Bruiser Gills.

[Alphahawk]

Went with my son today to a private lake. It was supposed to be full of huge bass...and it may be but the water was so hot I think the fish were just shut down. I did manage about 10 of these huge Gills.....they are supposed to be Copper Nose but I am not sure....they may be hybrids....but the owner says no hybrids were stocked. I do know this...they were all a pound or a little better and I lipped all of them...LOL.


Regards

[Reel Tune]

Nice, looks like a sunfish/redear mix to me.

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by MidTNKayakAngler

Nice, looks like a sunfish/redear mix to me.

Thats what I was thinking...but did not want to bother my friend at TWRA again about fish ID. They were a lot of fun though. They were all on the bottom in about 8 feet of water. I had to really fish the Trout Magnet slow...just creeping on the bottom.

Regards

[Travis C.]

I checked with someone on Mike's forum who can ID anything that swims.

He said, "Bluegill x green, probably the most common hybrid sunfish out there. The fish both have the large mouth, yellow median fin margins, blue cheek lines, and red/clear/white earflap margins of greens, and the overall body shape (deeper and not elongate), tire-track vertical bars, and pointier pectoral fins of bluegill."

Also just noticed he registered for the forum.. Thanks for the info and welcome!

[jaystaler88]

I've heard that hybrids like that do not reproduce, and will only live 3-5 years. Anybody heard anything like that?

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by jaystaler88

I've heard that hybrids like that do not reproduce, and will only live 3-5 years. Anybody heard anything like that?

First I am not sure those are the true hybrids that was all the rage many years back. The owner did not stock hybrids. I think it is a cross between two different species of sun fish...but I am not sure. I owned a small lake around 30 years ago and put hybrids in it. They grew quite large and were very aggressive. It is a myth that hybrids will not breed. How that got started is they tried to give you only one sex of a hybrid when stocking your lake. But that proved to be hard to do. It only took a few to breed and you got what is known as an F2....Green Sunfish. It don't take long for Green Sunfish to overtake a lake. In more recent years folks have started stocking Copper Nose Gills....so they can get a large gill without getting a pond or lake full of Green Sunfish.

Regards

Great pics and nice job!

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by Tennesseejugger

Great pics and nice job!

Thanks. It was hot on that lake....it was down in a hollow and hardly any wind. Plus trying to figure out how hybrid Gills got in there. Will hit it again in the Fall...when the water temps drop.......as the water there was almost just plain hot.


Regards

[StriperFan]

Definetly looks like there is some green sunfish in the mix. As to the hybrid thing, a true hybrid cant reproduce, mules and wipers for instance. But sunfish are like dogs, they look different but are genetically similar enough to interbreed, and keep breeding. Basically they are more like different varieties of the same species. I don't know where the line gets drawn here. Now I have more questions than answers. Two totally different species should make a hybrid that does not reproduce, but with sunfish....Who has a PHD in biology, I'm confused.

[nomad60]

Those are some nice gills, Alpha!

And the more I read, the more confused I get...so does that mean Hybrid bass don't reproduce?

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by StriperFan

Definetly looks like there is some green sunfish in the mix. As to the hybrid thing, a true hybrid cant reproduce, mules and wipers for instance. But sunfish are like dogs, they look different but are genetically similar enough to interbreed, and keep breeding. Basically they are more like different varieties of the same species. I don't know where the line gets drawn here. Now I have more questions than answers. Two totally different species should make a hybrid that does not reproduce, but with sunfish....Who has a PHD in biology, I'm confused.

The Bluegill is not a true hybrid. Those fish were all the rage when they first came about...Ken Holyoak....I think his name was....started all of the hybrid Gills with his Georgia Giant. What was never said at first that if you happen to get some males mixed with females or vice versa...you would get the F2 and then from them the F3 strain and so on. Then you wound up with a pond full of stunted sunfish after a few years. I stocked some in a small lake I owned back in 1986. I did not harvest the fish and that is what happened. People still stock them but most know that in a few years you will need to kill the pond off and start again....thus the stocking of the Copper Nose because of their growth rate and it is a natural strain of Bluegill. Now I am not a fisheries biologist...LOL......but this is my understanding of them.


Regards

[StriperFan]

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

The Bluegill is not a true hybrid. Those fish were all the rage when they first came about...Ken Holyoak....I think his name was....started all of the hybrid Gills with his Georgia Giant. What was never said at first that if you happen to get some males mixed with females or vice versa...you would get the F2 and then from them the F3 strain and so on. Then you wound up with a pond full of stunted sunfish after a few years. I stocked some in a small lake I owned back in 1986. I did not harvest the fish and that is what happened. People still stock them but most know that in a few years you will need to kill the pond off and start again....thus the stocking of the Copper Nose because of their growth rate and it is a natural strain of Bluegill. Now I am not a fisheries biologist...LOL......but this is my understanding of them.

That makes sense. Natural is always going to be better than the shortcut in the long run.
Regards

[MNfisher]

Originally Posted by nomad60

Those are some nice gills, Alpha!

And the more I read, the more confused I get...so does that mean Hybrid bass don't reproduce?

As far as I know, most hybrid species, like hybrid stripers, (cross between white bass and stripers) and tiger muskie(cross between northern pike and pure strain muskie) cannot reproduce. They will go through the spawning rituals and process, but are sterile.

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by MNfisher

As far as I know, most hybrid species, like hybrid stripers, (cross between white bass and stripers) and tiger muskie(cross between northern pike and pure strain muskie) cannot reproduce. They will go through the spawning rituals and process, but are sterile.

No one has developed a true hybrid Bluegill. They are called hybrids just because it is a mix of two specie of sunfish. You get two of these together of the opposite sex and they will breed...and do so prolifically. But the off spring of each breeding is not the same as it's parents. Thus the term F1...which is what is sold and stocked as hybrid Bluegill. Then if you have two of opposite sex in your stocking and they breed you get what is known as an F2...and it keeps going until...F3 and so on down the line and as I said before you get a pond full of stunted Green Sunfish. Great idea...but not perfect.

Regards

[Dakota]

Very nice. When u can lip a bluegill that's always a good thing.