do sunfish mix?

[federico del toro]

I've been catching nice size bluegills at my lake the look to be the coppernose strain most of them in the 9" range

I also catch fish like on the second picture, they look to be a mix between a red ear and a bluegill their tail is shorter from the anal fin to the end than a redear of the same size there is also a hint of color on the ear but is not red is copper

There is also fish like on the second picture that look to be a mix between a readbreast and a blue gill, the ear is not as long as the readbreast but longer than a bluegill. also the tail is shorter from the anal fin to the end  than on a redbreast ,coloration is also close to a redbreast

What do you guys think how would you classify this fish

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

How would I classify them? Pretty nice fish, whatever their lineage.

[Leo Nguyen]

Hm..odd stacked hybrids in the water, nice stacks on my platter.

[Tony Livingston]

Oh yeah,  lepomids will most definitely cross with each other. A shortage of the correct spawning partners, and low visibility are the two reasons most often cited for the occurence of natural hybridization.

Your first photo doesn't look much different than the northern BG I see up here, but I haven't had much experience with photos of coppernose bluegills in the winter, so it very well could be a CNBG.

I think the second photo looks like a redear x bluegill cross.

Your third photo is quite interesting to me, as it's colored similar to a "traditional" HBG, but the elongated opercular flap is reminiscent of a longear sunfish. Do I see faint vertical stripes up near the shoulders? Curious..........

[Walt Foreman]

The second one is definitely a redear-bluegill cross.  And I agree with the assessment that the third one is a redbreast-bluegill cross.  The first one doesn't look like a pure-strain coppernose to me - maybe part coppernose, part northern-strain?  Just my guess.

[federico del toro]

I know, they are good looking fish, we where debating this because the lake record is a 9" bluegill at less than a pound,  the last 2 fish measured at 10.5 and would have gone over a pound, but I decided not to enter them because I wasn't sure if they would be classified as bluegill

Interesting coloring on both of them but I think they are both hybrids

the third one did have vertical stripes on it and they where more visible in person

[Leo Nguyen]

You got beautiful sized hybrids. Should enter them anytime you know they are larger than the last know sizes for hybrids..or not. Never know when hit a lucky streak.

[federico del toro]

here are a couple of pictures from redear and redbreast from the same lake you can see some of the differences I'm talking about

Interesting nonetheless

[cal okeefe]

really nice.. giants