Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations An odd fish....what could it be ?

I have no pictures as cell phone did not save them, sorry.

This fish was about 7" long, had the distinctive checkerboard pattern along its side of a Redear Sunfish (I stocked approx 100 1-3" fish in Oct 2007), but the slender body shape of Green Sunfish. Also, the fins near the tail had some white/yellow outline to them.

What struck me as odd was the size of the mouth on this short fish. You could fit almost both thumbs in its mouth.

It was cought on a 6" motor oil/chartruese plastic worm (full size bass hook).

Will GSF and RES cross breed ? Could this cross breed get this big in less than a year?

I dug the pond in Mar 2006 and it gets no runoff water, only well water.

My son-in-law caught this fish. He sent me a link to a picture of a warmouth that looked a lot like this fish.

The one he caught has blood red eyes, just like the picture. Could I have warmouths even though I did not stock any ?

Thanks, Darryl.

A pic would have helped alot.
If you didn't check every 1-3" RE you put in the pond it's very possible there could have been one or more of something else that slipped unnoticed into the water.
I put in 400 & checked every one. With some it was very dificult to see the red on their ear flap. I tossed prob. a dozen that were most likely REs but I wasn't positive.
Did this fish have a red ear?

With a large mouth compared to the body size it sounds like it would have been either Warmouth or GSF. Both of these species have a mouth that is much more bass-like than sunfish like. GSF do have pronounced yellow fin outlines that runs along the outer edge of greenish fins. The iridicent green markings that radiate back from the mouth are usually easy to spot on a GSF. The checkboard patterns sounds more like a warmouth - from the photos that I have seen of WM it seems like you could describe their markings as checkboard. GSF appear kinda bluegreen overall, where it seems to me (once again only from photos) warmouth seem more yellow overall. I'm thinking you have warmouth.

GW is our resident WM expert. Let's see what he has to say.

I know that GSF and BG can be hydridized. I don't have a clue about GSF/RES cross?

Ewest? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?

I hope to God it wasn't one of those green sunfish!

Uh oh! I'm going to get it now!

Oh yeah it happens. I also saw a report somewhere were a state agency thought they were planting redears and they turned out to be pumpkinseeds!

45 degrees 29 minutes 31.04 seconds north
87 degrees 41 minutes 04.56 seconds west

45 degrees 29 minutes 31.08 seconds north
87 degrees 41 minutes 04.59 seconds west

45 degrees 29 minutes 31.11 seconds north
87 degrees 41 minutes 04.61 seconds west

Dang it Cecil, stop walking around! I'm having one heck of a time getting a GPS lock on you.

wait til he's sleeping JHAP.