be seen again. Where did that dadgum thing go? There are no visible signs of nesting spots in or around the pond. We did see a beaver about this same time last year, and only saw the thing once. I think the bayou some 300 yds away is very shallow right now with only pools of water, so she is coming from there, I have seen them there in the past. Two things came out of this fishing adventure, one was if you want to catch cnbg, fish the feeder area and two, carry the riffle next time.

Tracy


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Tracy, last few beavers we had never hutted up. They came in and out from the old creek bed behind the dam, and I just follow the trails in the grass to see where they're coming in.

Esshup got me schooled on wire snares, and I've never looked back. Lead and snares are my go to tools now. I have only had one in the last year, but I've still got older trees wrapped in welded wire from damage several years ago.


AL

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