Pond Boss Forums PHOTO GALLERY Image Gallery Male BG

Caught this nice BG. I am trying to learn the BG sex, and believe this a male. Could someone confirm, and tell me what they see that helps identity?

The picture is fuzzy. A clearer picture would help. The large dark rectangular shaped gill flap indicates it is very likely a male. A better closer picture would help verify sex.

I took it with my phone, and didn't realize it come out funny. I was trying to get it back in the water as quick as I could. Thanks for the reply. I catch some with lots of yellow on them too. Do brighter colors indicate a male in most cases?

Thanks Bill, for a minute I thought my eyes were going bad.

Larger opercular (ear) tabs, black tipping on their shoulder scales, sometimes color. Look in the archives for the sunfish primer thread. There's good pictures there.

Spinbait - If you get a chance replace your bluegill photo with a better one, which means you need to go fishing again - darn!
The yellow color on bluegill will only be in the breast area of the females. The exception occurs on some well colored coppernose bluegill will have some yellow on the fins as in the large one a male on the Sunfish Primer (note the scale tipping on the forehead-nape). Yellow on the hybrids will also be on the fins. Breast area of the near spawn male bluegill is other than yellow; often darker shades of red, rust sometimes mixed or blended with dark gray or similar. Water color can affect dramatically hues and intensity of color for the mature bluegills. The more murky the water the more subdued the colors. In clear and clear dark stained water the colors are very dark almost black as in the BG from Richmond Mill Lake. See below for info on males with subdued color.
Also see this thread for some colors of male and female bluegill:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post157197

Compare the color of the male bluegill first picture in the Sunfish primer - subdued colors where the commonly occurring vertical bands are not even apparent. These fish came from different water color and possibly they were in different spawning phase. The bluegill of Spinnerbait is more like the 1st picture in the Sunfish Primer.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92482#Post92482

For male BG with subdued colors the key features to use are size and shape of the dark gill flap and the scale tipping on the forehead (nape) as visible on the one in the Sunfish Primer.

Here is another I caught, I assume a male.

Spinbait - your 2nd picture did not show up.