In my area of northern Indiana, redears commonly hybrize with bluegills, although the bluegills are obviously not coppernose bluegill. It's more common in some natural lakes than others. The offspring are obvious as they do not have an all black operculer tip as it has some orange on the edge.
However I do not know if the offspring are F1's F2's or whatever.
These hybrids don't seem inferior in size to a bluegill.
A biologist tells me hybridization in the wild among some members of the sunfish family is quite common especially if prime bedding areas are limited.
Cecil
