Need help with Sunfish I.D.

[Ben Seay]

Is this a Redear or a Pumpkinseed? I caught this out of the Suwannee River in Fargo, GA

[John Sheehan]

Wow what a dark fish!! Hard to tell .I'll guess and say Pseed .

[Vince Fusco]

Cool looking black water fish. Looking at the pic, I think I see a small lighter spot on his gill flap, so I would say it may be a 'shellcracker or redear.  

[Jason Preslar]

Spotted sunfish......I think

[Shannon DeVine]

I agree with jason.  We have something similar here in TX.  They call them red spotted, or just spotted.  They only grow to about 6 inches, and live mostly under edges such as banks or undercuts.  They call them "stumpknockers", apparently they would respond to the bait hitting the stump under which they were hiding.  They get deep red-purple-pink spots on their sides during breeding.

[Ben Seay]

Thanks everyone. After some research I concur that this fish is most likely a Spotted Sunfish because the side pectoral fin is rounded. On a Redear and a Pumpkinseed this fin is pointed at a sharp angle. The red spot on the gill flap might be an anomaly or it could be a speck of blood. Unfortunately I hooked this fish near the left eye and there was a bit of blood involved.

 

I seem to catch a lot of fish that do not have normal colorizations. If anyone is interested, then I will post some others that I have caught.

[John Sheehan]

Interesting and I was wrong again lol! Is this a river fish or Lake Fish ?

[Ben Seay]

Slow moving, weedy streams and rivers. The species range is NC, SC, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. The National Audubon Society fish field guide has a terrible picture example of this fish, which is one reason I never considered it. The Freshwater Fish of Georgia field guide has a much better example and explains shape of the pectoral fin. 

[John Sheehan]

Thanks for the info!