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Micro Sunnies

Started by Guest_catfishcain_* , Oct 06 2013 02:56 PM

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18 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_catfishcain_*

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Posted 06 October 2013 - 02:56 PM

I know a few people on here have shown interest in targeting the smaller sunfish species. And although I am by no means a master micro panfishermen I have caught multiple Bluespotted Sunfish ~~and at least one Banded Sunfish~~. Typically what works best for me when targeting Bluespotted Sunfish is to use a small micro float placed about 2 feet above my tanago hook which happens to be baited with a small chunk of worm. I have also had luck with using a tiny chunk of canned clam. For weight to help my bait sink, I use a size 10 micro split shot placed anywhere from 2" to 4" above my hook. For a rod I use a 13' crappie rod equiped with about 9' of 4 pound test line and 3' of 8x tippet. Having a lengthy amount of line allows me to easly and quickly land a micro by simply raising the rod tip and bringing the micro directly to my hand near the base of the rod. When it comes to choosing a body of water, I have never caught a Bluespotted Sunfish where a current is present. I have caught them in the shallows among leaf litter and sticks or near the edges of vegetation when fishing ponds and lakes. Or among vegetation in about 3' of water when micro fishing creeks. I simply position my float anywhere from 3" to 18" away from the edge of vegetation and wait. When I haven't been using a float and have happened to catch Bluespotted Sunfish I had the same set up except without the float. My line would be tight and the bait would be positioned directly under the rod tip. I would jig my bait up and down near the edges of structure until I felt something take the bait.

~~When it comes to the Banded Sunfish~~ Also, I was fishing downstream of Rhodes Pond Dam along the rocks under the bridge in the hopes of catching a mudminnow or other micro. I had a small chunk of worm on a tanago hook and a size 10 micro split shot placed 2"-3" above my hook. The water was maybe a foot deep and was also a little murky. I was jigging the bait in-between rocks and along the bottoms of each rock where many times small caves are formed between the bottom of each rock and the muddy bottom. After jigging it in one location for maybe 30 seconds I would move the bait through the water to the next spot. After a few minutes of moving along the edges of each rock. I hooked up with what I thought was a small bluegill until I placed it in the photo tank and realized I had caught a ~~Banded Sunfish. Below is a picture of that Banded Sunfish.~~ Enneacanthus.

The other three Bluespotted Sunfish come from three different locations...... Rhodes Pond off I95, Glenville Lake in Fayetteville, and Little Cross Creek in Fayetteville.

I have also caught plenty of Dollar Sunfish from multiple creeks around Fayetteville but am not sure if anyone really counts them as being one of the smaller sunfish species.

#2 Guest_Kanus_*

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Posted 06 October 2013 - 03:22 PM

Very nice photos, but I hate to tell you that your banded sunfish is actually also a bluespotted. Bandeds have a larger mouth, a rounder body profile overall, and bands tend to lack blue/white speckling (whereas this fish has the speckling evenly distributed across the body). Bluespotted sunfish, especially juveniles, often have a dark banded background pattern like this. They fake people out a lot.

Banded Sunfish
Posted Image

Bluespotted sunfish
Posted Image

#3 Guest_catfishcain_*

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Posted 06 October 2013 - 04:54 PM

Disregard the whole last part of my post about banded sunfish. The only reason the post is still up is because I cant figure out how to delete or edit my post. If possible moderator please delete this topic.

#4 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 06 October 2013 - 05:14 PM

Cain,

I can moderate (edit) your post, but I see no reason to delete it... you have some good micro fishing info there... ignoring the species in question, that is very good info on a little encountered genus... I could clean up the post a little regarding the different species if you want... or if you want to make some specific edits and PM them to me... let m eknow, I am on line this evening to work with you...

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

#5 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 06 October 2013 - 05:18 PM

Hey Cain, I edited above a little... if you like it i can take the strikeout text out and it would still read correctly... let me know..

Oh crap. when I edited it cleared the photos... I didnt mean to do that... sorry...

Thats what I get for messing with posts... we shoudl have just left it... it was a good learning opportunity

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

#6 Guest_CMStewart_*

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Posted 07 October 2013 - 09:25 AM

Please leave the post up. The fishing method described, using a line (from rod tip to hook - including tippet) about the same length as the rod (with or without a small float) is a different technique than that shown in the video that Microfishing.com produced and Ben Cantrell posted. I think sometimes you will want to use one method and sometimes you will want to use the other.

#7 Guest_BenCantrell_*

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Posted 24 October 2013 - 02:37 PM

Here's a sunfish that I caught last week below the Lake Waccamaw dam in NC. We originally thought it was a banded, but Kanus has let me know it's also a bluespotted. To be honest I'm still having a tough time understanding how to ID these guys.

We caught them at night in shallow (~4 inches) still water off to the side of the dam discharge. They were tucked in among submerged wood. When we found one with our headlamps we'd put a bit of redworm on a Tanago hook close to its face. They usually went for the bait right away.

The other guys on the trip have photos of other individuals. They should be able to post them here as well.

Posted Image

Here's another bluespotted from near the VA / NC border. This one is obviously much easier to ID. It was caught right on the edge of thick vegetation near shore in about a foot of water.

Posted Image

#8 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 24 October 2013 - 02:49 PM

Look at 1) the snout shape: obesus has a blunter face, more bulldog-like, with steeper mouth angle; and 2) iridescent green spots/streaks below the eye: round to oblong separate dots in gloriosus, vs long streaks or crescent in obesus. Also, gloriosus usually has some orange in the anal fin and obesus doesn't (in Carolinas), but I discovered last year in NJ that some obesus can have an orange anal too.

#9 Guest_DrSamsel_*

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Posted 05 November 2013 - 02:27 PM

I minnow trapped a few of these. I am thinking they are obesus but could someone confirm for me?

#10 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 05 November 2013 - 02:34 PM

Was this fish released, or is it in your aquarium? NANFA does not allow ID's of unknown wild caught fish taken in aquaria (other than a photo tank used in the field). BTW - note that the tail is slightly forked, not rounded.

#11 Guest_DrSamsel_*

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Posted 05 November 2013 - 02:43 PM

My apologies. This was a captured, photo'ed and released fish from a local pond. I am checking the ponds in this area for species that I might keep in a local biotope.

#12 Guest_DrSamsel_*

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Posted 05 November 2013 - 04:33 PM

So, if Enneacanthus has a rounded tail, then I might be looking at a Lepomis. Maybe L. symmetricus?

I use a 2 1/2 gallon field tank with a background to take photos for my research. I have found that id'ing out of water (esp. in hand) is much too difficult for me.

#13 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 05 November 2013 - 05:40 PM

I think that's a bluegill. Bantams occur only in the lower Mississippi basin. I've never collected down there so I'm not sure what the best field indicators are for separating young bluegill from bantams. Maybe some Gulf coast members will chime in on that. The background on your photo tank fooled me - looked like a home aquarium.

#14 Guest_Dustin_*

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Posted 05 November 2013 - 06:00 PM

Fairly certain those are bluegill as well.

#15 Guest_DrSamsel_*

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Posted 05 November 2013 - 11:54 PM

Yes, The background I attached to my 2 1/2 gallon tank was to help provide contrast for pictures; making it look as natural as possible in an 'unnatural' environment. Clear glass behind the fish makes for a lousy picture. Bluegill, really? I thought bluegill were a lot more blunt and round.

#16 Guest_IsaacSzabo_*

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Posted 06 November 2013 - 12:31 AM

I think bluegill as well. The general shape varies with age. You're probably thinking of a large adult which would be rounder/taller. Your fish looks to be pretty small/young.

#17 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 06 November 2013 - 12:24 PM

Yes, The background I attached to my 2 1/2 gallon tank was to help provide contrast for pictures; making it look as natural as possible in an 'unnatural' environment. Clear glass behind the fish makes for a lousy picture. Bluegill, really? I thought bluegill were a lot more blunt and round.

Its funny you say that, cause I always think of small bluegills (like this one) as being easy to identify in the seine even by their relatively pointy nose.

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

#18 Guest_Gavinswildlife_*

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Posted 06 November 2013 - 05:42 PM

Bluegill, by the striping and the purplish color

#19 Guest_DrSamsel_*

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Posted 07 November 2013 - 09:46 AM

Thanks so much for the help on this. It would be a big mistake for me to introduce some lepomis species into my Enneacanthus tank. Bluegills would probably have bullied my bluespotted and blackbandeds to death. Yet another reason to id before removing a fish from its habitat.