It kind of looks like a redbreast to me...but the color doesn't seem quite right....what do the resident experts say on this one?? I caught it this morning...same place. I put the pic in the trash, saw a pic of a redbreast, and thought.....COULD IT BE???

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3370

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lepomis_auritus.jpg

This is a redbreast, and it resembles this one...but mine has a more rusty color on more of it's body...could it be spawning color? I would of thought it would be more red, unless maybe it is a female redbreast. I had one before for the contest, and the pic didn't show the color right because of the time of day, and the fact I was hovering over it, shading it even more. But this one just may be it. If not I need to get one for the contest. Time is running out. Plus tomorrow I have to have dental surgery....oh and I would rather be fishing.......ROTFLMBO...that ain't no lie folks. Even if it is hot, it would be a heck of a lot more fun!!

I know one thing, it has some big buggy looking eyes. Not nearly as pretty as a Longear's eyes. If nothing else, this contest has really helped me learn some new species, and I am thankful for that...

Its a Male Bluegill.
Reference pictures for both always seem to use breeding males with the bright orange belly. Breeding Male Bluegill will have an orange breast same as a breeding redbreast and I assume that is what is throwing you.

Redbreast "Usually" a very long narrow earflap with a blue line above and below. Usually more narrow than the eye.

Wavy blue lines on cheek.

Longer nose or snout than a bluegill.
Larger mouth than a bluegill.

Fins can be clear, but often with orange.

That picture I posted in the flyfishing section was a redbreast.

Just like those longears, these have a lot of variation too.
Found the link to my picture again. See the common theme with the ear flaps and note the mouth size in the last picture.

From the San Saba River


My contest entry Redbreast from Lake Hawkins


Good example from Badassbaits from Lone Star


And TroutBum's from the Brazos

Dang, two of them look like a green sunfish to me. I'm hopeless.

Well I caught another sunnie I need an i.d. on this evening. HOPEFULLY it will be a new one for the contest...I thought it was possibly an orange spotted.

redbreast are generally larger than bluegill & other sunfish from same area...when you look closely at one you'll wonder why they aren't called Long Ear as their "ear flap" (do fish have ears ?) is a LOT longer than that of an actual longear sunfish.

Thanks. You know these sunfish are kicking my butt. They vary too much in what they can look like, and it is supremely confusing to me. I am determined to learn different species though. Maybe sooner or LATER these fish will stick in my old mind. I really appreciate all the help here. I know I have presented a few fish for i.d., and I thank ALL who offered an opinion as to an i.d.

I caught a ton of bluegill today. Searching for something new...something DIFFERENT.......LOL. I will be glad in a way when this contest is over. I am exhausted physically and mentally. Still I am glad I did it.

Kelkay,
I have held a few State Records for various Sunfish. It was kind of a fun hobby for my now older son and I around 10 years ago. Most of those records have long since been beaten. I have handed a sunfish to a biologist more than once when he looked at it and said "I have no clue". They would get out identification keys, count fin rays, a scale row, feel gill rakers, and stuff like that to make a determination. One even was sent for DNA testing. It definately ain't easy with the Sunfish. Some even for our State fisheries biologists, so don't feel bad being confused.

I did not know that. Cool! Well at least I am not the only one though. I will admit I don't know these fish. I do the best I can with pics and Google etc... Just like the Longear....I have 2 different ones, they look different to me...then add my son's catch...it looks different. Now I used to have tropical fish, and I don't recall such variance in them, unless they were bred that way, and they were just another color combination...example Gold Angelfish, Zebra Angelfish...same kind of fish...but I think man bred them differently when they had a mutation. (kind of like my forked tail longear...if it was a mutation) Look at dogs, there are tons of breeds. But if you say that is a Golden Retriever...you should know immediately what it is. I used to know tons of different dog breeds. But with these darn fish...whew...they are really tough to figure out.

these are 2 longears from different lakes ...the top one is more of a reddish orange and the bottom is yellowish orange but both are long ear sunfish

Ha, Ha,
I have a Vizsla. I have had more people on the Street and in the field compliment me on my Golden Retriever, Redbone Hound, Chocolate Lab, or Rhodesian Ridgeback, than I have Vizsla.

Oh my. That is like night and day isn't it? Good grief...I'm starting to doubt if I will ever get these fish straight. I need one of those big fat books on species i.d. like they are gonna give away for the contest. I can't afford one right now. Spending a fortune on gas, vehicle maintenance, and now I am gonna have major work done on a tooth tomorrow. (lucky me I cracked my tooth pretty good and now it's gonna cost me 400 bucks to get it fixed...my part) It never ceases. Well...there is always my birthday in December. I can HINT at the book to my kids......LOL. (or maybe my best friend...) I think the book was like 30 bucks or something. I think maybe I need one of those 20 pound books they have on special subjects though....LOL...one of those that feels like a sack of dog food when you pick it up. Maybe then I will get it straight....HAHAHA.

The color of Vizsla's is reddish coppery....just beautiful to look at. I have admired them in dog shows before. Gorgeous dogs. I have a Brazilian Mastiff. (the kids have various small dogs...I have the monster)

Oh by the way, point made. I just need to train my mind to see the fish like dogs I guess. The problem is that dogs don't vary like the sunfish do. (or not to me they don't lol)

Actually, they do.

Dogs (both domesticated and ferel) all fall under the species Canis lupus familiaris.

Thus JVT's dog and my Chihuahua are the same species, much like those 2 longear are the same species.

Well I see it as fish are fish. You need to narrow it down. Then you have bass, crappie, sunfish etc...that part is not hard. It is not like distinguishing between a Chihuahua, and a Great Dane. It is more like the difference between an American Foxhound, and an English Foxhound...only more variances it seems. I should be able to look at a pic, and say that is DEFINITELY this kind of fish. But I cannot. For most fish I can. But for some fish, it is hard for me. When I fished with my father as a kid, it was this is a catfish, bass, sunfish, white perch...and that was it. My son can determine many more fish now because as I am learning, so is he. So I have learned a lot from the contest. I still have much further study to do to feel comfortable with some fish, especially the sunfish varieties.

Looks like a plain old bluegill to me.