Need a little help here. Stocked 150 RES into our 1 ac pond in April of 2015. We’ve caught very few through the years. However this year we have been catching many RES/HBG crosses. They all seem to have a much larger mouth than what I’ve seen for normal RES.
Last weekend we caught 50 like this one pictured. Because they were feeding so aggressively I’m assuming they are still a mixture of RES and HBG, but I’m not sure. They have the smaller mouth. So, what are your thoughts on this one pictured? Cross or RES? What can I look for to determine if it’s 100% RES? This would not have been from this years hatch would it?
Thanks,
Jeff

Not seeing a pic, SG.. try a different format maybe?

EDIT: disregard, it's there now..
EDIT 2: It's gone again when I went back to look, maybe it's my puter..

Looks like straight redear sunfish. F1 hybrids involving green sunfish will have the wavy lines on operculum and comparatively shorter dorsal spines. Pure redear will have the larger more angular tail that is uniformly dark. Hybrids will have comparatively rounder tail like green and often have colored trim on vertical fins.

Let's compare..

I believe these are both pure strain RES Males..

Thanks! This year’s hatch or last years?

I would say last year's..

Might be photobucket maximizing profit. They've been sending me threatening emails for a few weeks.

NOTE: Autocorrect changed a misspelling of "They've" into "Thievery". Interesting.

BTW SG, that's a beautiful photo! Well colored with fins extended, tail profiled and all.. Mine- Not so much.. Loaner phone step back 2 steps while my last phone is being dissected by IT to recover data. Very good pic.

Thanks Snipe. We went from seeing very few RES to catching them all day long Saturday and Sunday. Some were obvious hybrids, most were like the one pictured. (In the first post of this thread)

FYI, photobucket still charges me $2.99 a month for services. It’s been that way for a few years.

This was an interesting cross. Not sure what’s here. Son in law put it on the stringer. We mostly kept YP and original HBG stockers. (See if photobucket plays around with this pic)

I'd say it's very likely a GSF cross and looks like a male with the dark blotching.

First pic is a RES - agree with Jim. Also long pect fin is a RES trait. Hybrids have shorter rounder fin. Could also look at gill rakers. See RES below.

Last fish is a HBG IMO.

Thx. This last HBG is definitely a lot different in coloration than the rest of our HBG. But I guess you would expect that they would vary. I suspect he’s from the first year hatch. The original stockers are much larger than this one.
Thanks again

Nice RES. This years spawn likely would not be over a couple inches long right now.

More than you ever wanted to know about RES here. RES info and links to other threads

Must be something in that Missouri water, Quarter Acre had circus fish.....
Just kidding, I’ll take some just like that.

One last pic, and I already posted it on the “what did you do at your pond today” thread. But, I’m pretty pumped about this SMB. 17” and we are seeing lots of others working the shore. Which leads to the question. When do you harvest SMB? At what size, or at what age? This one was stocked in October of 2015 at 4-8”. We’ve caught one smaller fish last year, so I know I’ve had some recruitment. We did release this one right away.

That's quite a crew you have supporting compliment to the smallmouth!

Thank you! They’re a good bunch. The SMB makes me happy also.

I would have expected "yes, it makes me happy, and so does the family"..
:-))

SG, If I can get a SMB to that size in my 1/2ac play pen, I'll be beside myself, and happy..Probably expect an award of some sort!
Edit: and.. beings a gent here was my drive to go the route I did, we can name the award the "Dr.Cody Award of SMB accomplishment"!
Actually, if I remember correctly, ewest was a contributor as well, so we'll figure out how to make the plaque.. :-))

I’ve received so much great advice here. I think I’ve driven some of the more knowledgeable guys here crazy with my worries, and my dumb questions. The amazing part is, this was a trash filled ravine a little over five years ago. It sure goes fast. I had one grandchild when we started this project (he’s not pictured) now we’ve got six!