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What's the best method to catch pumpkinseed and orange spotted sunfish?

Started by Guest_EricaWieser_* , Jul 05 2011 09:17 AM

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32 replies to this topic

#21 Guest_IvanMike_*

Guests

Posted 01 October 2011 - 12:22 PM

I also have a copy of state laws regarding concealed weapons in a vehicle in the glove box. It doesn't stop a New Orleans or Houston cop from stealing a gun, but it's good practice. I keep it next to my public waterways laws... Eventually, I'll probably just have a huge legal file in the car to cover all of my questionable activities.

yeah, i tried that, but it turned out some of my questionable activities (in my youth mind you) weren't covered! :mrgreen:

#22 Guest_don212_*

Guests

Posted 12 October 2011 - 07:19 PM

reading this conversation led me to look up florida's regs. It is illegal here to capture freshwater fish while swimming or diving. It is legal to take nongame fish, less than 8 inches with dipnets, seines,or traps, as bait..Many sunfish varieties are considered gamefish, they are restricted to a 50 fish limit, and any caught other than with hook and line must be released immediately.

#23 Guest_teddyb4x4_*

Guests

Posted 20 May 2012 - 08:58 PM

On Seineing......think it's okay to eat what ya get, if you own 6 acres of creek and land along deep creek?
oh, by the way- I have taken "Gamefish Identification" at Hocking. LOL, Thanx ted

#24 Guest_CNienhaus_*

Guests

Posted 13 November 2012 - 11:32 AM

Personally, I have encountered orangespots in several different habitats:

1. I have seined them in a gravel/silt backwater pool (with very little in the way of cover) of a medium-sized river with fairly strong current .

2. I have caught them on crawlers fished on the bottom using a slip sinker rig in a rocky riffle area of a medium-sized creek. This was surprising because there was a fair amount of current, but the sunfish must have been hunkered down behind the large rocks in this stretch.

3. I have caught them amongst large rocks in a large pool (by large pool, I mean the size of a small pond) of a small, sluggish stream. I used the same technique that I've used in the past to catch little greenies: dangling a chunk of crawler on a small hook under/beside/near large rocks, places where they hide and fiercely protect against any intruders. At this spot, I caught greenies and orangspots in the same areas, always adjacent to large rocks that they could hide under.

All of the streams listed above were located in southern Minnesota and were fairly turbid. Hope this helps!

#25 Guest_Heather_*

Guests

Posted 03 October 2013 - 07:38 PM

For Pumpkinseeds at least...
Wait until it's dark... they will be sleeping on the bottom in the shallows and very easy to catch.
Often you can reach them from shore or by stepping on some rocks to get out... or just take a canoe/kyak. Not sure about OH but I'm sure you must have places locally that rent them. Bring a flash light, long handle standard fishermen's net or two and a lid lock rubbermaid container... you're good.
If for some reason fishermen's net are illegal then you might even be able to corral them with rubbermaids if you're careful.
Wading out can work too if you're really slow and patient.
HTH

Edited by Heather, 03 October 2013 - 07:38 PM.

#26 Guest_EricaLyons_*

Guests

Posted 03 October 2013 - 08:07 PM

The only way to legally catch pumpkinseeds where I live now (North Carolina) is by rod and reel. I think Ohio's the same way, but I don't know, I don't live there anymore and am not up to date on the laws.

#27 Betta132

NANFA Guest

San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 28 January 2015 - 10:10 PM

Sunfish like canned corn. I don't know why. I got some tiny barbless hooks on Ebay, baited them with canned corn, and caught about a dozen sunfish of several species species in about two hours. You have to haul the line out fast so they don't flop off, but the hook comes out easily and doesn't cause any damage when removed. Tiny hooks and tiny bits of corn would probably snag you some nice little sunnies. Might also make nice trap bait, due to the smell and the fact that other fish don't seem all that interested.

Now if I could only figure out WHY sunfish like canned corn...

#28 gzeiger

NANFA Guest

Posted 28 January 2015 - 10:59 PM

I doubt it's the corn. In some areas sunfish are so enthusiastic I'm pretty sure you could catch them on a bare hook.

I'll try corn though.

#29 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 29 January 2015 - 07:48 AM

Agreed. My favorite sunfish catch was with found hook and line. Having no bait I also found a cigarette butt. Tore it open and used some clean white fluff from the filter. Best use ever of litter.

I'm guessing the best part of corn is the yellow color for attracting attention.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#30 Betta132

NANFA Guest

San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 30 January 2015 - 02:38 PM

That would make sense, though if you just throw loose corn in, they'll eat it and not spit it out.

Wonder if you could catch sunfish by just adding a silver spot to the hooks. I know the baby green sunny I have will bite at anything that isn't on the surface. He bites duckweed that gets pushed down by the filter, no matter how many times it turns out to not be food.

#31 Matt DeLaVega

Forum Staff

Ohio

Posted 30 January 2015 - 06:08 PM

sunfish, carp and hatchery trout are all commonly caught on corn. I suspect it has more than just color involved. The color likely attracts them, but they do swallow it as well, so the taste is surely part of it. Really who/what doesn't like corn? Dang ole coons will get you sweet corn every time.

So to answer your question Betta132. Sunfish like canned corn because it is too hard to eat on the cob, and it might get stuck in their teeth. They have yet to come up with toothpicks, so canned corn has to do.

The member formerly known as Skipjack

#32 bbrown

Regional Rep

Posted 31 January 2015 - 06:23 PM

We don't have pumpkinseeds, but in Oklahoma a tiny hook and tiny piece of worm does the trick for orangespots. Also, we get them easily with a seine by working shallow water (less than knee deep), right against the bank. But as others have said, that's not legal everywhere. Our best orangespot holes are often the most turbid waters, almost any muddy creek or turbid area of a lake.

Here's a picture of a bare shoreline where last summer we found a bunch of orangespots in about 10 inches of water. 9820_606326566088648_411780065_n.jpg?oh=