Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Sunfish vs Pumpkinseed vs Blue Gill

I agree fully with CJ. Both links for sunfish ID are quite good. As noted by CJ - Beware that using coloration of sufish alone is very tenuous or risky for positive identification. Note that the first Sunfish ID link depends little on fish coloration for identification. Color of sunfish can change dramatically with primarily habitat type, maturity, and spawning season plus a few others. Hybrid sunfish can sometimes be commmon occurrences especially since hybrid sunfish are commonly stocked in ponds/lakes. Cross breeding of these introduced hybrids with other BG, GSF, or RES makes positive identification sometimes difficult in a pond or lake. Note the two bluegill are both males shown in the Tennessee link above. Female BG normally have a slightly or noticably different coloration depending on several factors.