I caught 3 of these today in one spot. I never caught these before. The face was bright red. It looks more orange in the picture. What species is it?

J...Gots to be a red ear or hybrid red ear...

Hybrid for sure. Redear and who knows what!



The general jaw markings are like a Redear. However the orange colors show the hybrid in the fish. Only guessing but would say Redear/Longear!

It's a Spotted Jowl Red Ear sunfish !

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Hybrid Sunfish!

J...where did you catch these ? ...might give another clue as to what they are. The colorful spots on the face definitely make me think of the pumpkinseed sunfish I have seen videos of, but don't think we have them in Texas, unless maybe a private stocked lake. So they look to me like a red ear - pumpkinseed mix.

Side Note: Love seeing what the "Gill Busters" have to say!

He told me he caught them on Lady Bird Lake ! He also said he caught a couple of more just like it. Way to far south for a pumpkin seed!

Thanks for the replies. I showed it to a friend of mine and he thought it was a punkinseed too. He sent me some photos of punkinseeds and it matched. I thought maybe with all the flooding they got washed down stream from a cooler climate location.

I sent the picture in to TPWD to see what they have to say.

All I know is I've never caught anything like it and I've caught lots of hybrids and redear. My first thought was maybe it was a cross between a red spotted sunfish and redear. I did catch a red spotted sunfish the same day. Not in the same location though. And they are so small that it wouldn't be likely.

Banker answered your question Vogey but yes I caught it on Lady Bird lake in Austin. I caught a total of 3 in one spot. The body on the other 2 were a little bit lighter in color.

If TPWD says it's a hybrid then I'll tell them you already named it Too bad they weren't half a pound, I could have recorded your new species name

Pumpkinseed!

Hope you catch another one and it is Yuuuge ! LOL !

Got to say that's the most interesting and handsome red ear hybrid I've ever seen.

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OK...What I am thinking now, is that it is a red ear that has eaten a lot of crayfish or other creatures with a lot of red pigmentation that is influencing the color. If you caught others that look the same, it is most likely diet that is making these guys have the red spots. I wish we had pumpkinseeds down here, because they are a very beautiful fish.

You just might have a point Steve!