Do you love big bluegill?

"Hand-Painted Bluegill"

Couple more photos of that special colored Bluegill from the lower Appalachicola River or the lower Chipola River in the Florida panhandle close to the Dead Lakes. What a great looking fish!

Rating:

Currently 5/5 stars.
1
2
3
4
5

View Full Size

Tags:
Favorite of 1 person

Comment

You need to be a member of Bluegill - Big Bluegill to add comments!

Join Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Comment by Greg McWilliams on February 7, 2012 at 7:35pm: Jeff, Those are just ABSOLUTLY BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Comment by dink dailey on February 6, 2012 at 7:16pm: that is cool looking

Comment by Jeff Soto on February 4, 2012 at 1:20pm: No Dick, it's not a hybrid. It's a subspecies of Bluegill found only in a Florida panhandle waterway. Just like Florida "Coppernose" is a purebred fish, so are these "Hand-painted".

Comment by dick tabbert on February 4, 2012 at 12:27pm: Unique looking fish. I like the reds and the black bars are something else I'm guessing some kind of hybrid.

Comment by Jeff Soto on February 4, 2012 at 11:04am: Back in the mid 1970s when the state of California worked with Florida in shipping several thousand baby Florida Bluegill to the new Lake Perris, I wonder what studies were made beforehand, other than Calif and FL have similar climates. The coppernose sure have kept their coloring, in fact I think some individuals have become even prettier than they were in their normal habitat, in the 35 plus years since being introduced into the western lake. Now they are in several southern Calif lakes.

Comment by Tony Livingston on February 4, 2012 at 10:42am: Hmmm... I think I'm involved in a similar conversation on two websites at once...

Comment by Bruce Condello on February 4, 2012 at 10:32am: They would definitely keep their coloring. The trick would be introducing them to waters that are consistent with their biological needs.

Comment by Jeff Soto on February 4, 2012 at 10:28am: I wonder Bruce, if you were to take some of these special Bluegill fry and transplant them into another lake, in another state, would the fish lose their beautiful unique coloring, and end up looking like "normal" Bluegill? It would be wonderful if these fish could be raised and moved to different states, like the coppernose has been.