Is Small Mouth Bass in the Bream Family
Simply put, the sunfish is the Rodney Dangerfield of Alabama's gamefish. While bass fishermen are specific well-nigh their catches using identifiers like largemouth bass, spotted bass and smallmouth bass, most bream fishermen will just tell y'all that they caught "a mess of bream."
There'south no wonder in that location's such defoliation about bream. The generic term bream is typically used by fishermen to describe whatever of more than 20 species of sunfish that tin can be plant in Alabama. Many times, a bream that is chosen a specific proper name past fishermen in ane part of the state will exist chosen by another name in a different role of the state. Besides disruptive is that in that sunfish family is rock bass and warmouth, fish that look nothing like what almost consider a "bream."
And what exactly is a sunfish?
"From our standpoint, annihilation that is not in the bass family unit, a crappie or in the catfish family is considered a sunfish," explained Alabama's Principal of Fisheries, Nick Nichols.
Confused yet?
Alabama recognizes state records in seven categories of sunfish. Most bream fishermen can tell the difference between a bluegill and a shellcracker, just across that, anything else is often only a bream.
Like largemouth bass, spotted bass and smallmouth bass, the different species of sunfish also have unlike tendencies, body markings, habitat needs and diet preferences.
Here's a guide to identifying what just ate your cricket or ruddy worm in Alabama:
Bluegill
Bluegill
Probably second only to the catfish as the favorite fish to consume in Alabama, the mankind of the bluegill is white, flaky, house and sweet. It has been the honored guest at millions of Alabama backyard fish fries through the years.
No gamefish in Alabama goes through as many color transformations every bit the bluegill, but it is that blue lower jaw and gill in adults that makes the bluegill so like shooting fish in a barrel to identify and gives information technology its name.
Juveniles and non-breeding adults are light olive to greyness on the dorsum and sides with several evenly spaced, darker vertical bands. Older, breeding males darken, with the back and sides oft showing a majestic sheen. Many go almost hubcap shaped.
The bluegill's dorsal fin contains nine to eleven spines. The pectoral fin is long and pointed, extending past the eye when bent forward. The mouth is so small that its impossible to insert a finger in most, and the upper jaw does not extend to the front end of the middle. Always black, the flexible earflap is minor in juveniles, longer in adults. The vent area varies from stake yellow to white. All but small individuals take a distinct black spot toward the rear of the soft dorsal fin.
Common size in adults: 6 to ten inches.
Land tape: iv-lbs., 12-ozs. Caught by T.S. Hudson in 1950 in Birmingham'south Lake Ketona.
Where found in Alabama: The about common of all sunfish in Alabama, the bluegill can be found statewide in rivers, lakes, streams and subcontract ponds.
Greenish Sunfish
Green Sunfish
If you can observe a green sunfish in Alabama, you lot have a meal that is just as expert every bit bluegill or shellcracker. The trouble is finding one. The habitat it prefers is express, and competition with the prolific bluegill probably accounts for the sparse distribution of green sunfish across the land. Releasing these fish in a farm pond is not a skilful idea. These bream can quickly over-populate and go stunted. They have mouths larger than bluegill and shellcracker, and fish eggs are among their favorite foods.
The dorsal fin usually has 10 spines. Teeth are present in the roof of the mouth. The pectoral fin is brusque and does not attain the nostril when bent frontward. The rima oris is larger than in most bream, the upper jaw extending to most the heart of the eye. The ear flap is elongated, black and usually inflexible to near its margin.
Body color is dark-brown dark-green on the dorsum and sides with rows of small, metal blue spots toward the head and irregularly spaced spots toward the tail. A large blackness blotch occurs nearly the rear of the soft dorsal and anal fins. The edges of the pelvic, anal, caudal, and soft dorsal fins are yellowish to orange, becoming much brighter during the spawning flavor.
Common size in adults: 4 to 8 inches.
State tape: 1-lb., ix-ozs. Caught by Caleb Miller, of Parrish, in 2005 in a private pond in Walker County.
Redear Sunfish or Shellcracker
Redear Sunfish
More unremarkably known as a shellcracker in Alabama, either name fits this bream very well. It is easily identified by its distinctive red or orange spot at the rear of the ear flap, only it besides has strong jaws that are capable of crushing mollusks and snails.
Redear sunfish charge per unit right upwards there with the bluegill in terms of eating quality. Its flesh is similar to that of bluegill with white, flaky, sweet-tasting meat. It is all-time prepared using what many jokingly call Alabama's three basic food groups—meat, flour and grease.
The shellcracker is one of Alabama's least colorful—merely near sought after—bream. The back on this species is light light-green to chocolate-brown with scattered darker spots. Lower surfaces of the head and vent expanse are light yellow to white. Sides of the caput are mottled with brown to night orange spots. The dorsal fin is light gray with 9 to eleven spines. The anal fin is lite yellow to white. The pectoral fin is long and pointed, its stop reaching past the nostril when aptitude forward.
Common size in adults: 8 to 11 inches.
State record: 4-lbs., 4-ozs. Defenseless by Jeff Lashley, of Gordon, in 1962 at Chattahoochee Land Park in Houston County in southeast Alabama.
Where found in Alabama: Redear sunfish occur beyond all of Alabama, but they are much more than abundant in the southern half of the state. They tin withstand more salinity than near bream species, which likely accounts for the fact that they far outnumber bluegill in the lower reaches of the Mobile Delta and at the head of Mobile Bay.
Longear Sunfish
Longear Sunfish
Yous may want to forget inviting this beautiful, smallish bream to your next fish fry. They are typically so modest that fishermen rarely clean them, and filleting them is out of the question. Cook ten of them and all you lot'll probably have is an appetizer. In fact, the country tape is but viii ounces.
Chances are that even if you are an avid bream fisherman, you've probably accept never seen one. Longear sunfish prefer moving water over still waters and are more common in minor streams than they are lakes.
Longear sunfish are oftentimes misidentified because their ear flap is really shorter than that of the redbreast sunfish, but there's no reason for misidentification. Just remember that its ear flap is trimmed in white, and it is the simply bream to have that characteristic. They are too typically much smaller than redbreast sunfish.
Longear sunfish are quite colorful. Males are often bright orangish or blood-red, and the head and fins usually have turquoise markings.
Like many sunfish, a longear sunfish has a dorsal fin with 10 to 12 spines. The oral fissure is small, with the upper jaw declining to accomplish the front of the eye. The brusque, rounded pectoral fin does not reach the nostril when aptitude forwards. The dorsum and sides are unremarkably olive to brown, condign yellowish orange in the vent surface area. Breeding males have numerous metal blue spots on the back and sides and wavy blue longitudinal lines on the head. The venter becomes brassy orangish, every bit do the membranes on all vertical fins.
Mutual size in adults: 5 inches.
State record: 8 ounces. Caught past Jerry Jones, of Ozark, in 1990 in the Yellowish River in Covington County on the Alabama-Florida line.
Where plant in Alabama: The longear sunfish is distributed throughout nigh of Alabama but found more oft in small-scale streams than in lakes or ponds. They are rare in the Chattahoochee and upper Tallapoosa river systems.
Redbreast Sunfish
Redbreast Sunfish
This bream with the big ear flap and red eyes is 1 of the most cute in Alabama, just many fishermen typically can't readily identify them and just lump them in the bream category.
This bream might better deserve the name longear, as its ear flap is considerably longer than the earflap of the longear sunfish. In adults, the ear flap or a redbreast ofttimes reaches a length of 1 inch or more; information technology is narrow and usually not wider than the eye. The lower margin of the flap is ordinarily pale.
The redbreast is one of the larger sunfish, occasionally attaining weights of 1 pound or more. As far equally tablefare, they are just equally good equally bluegill and shellcracker.
The redbreast is a snail and clam eater, and a look into its rima oris will reveal modest teeth in the roof of the mouth used to beat shells. Its dorsal fin contains 10 to 11 spines. The pectoral fin is brusk and does non reach the nostril when bent frontwards abreast the head. Convenance males take a bright orange/red breast and vent expanse. Membranes of the dorsal and anal fins have elongate, bright orange blotches. Margins of the soft dorsal and anal fins and much of the pelvic and pectoral fins are yellow. The back and head are olive green. Brilliant, bluish-dark-green stripes originate near the rima oris and extend backward obliquely toward the base of operations of the elongated, black earflap. Females are less colorful, having a calorie-free orange to yellowish breast and venter.
Mutual size in adults: 6 to 8 inches.
State tape: 1-lb., iv-ozs. Caught by Archie Russ, of Brantley, in the Choctawhatchee River in southeast Alabama.
Where found in Alabama: The redbreast sunfish occurs naturally along the Atlantic Coast and across southern Georgia and northern Florida to the Chattahoochee River. It may as well be native to the Coosa and Tallapoosa river systems, based on its widespread and common to abundant distribution in both. Scattered individuals have also been found in the Black Warrior River in west Alabama, the Choctawhatchee River in south Alabama and in the Tennessee River.
Rock Bass
Rock Bass
Identification: Commonly called a red-centre bass in Alabama, this species is actually considered a member of the sunfish family unit. It is most-likely labeled every bit a bass considering of its coloring, which is similar to the smallmouth bass, and its rima oris that is much larger than those in other sunfishes. These fish are relatively good to eat and taste more than like a bass than a bluegill.
It can be easily distinguished from the less-mutual shadow bass by the well-defined rows of dark spots along the sides, specially below the lateral line. The dorsal fin has 10 to 13 spines. The anal fin has 5 to 7 spines. The oral cavity is big, and the upper jaw extends to below the centre of the eye. The back and sides are olive to light brown with horizontal rows of black spots. The vertical fins have a light xanthous background. The basal areas are mottled with brown or gray. The anal fin on adult males has a distinct blackness edge. The iris is red to carmine orange. The vent area tin can vary from white to light chocolate-brown or charcoal.
Common size in adults: 8 to 10 inches.
State tape: 1-lb., half-dozen-ozs. Caught by James R. Stewart, of Scottsboro, in 1995 in the Paint Rock River.
Where constitute in Alabama: Biologists say rock bass are limited to the Tennessee River merely may take entered the upper Tombigbee River system via the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. There have been reports of them being defenseless in the Cahaba River and in some farm ponds.
Warmouth
Warmouth
How most sunfishes got their proper noun is obvious once you lot await at them, but how this fish got its name is anyone's guess.
Warmouth are good to eat if caught in clean water, simply they can have a "muddy" taste if caught in the dirty water that they prefer. They taste more like a catfish than a bluegill.
The adult warmouth is dark, with a mottled-brown coloration. Its belly is generally aureate, and the male has a bright-orange spot at the base of the dorsal fin. Three to five red-brown streaks radiate from the eyes, and the gill flaps are oftentimes ruby. It has three spines in the anal fin, 10 spines in the dorsal fin, and small teeth are present on the natural language.
The warmouth is occasionally confused with the rock bass or green sunfish, both of which have larger mouths and heavier bodies than virtually sunfish. Green sunfish generally has a greenish-blueish pattern on its gill flaps; still, they take a blackness spot near the base of the dorsal fin, and its fins are bordered in yellowish-white. The stone bass has five to seven spines in its anal fin as opposed to the three in the warmouth. The warmouth tends to be a scrap larger in size than either of the other ii species.
Because of its habitat preferences, the warmouth is the Alabama sunfish you are most unlikely to catch. Warmouths inhabit swamps, marshes, shallow lakes, slow-moving streams and canals with soft, muddy bottoms. They adopt to stay around aquatic vegetation, stumps, snags and under the banks of streams and ponds. They have more tolerance for muddied water than most bream species.
The warmouth, like the rock bass, is ofttimes chosen a goggle-centre by fishermen. The dorsal fin contains nine to 11 fins. The anal fin has three spines. The mouth is big; the upper jaw reaches the middle of the eye or slightly beyond. A pocket-size patch of teeth on the natural language can be detected by rubbing its upper surface with a finger. 1 or two anterior and three or iv posterior dark streaks radiate out from the center. The dorsum and sides are yellowish brownish with dark blotches and mottling. The vent area is calorie-free yellow to dark-brown.
Young individuals have a light horizontal stripe virtually the lateral line. Fins are light brown with mottling and banding, particularly near the rear of the soft dorsal and anal fins.
Common size in adults: half dozen to 8 inches
State record: i-lb., 12-ozs. Caught by Jimmy Barfield, of Dothan, in a Houston County subcontract pond.
Where plant in Alabama: Warmouth are constitute in every river organization in Alabama, only they are most arable in the Mobile Delta and lower sections of the Alabama and lower Tombigbee rivers.
Some anglers say they've defenseless pumpkinseed on the Tennessee River, only officially no angler has submitted 1 for a state record.
Catch A Land-Record Pumpkinseed
Have yous always dreamed of catching a country-tape fish? Information technology might exist easier than you lot retrieve. That is if that fish actually can exist found in Alabama.
There is no land tape listed for the pumpkinseed bream in Alabama. Why? No one has always submitted i, says Main of Fisheries Nick Nichols.
Bream fishermen on the Tennessee River sometimes claim to have caught pumpkinseed bream, especially on Lake Guntersville. The book Fishes of Alabama says pumpkinseed bream do not exist in Alabama. The U.S. Geological Survey says pumpkinseed bream can be found in Lake Guntersville.
The pumpkinseed bream would arguably be Alabama's well-nigh beautiful fish. They are orange, dark-green, yellow or blue in colour, with speckles over their sides and dorsum and a yellow-orange breast and belly. The sides are covered with vertical bars that are a faint light-green or blue. Orange spots may comprehend the dorsal, anal and caudal fins, and the cheeks take blueish lines across them. The pumpkinseed is noted for the orange-crimson spot on the margin of its black gill encompass.
Source: https://aonmag.com/fishing/sunfish-identification/
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