I posted this here because I'm hoping to get a quick confirmation before I stock this fish into a pond. It's in a bucket for now...
(click)
I'm not even qualified to be called an amateur i.d.'er, but a longear sunfish maybe??
I could be way off...it just looks too long and slender to be a BG, and it certainly doesn't appear to be a RES.
I don't think it's a greenie.
It does have rather large eyes/head compared to body. Whatever it is, could it be stunted?
I would say warmouth, according to my "Fishes of Missouri" book.
For a Warmouth the back of the mouth should extend past the eye. This one doesn't but it is a small specimen. They also have lines radiating from the eye, which this one does.
If you can check the tongue to see if it has teeth. If it does then it is most likely a warmouth.
I hauled it back from the creek because I thought it was a Warmouth too. I looked more closely when I got to the pond (Mr H's) and the mouth did seem too small.
Spotted Sunfish are in my area and I'm thinking that's what this is.
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Lepomis%20punctatus
FWIW, I'd say your spot on, GW.
It looks a lot like a spot.
But possibly not. That's what I thought.
This came out of the creek that crosses our place. Recently I've caught a Redbreast Sunfish and a Spotted Bullhead, which is pretty rare I think.
Any pix of the spotted bullhead? I've never even heard of those.
To be honest the one I caught didn't look exactly like the images I've found online. For lack of a better term the images I found look mottled and the one I caught had distinct spots. I couldn't find anything else even close though.
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Ameiurus%20serracanthus
Oh, and I forgot to mention that while I was fishing from the steep bank of the creek I noticed an odd sound that I couldn't place. Eventually I realized what it was when the Eastern Diamond Back that was no more than 4 feet down the bank kind of rolled slightly and crawled away. I guess it was in an awkward position so it had to expose it's belly slightly to get some traction. It was only between 3 and 4 feet long, but it sure was thick! I moved on down the bank and kept Flog Ear Dog close to me.
