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Green Sunfish Nest Defense


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#1 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 14 February 2018 - 12:11 PM

After a month and a half of internet issues and vacation I'm finally back off the editing floor with a new video. I'm really pleased with how the music syncs up with the action. Enjoy & click subscribe!

 


FishGuyJosh

#2 centrarchid

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Posted 14 February 2018 - 05:13 PM

I would like to use it for my 4H youth?


Find ways for people not already interested in natives to value them.

#3 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 14 February 2018 - 07:40 PM

If you have a laptop with internet you are more than welcome to use it straight off of YouTube. If you need an actual copy of the video file, PM me and I'll get you squared away.


FishGuyJosh

#4 UncleWillie

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  • Georgia

Posted 15 February 2018 - 08:54 AM

I feel exhausted after watching this.  The energy expenditure for that guy to protect his progeny must be enormous. As always, excellent footage!


Willie P


#5 centrarchid

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Posted 15 February 2018 - 09:30 AM

My fish loose weight when doing it in a very measurable way.  They are so ramped up they will not eat much even when food is offered in excess.


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#6 Matt DeLaVega

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  • Ohio

Posted 15 February 2018 - 05:03 PM

Weather they eat or not, they are easy to catch when guarding nests. Drop anything in there, and they are gonna move it. Set the hook and BAM!

 

 I felt the same way watching it though. Crazy amount of calories being burned.

 

Thanks Josh!


The member formerly known as Skipjack


#7 Casper

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  • Chattanooga, TN alongside South Chickamauga Creek, just upstream of the mighty Tennessee River.

Posted 16 February 2018 - 06:43 PM

Those Greenies are the most Bass like of our Sunnies.  Yours is a ferocious beast.  They are the kings of the Sunfish and invade many watersheds as they are a favored farm pond fish.

I think they are very handsome, not pretty like a Longear.

Greens are one of the first native fish i kept in aquariums.  I had a couple that a guy was culling from a farm pond.  He was throwing all the little sunfish on the bank to die telling me it would make the big ones bigger.

:(

Maybe, i don't know, anyway i rescued a couple small ones, took them home and put them in a 29 tall with some other fish, darters and shiners and such.  I began to see my other fish mysteriously disappear and the 2 greens were getting bigger and bigger by the day!

Oh no!

I tried to get them out by quick swishing an aquarium net to no avail.  After awhile they would see me coming from across the room, net in hand and retreat to the most inaccessible spot.  Smart fish!

The tank was heavily decorated with driftwood, rocks and plants.  After several weeks of trying to net them i was figuring i would have to disassembled the entire aquarium to get those fiends out.

I hit on the idea of fishing them out, had a pocket fisherman, baited the hook with a squiggling worm and instantly the king Green snapped the bait and i yanked.

1 down.

Reset the bait, back in the tank, and caught number 2 in a flash.

:)

I enjoy encountering them while snorkeling and they will bite hard if you ease a finger into their nest.  I've had a couple over the years in the cement pond and they became quite the pets, always interested swimming up to me and i could pet them with an outreached finger.  Though i'm sure they were eating my other fish i did not have the heart to speargun and fry them as i often threatened to.


Casper Cox
Chattanooga, near the TN Divide on BlueFishRidge overlooking South Chickamauga Creek.

#8 mattknepley

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  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 16 February 2018 - 09:09 PM

Forget losing weight, I'd be so dizzy I'd be flopping around helpless on the surface after a minute or two!

Cool stuff, as always, Josh. Wonder if that li'l dude was just showing out for the camera. La Barque was in the spot light in June, after all!
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#9 ShadetreeIchthyologist

ShadetreeIchthyologist
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  • Charleston SC

Posted 17 February 2018 - 11:44 AM

  I had a couple that a guy was culling from a farm pond.  He was throwing all the little sunfish on the bank to die telling me it would make the big ones bigger.

:(

 

 

Lesson one of farm pond management - If you have stunted bluegill, the only way you can fix it is to drain the pond and rid it of all fish. If you don't start fresh it's an uphill battle that you will never win.


"Amateurs can potentially make valuable contributions to our knowledge of fishes". - Etnier and Starnes

#10 centrarchid

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Posted 17 February 2018 - 03:38 PM

Patience, you can rebalance a pond with stunted sunfish without killing off first.  Either stock more sizable bass or protect bass from harvest.  It may take a year or two for changes to take place.


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#11 JasonL

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Posted 17 February 2018 - 03:40 PM

Lesson one of farm pond management - If you have stunted bluegill, the only way you can fix it is to drain the pond and rid it of all fish. If you don't start fresh it's an uphill battle that you will never win.


Not necessarily true. I inherited a similar situation and had success introducing bass and channel cats as predators, then culling them out over time. Pond Boss forum is a good site for pond management issues such as this.

#12 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 17 February 2018 - 03:43 PM

 

Lesson one of farm pond management - If you have stunted bluegill, the only way you can fix it is to drain the pond and rid it of all fish. If you don't start fresh it's an uphill battle that you will never win.

Add a flathead catfish or two.


The member formerly known as Skipjack


#13 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 17 February 2018 - 03:50 PM

Not necessarily true. I inherited a similar situation and had success introducing bass and channel cats as predators, then culling them out over time. Pond Boss forum is a good site for pond management issues such as this.

Yes! Pondboss is a great resource for pond management information. Surprised we don't have more Pondboss members around here and vice versa. I know AZ9 (Cecil) is a Pondboss- NANFA crossover. I really enjoy their forum. There are some pretty good ID guys there too.


The member formerly known as Skipjack


#14 JasonL

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Posted 17 February 2018 - 03:54 PM

Add a flathead catfish or two.


This will work as well but flats will decimate everything including bass or channels in the 3-5 lb range once they get big enough. At some point you will have to fish them out again if you want anything other than 1 or 2 giant flats in your pond and little else.

#15 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 17 February 2018 - 04:32 PM

This will work as well but flats will decimate everything including bass or channels in the 3-5 lb range once they get big enough. At some point you will have to fish them out again if you want anything other than 1 or 2 giant flats in your pond and little else.

Which really isn't that big. It was was meant a bit tongue in cheek....... One of my favorite fish, so probably what I would do, wait, I have already done it. Put two 6 inch flatheads in my pond in 2012. Haven't caught them yet, but they may not have survived the pickerel and bowfin.


The member formerly known as Skipjack


#16 JasonL

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Posted 17 February 2018 - 07:37 PM

Which really isn't that big. It was was meant a bit tongue in cheek....... One of my favorite fish, so probably what I would do, wait, I have already done it. Put two 6 inch flatheads in my pond in 2012. Haven't caught them yet, but they may not have survived the pickerel and bowfin.


If all of your fish start to disappear then you will have your answer. Flatheads are beasts and the definition of apex predator. Really cool fish though, agree.

#17 centrarchid

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Posted 17 February 2018 - 09:11 PM

I am on pond boss once in a while.  If you are new it is like shouting into an empty stairwell of an apartment building with grumpy tenants.


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