Sexing Redear Sunfish

[Jeff Soto]

OK... Telling the difference between male and female Bluegill is fairly easy during their spawning time because of their obvious color differences, and during their non-breeding times you can usually separate the mature male and female fish by the larger size of their black gill cover "ear"  tabs that the males develop as they grow bigger.

My question is...  Like the Bluegill, do large male Redears also get the larger gill cover tab (theirs having a red/orange edge) than the female RE?  During the spawning season of the RE, it's easy to tell the males from the females because they get a very dark, almost black breast, while the females get bright yellow.  During the winter,  most Redear  just look kind of silvery, so it's hard to tell the sexes apart by their color.  Anyone know about the gill cover sexing with Redears, or any other way to tell the boys from the girls?

[Tony Livingston]

Sexing redear is tough...although, as you stated, it's easier during the spawn. I look at the color of the breast, males can be almost black during spawning time, while they usually are a mild shade of orange all the rest of the year, while females are more yellow in the breast area.

Males also have a brighter "red" trim on their opercular flap, while the females will have more of an orange border, or nearly no color at all. You're right though, the colors do wash out in the winter.

[Troy Dorman]

I'm a redear fisherman almost exclusively and if it's not the spawning time of year, it's definitely tough to identify the sex. During the spawn it's fairly obvious as your male redear get very dark, some almost get blackish in appearance with a very pronounced red tab. This red tab becomes bright red during the spawn and then gets a little less noticable the rest of the year.

 

Spawning female redear are the stuff dreams are made of because catching a large one is a real treat. It's also the best chance IMO to catch a wall hanger because they become so gravid.  The female red tab is also more of an orange and definitely less noticable than their male counterparts.

 

As a HARDCORE redear fisherman this is an interesting topic and one dear to my heart. My goal is to catch a 1.8-2.0lb redear and have it mounted. I've always felt that it would probably be an extremely gravid female that would do the trick. It seems like the females get larger in the lakes I fish and I attribute much of that to the males being plucked off of their nests when they're typically in the 9-10inch range. I have caught females pushing 12inches this past year but they weighed about 1.4lbs, not quite wall hanging material but dandies none the less.

[federico del toro]

I'm also a big redear fan, I fish in the san antonio area and started fishing for these fish in the summer.

2 weeks ago caught my biggest, a 12.5 red ear that weighted 1.8. I was curious to know if it was a male or female, but by what I've read on these thread is hard to tell in the winter in the winter

here is a picture

[Tony Livingston]

That's an awesome fish for sure! Unfortunately, it's just not clear enough for me to tell anything conclusive. If I were to guess, based on what detail I can see, I would call it a female.... However, that is by no means definitive. Perhaps someone with better eyes than myself will weigh in with their verdict. Still a nice catch, are their any other pics of it?

[Bruce Condello]

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/male-top-and-female-bottom?context=user

Had you seen this photo I posted?

[Tony Livingston]

Those are beauties!  An excellent illustration of the differences between the two sexes, especially prevalent during the spawn.

Are there any pics here comparing males and females in the winter? I'm pretty sure I don't have any, but I'll check.

[Troy Dorman]

Man, what a fish and that's definitely wall hanger material IMO. I must say it looks like it weighs well over the stated 1.8lbs...looks like a solid 2lber to my eyes. I'm kind of leaning towards it being a male but it certainly has a washed out look that's typical of not only redear but bluegill too in the colder months.

 

If it's a female, the size of that thing would be enormous come April when it's very gravid. Great fish!

[federico del toro]

I found a clearer picture and by looking at Bruce's pictures I think is female

[Tony Livingston]

I agree, great catch!