Coppernose ????

[Long Creek Arkie]

All right guys I need your opinion, are they Coppernose ? I tried to count bones in the anal fin and at least one picture you can see what I think are twelve. Tony Livingston here's  more pictures, I caught 16 today and they all looked the same to me. Please give me your expert opinion.

[Long Creek Arkie]

More pics

[John Sheehan]

Looks like you have caught Green Sunfish there .The middle one(IMG.7839) is a Bluegill.

[Long Creek Arkie]

Thank You John, I appreciate your input.

[John Sheehan]

LCA-Thanks for posting the nice pics of Greens .I've only caught two in my life here in NJ .They are considered invasive here. I like their big mouths and aggressive attitude .  .

[Leo Nguyen]

Best to keep the population low to maximize the growth size. It's fun to catch them as much as you can, but quality is definitely better than quantity. Overpollulation will stunt their growth. But mass culling for meals will definitely stop that issue. I can eat 20 to 30 per meals.

[Tony Livingston]

I see Green Sunfish, Green Sunfish hybrids of some sort, and John's right, a lone BG in #7839.

[Long Creek Arkie]

Thank You Tony, I appreciate your input.

[carl hendrix]

FOR MY INPUT HERE;; YEA;; THE GREENIES;; ARE FUN TO CATCH;; ALSO;; REAL GOOD EATING !!   IN MY AREA HERE;; WE HAVE BUNCHES OF GREENIES;; SOME GUYS USE THEM FOR BAIT;; FOR FISHING FOR BIG HYBIRD STRIPE;; AS FOR ME;; IF THE GREENIE IS BIG ENOUGH;;  ITS FILLETED !!

[carl hendrix]

JUST FOR THOUGHT HERE;; AND ( MUSIC MAN ) JOHN;;  IS QUITE CORRECT;;  TONY;; IS A WALKING BIO KING WHEN IT COMES TO RAISING BLUE GILLS !!  IN MY OWN OPPINION;; TONY HAS FORGOT MORE; ABOUT BLUE GILLS;; THAN MOST OF US KNOW !

[Long Creek Arkie]

Thank You Carl. Well Tony how about it, what should I do ?

[Leo Nguyen]

I'm still scratching my head on this. There are quite a few specialists both here and at pondboss.com as well. Tony is one of those specialists. I'm just working in tandem with pondmeisters and am still learning the genetic blending. It's crazy.

As Tony and John pointed out, #7839 is a definitely green sunfish.

#1267 has a genetic markers of a green sunfish, and crossovers with other sunfishes. Careful of those black dots, which are neasci (Neascus). Mouth, breast, and tail are off. Can't really pin point. Photo is a tad lack on details on the dorsal fins to bring a bit more details into light.

#1756 looks like a pumpseed mixed with the green sunfish (uniqueness of the dorsal, tail, anal fins). Green sunfish genetic markers definitely take dominant.

Since Tony is a pro at the green sunfish and hybrid variants, #2604, #2639, and #9077 are his speciality. None are coppernose. Coppernose is quite abundant in our waters here in California. Sonny (aka Ledhead) is known for the fantastic captures of the huge coppernoses (http://bigbluegill.com/photo/010-12?commentId=2036984%3AComment%3A4...).

[Tony Livingston]

Well, if it were me, I would want to know exactly where the Greenies came from. It's certainly possible they came from the hatchery, but most folks would be astounded to learn just how easy it is to move fish from one body of water to another. And green sunfish are masters at it. Is there a creek, spring, drainage ditch that empties into your pond, even one that goes dry at certain times of the year? How about another body of water in your watershed, that might have overflowed into your pond during a hard rain... any neighbors have ponds?

Green sunfish have actually been documented jumping UP into a spillpipe, and attempting to swim upstream to a pond. They are resilient!

My point is, it's possible to kill off a pond and start over, but it's pointless if there's always going to be greenies getting in somewhere, AND their presence detracts from your goals. If you don't mind them, you can still have a very nice pond with some appropriate, additional stocking.