Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Orange Spotted Sunfish

I was thinking it would be interesting to try putting some Orange spotted sunfish in my garden pond. Anyone know where to get them?

FYI, everyone:
Lepomis humilis

Robbor what area of the country are you located in, in other words "where you at?" That might help folks recommend a supplier.

Cool looking fish. I can't find Ewest's Sunfish family tree chart (probably not the scientific name for it). Next time I find it I have got to save that darn thing.

The fish above seems to have a large mouth like a GSF or WM. I'm curious to see what it is related to.

I know you can find them in Southeast texas. No farther West then Athens. You can find them up the East coast. These fish dont get very big.

You could try the NANFA site here:

http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php?&&&CODE=00

Im just north of los angeles Ca, basically its a giant dead zone for this kind of stuff. I did see they only get 6-8". Ive got 11 bluegill now that are only 3-4" so im not worried about size.

I see the OSS is the BG's closest relative:

P.S. Just keep calling it the Sunfish Family Tree. If you refer to it as the Phylogeny of Centrarchids, I'll never know what to look for.

Here is an OSS from the PB slideshow.

Sunfish Family Tree it is. (I can't even spell that other thing).

I shocked 10s of 1,000s of those in oxbow lakes in mississippi, somtimes as many as 500 in a 15 minute shock run. I never saw one over 4 inches. They are extremely tolerant of low DO and "dirty water" in general, which was probably one of the reasons they were so dominant in those 2 foot deep, extremely nutrient rich lakes.

Just because of that smaller maximum size, I added OSS to a 7-acre pond with overly abundant smallmouth bass. I really could not see an effect of the sunfish as an additional prey species in terms of improvements in the smallmouths. However, the OSS persist in the pond, and undoubtedly provide prey. Last spring, I caught a male smallmouth of about 18 inches from that pond, and when I released him, he spit up three OSS. It was June, and I wonder if the OSS were spawning and more vulnernable than usual.

Thanks all , some good info here. I saw max length listed as 7-8" but hearing your experiences it seems that its almost on the unrealistic side of the curve. I did see somewhere that they are supposed to be less aggressive than bluegill when crowded. I still think it would be interesting to have a few. Im wondering if their smaller overall size means they will grow to fingerling size(1-2") slower than a bluegill? I did also see somewhere else about them withstanding poorer water quality/DO, it kind of makes me think that they would possibly be a good forage that could be raised crowded and with limited resources(to much heat/no aeration)? It looks also like they might also cross breed with bluegill given the above family tree?
Anybody know of a online fish farm that sells them or other source?

Are these present in Oklahoma?

I do not think I have even seen one, let alone catch one.

thanks

Yes, I just checked the "Atlas of North American Fishes" and they appear to be in every drainage in Oklahoma.

Has anyone caught one of these if so what is the best bait to use?

How big do these get?

I've caught them using really small hooks and either a peice of corn or a small worm. Either with a small bobber or just a sinker about 4-5 inches above the hook.

We have caught some out of local ponds around here using a cast net.

What part of OK are you in?

Central, about 30 mins NW of OKC

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92482#Post92482

ORANGE SPOTTED SUNFISH
Lepomis humilis




OSS discussion thread

Ewest, thank you for the pictures. They looked very similar to the last picture, the one in the water. But they were not near that big. 1-3"

http://www.sugarcreekfishery.com/
http://www.sugarcreekfishery.com/fishindex

The above website lists them for sale on there website.

I bought some from Zimmerman Fish out of OH. He ships them as well as several other species of sunfish. All species I've gotten from him have been excellent. I've gotten lonears, red spotted, orangespotted and dollar sunfish. Gonna get a couple new species this fall when he has the most stock and varieties.