Bass Sunfish Hybrid

[Guest]

My friend caught a 1lb. Sun-Bass this weekend near Alex.

He's sending it in for DNA testing and I.D. at their request.

Has anyone else seen one of these? Do they have a real name?

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Chells

[united jigsticker]

So not only does it swirl like a sunfish when you reel it in, but it also jumps out of the water???

Sounds like fun!

[Crawlerman]

You sure it wasn't simply a green sunfish/bluegill hybrid? Green sunfish have large "bass like" mouths on them. I don't think it's possible to cross bass and sunfish.. like you can't cross crappies and gills... but I could be wrong. Generally the fish have to be in the same order atleast to be cross-bred.

[Seabass77]

Actually, bass are in the sunfish family..crappies are not.

[Walleye Guy]

My guessis that the fish he caught was a Warmouth. It looks like a cross between a pumpkinseed and a bass.

You can check out our a picture at:

www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/species/war/war.htm

I know its the state of Texas's website. Its the only place I could find a picture. They show up ocassionally in some MN and WI lakes.

[Farley]

Rock Bass??????

[Surface Tension]

Ive seen Warmouths in the Rapids area.

[Steve Foss]

Crossing a largemouth bass and a sunfish is the type of thing probably only possible in a lab, if it's possible at all. I believe the species are too far apart genetically for hybridization.

And there are other sunfish or panfish species (most mentioned here) that really look like a sunny/bass cross.

That being said, only idiots act like they know everything nature can produce.

Let us know what you learn from the tests, eh?

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"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
[email protected]

[Guest]

Chells:

Was it on Reno that you caught this fish. I was out there today and caught my share of rockbass...probably a dozen or so over 8 hours trolling for walleye and I caught at least 3 of them that went better than a pound.

Take care!

SUNNYD

[Fisher Dave]

There have been bass(I believe smallmouth) / sunfish hybrids popping up for the last few years in various states. I'm not sure if any have been reported in Minnesota.

Last year or the year before I saw one of the fish on the news that I beleive was caught in Wisconsin. They definately dont look like anything else .. not at all similar to a rock bass. The fish I saw most closely resembled a smallmouth, but it was obvious it was not.

[Guest]

never thought it was possible to have a cross between a sunny and a bass.......hey........wonders never cease!well....you know how it is..........a lonely bass...a lonely sunfish........dim light....secluded spot in the cove......end result.......little baby sunbass!.....lol!

[Guest]

Hey Guys,

Just a couple of items for response:

1. When he called the DNR they did say that it has happend on occasion, but it is very rare up North where we are for some reason.

2. No, it's not a Rock Bass--we know these critters all too well. Anything with bloodshot eyes all of the time is very suspicious

3. It was caught on Ida.

4. I'll let you all know what the test results are--I hadn't thought of the Warmouth possibility...

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Chells

[Guest]

I know the fish you are talking about. The best way to describe it would be to take a sunfish, enlongate it by about 25% and give it a bigger mouth. The coloring is similar to a sunfish, but more pail.

I have caught several of these on both Beebe and Rock lakes in Wright County. They tend to hand with the sunfish, are sized about the same, maybe a little bigger. They are a little tougher to clean (rib bones are tougher), but once filleted could not tell the difference between it and a sunfish.

These are the only two lakes that I have seen them on. Both lakes have pretty good populations of both bass and sunnies.

Kevin

[Gissert]

South Turtle lake has them too. My brother calls them " Bassengills"

[Mark Christianson]

I would be willing to bet its a green sunfish.
They are longer than gills, have a much larger mouth, and are a bit thicker in the back.

[Lunker]

Bring one in for identification. Hey, if they prove it's a hybrid, they'll open it as a species(maybe) and you'll have yourself a world record!