I caught this little guy the other day on a Mustad #10 barbless hook and initially thought he was a redbreast sunfish.

But looking at the picture now that gill looks awfully blue to me. The redbrest will be blue also but it will be a much longer earflap. I think the late afternoon sun made him much yellower than normal.

So I’m going with bluegill sunfish as my final answer unless anyone else has some ideas.

Of all the sunfish the Redear is my favorite. They are just one sharp looking fish.

What do they look like?

Probably the biggest thing to look for in a RedEar Sunfish is the red (male) or orange (female) border on the outside of the earflap. After that look at the body, it is spotted and will often have red/orange flecks on or near its belly. In the picture below you can see the distinct coloration on the earflap. Note that the red goes around the entire border. Pumpkinseed sunfish will have red on only part of the earflap (see the sunfish quiz to practice telling the difference).

Image provided by Texoma Hatchery.

Where Do Redear Sunfish live?

Originally they lived in the southeastern US but have now been introduced to lakes across the country (and other countries). If you’re in the US there’s a good chance a local lake will have Redears.

What do they eat?

Redear Sunfish are often called Shellcrackers because they eat a lot of snails which they are able to grind up in their throat. Other food includes insects, small fish, and small crayfish. They have been known to eat clams as well. The type of food they eat is found near the bottom of lakes and pond and near vegetation. If you want to catch Redear Sunfish think of where you’d find snails.

How to Catch a Lepomis microlophus

The Redear probably won’t hit flies or top water lures. You best bet is to go with natural baits such as worms. Since Redears are often near the bottom, especially near aquatic vegetation, you’ll need to let your bait sink. Early summer is a good time since they’ll be closer to shore in spawning beds if you’re having trouble catching one otherwise.

You may want to check with people who know the lake to see if Redear are present. If they aren’t you’ll need to try a different lake.

I’ve been thinking about hybrid sunfish and wondered why I don’t catch them very often. Since most sunfish species can interbreed, why aren’t there more hybrids out there? For example, below is a picture of a hybrid sunfish (Bluegill & Pumpkinseed). Notice that it really looks a lot like a Pumpkinseed but the ear flap is solid blue. On a Pumpkinseed it would be black with some red on the edge.

Image used with permission from Freshwater Fishing News.

There are a few reasons why we don’t see as many hybrids. Hybrid sunfish are fertile so they can mate (which makes me wonder if I’m using the term species correctly). Most often when sunfish interbreed the majority of the offspring are male. For example, according to the folks at Logan Hollow Fish Farm, a male bluegill and a green sunfish will produce 95% male hybrids. Fish farms take advantage of this to prevent overpopulation of ponds. If there are mostly males, not as many eggs are laid, competition for food is lower, and sunfish get bigger.

I don’t know how this works out in the wild. Since I don’t catch many hybrids my guess is that sunfish tend to mate with their own species. When they do hybridize mostly male hybrids result and perhaps these also have a more difficult time mating since they look different. But this is all conjecture. All I know is that I don’t catch many hybrids.

I’m also not sure what happens when hybrids mate with other sunfish. If a Bluegill/Pumpkinseed mates with a Pumpkinseed what do you get? I know when I buy hybrid seeds for the garden the descendents of the hybridized plants seem to revert. I’m a bit out of my depth here.

Any geneticists out there?