Fish ID

MrRipaLip · Aug 22, 2016

Took the nephew out for some fishing down in Fayetteville this weekend and caught this beauty. I have been told Shellcracker and told Redear Sunfish. Any ideas? looks part Crappie to me. also got a nice largemouth on a trap..
Any ideas?

Bucky T · Aug 22, 2016

Shellcracker is a slang term for a Redear Sunfish.

And that is what you caught.

PANFISHER · Aug 22, 2016

That is a red-ear sunfish, but most people call it by its nickname which is shellcracker. They are one and the same fish.

MrRipaLip · Aug 22, 2016

Bucky T said:
Shellcracker is a slang term for a Redear Sunfish.

And that is what you caught.

Shows ya how much I know!! Appreciate it!
Does that gill plate marking change color during spawn time?

Tmpr111 · Aug 22, 2016

What they said!

Hey that's a nice bass!

WPrich · Aug 22, 2016

MrRipaLip said:
Shows ya how much I know!! Appreciate it!
Does that gill plate marking change color during spawn time?

I don't think the gill plate color changes but could be wrong (been a while), but I know the body color does. They are normally yellowish but males darken up for spawning and that there I'm pretty sure is a male you have.

King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah · Aug 22, 2016

The other guys are right! Definitely a redear/shellcracker. The ear flap on the gill can be red or orange. They're the same fish, but get the name shellcracker because they feed on a lot of crustaceans like small crayfish, snails, and freshwater shrimp like scuds. They're also delicious! They get right up there with bluegills in terms of size, but I've actually caught bigger shellcrackers than gills over the years. 1.5lb fish to maybe 3lbs. World record is 5.7! Now that's a pretty good sized bream!

riverbank · Aug 23, 2016

Jeremiahisbrown said:
The other guys are right! Definitely a redear/shellcracker. The ear flap on the gill can be red or orange. They're the same fish, but get the name shellcracker because they feed on a lot of crustaceans like small crayfish, snails, and freshwater shrimp like scuds. They're also delicious! They get right up there with bluegills in terms of size, but I've actually caught bigger shellcrackers than gills over the years. 1.5lb fish to maybe 3lbs. World record is 5.7! Now that's a pretty good sized bream!

Jeremiah do you know where that 5.7 pound bream was caught? That is crazy big. !!!

WPrich · Aug 23, 2016

riverbank said:
Jeremiah do you know where that 5.7 pound bream was caught? That is crazy big. !!!

http://www.in-fisherman.com/panfish/world-record-sunfish/

If I'm not mistaken the previous record shellcracker was caught there as well

Fish ID

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