I Think I Caught A Spot!

Was able to get out to the County Line a couple days ago and get some fishing in before sunset. It was unseasonably warm for the middle of November, but I figured that would help the bite and the fish would be moving around more. They were definitely on the move, but not all were biting. I did catch a good number and some nice ones to boot once I found the right pool. The creek has A LOT of vegetation and algae in some places that I’m not sure is gonna get killed of this winter. Normally a good amount of veg is a great thing, but this much makes fishing difficult and gives sneaks and robbers abundant hidey holes and makes so the apex predators can’t thin out the smaller Sunnies. It was great getting out there, but the mosquitoes were epic! Don’t remember that being a problem in Mid November. Oh well.

Oh yeah! I’m pretty sure I caught a Spotted Sunfish on the back end of this vid! I was really taken aback by that! I believe this was my first one since we’ve been back in TX. Even though they are smaller generally, they are still well developed when they are full grown. Cool little fish! If y’all can help me ID, I’d appreciate it! Thank y’all!

Simply "Living the Dream"! Enjoyed the video!



Side Note: Looked like a Spotted Sunfish! I have caught only a couple on the creeks this year. The Comal River is loaded with them.

Enjoyed the video as always. Keep up the great production.



Side Note: Spotted Sunfish are a blast to catch especially on a 3wt Fly Rod. They are one very aggressive fish and for their size a good fighter!

Nice video Jagg...I am not familiar with the "spotted sunfish". Maybe Osbornfishing can give some background/history/facts on this creature...

Hey Jagg, great video. It is difficult to identify the smaller sunfish without having them in hand, but the fish in the video certainly has a lot of characteristics of a spotted sunfish (Lepomis punctatus). I would be comfortable calling it a spotted sunfish, but that is a pretty big one. The problem with sunfish is all the hybridization. Excluding the most common Texas sunfish, it can be difficult to get sunfish identified to species from a video. Still, it looks like you had an excellent day on the water. Keep the pictures coming.

For reference, here is a good summary of the Texas sunfish from the TPW Magazine October 2012 archive:

Sunfish in Texas
Bluegill
(Lepomis macrochirus)
● Most common sunfish in Texas
● Easily identified by black spot at base of dorsal fin
● State record is 2.02 pounds from Lampasas River in 1999
Redear sunfish
(Lepomis microlophus)
● Largest of Lepomis species in Texas
● Native to eastern two-thirds of Texas
● Identified by red tab on opercle (ear) flap
● State record is 2.99 pounds from Lady Bird Lake in 1997
Green sunfish
(Lepomis cyanellus)
● Common throughout Texas
● Identified by relatively large mouth and turquoise markings around mouth
● Commonly found along rocky dam faces
● State record is 1.30 pounds from Burke-Crenshaw Lake in 2005
Redbreast sunfish
(Lepomis auritus)
● Not native to Texas but currently found in the eastern portion of the state
● Identified by long, black opercle (ear) flap and yellow belly
● State record is 1.63 pounds from the Comal River in 1997
Warmouth
(Lepomis gulosus)
● Found throughout Texas but seldom in large numbers
● Similar in appearance to green sunfish but has a more mottled appearance
● Ambush predator that hides in rocks, stumps or vegetation to wait for prey
● State record is 1.30 pounds from Lady Bird Lake in 1991
Other sunfish species in Texas include longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis), spotted sunfish (Lepomis punctatus), dollar sunfish (Lepomis marginatus), bantam sunfish (Lepomis symmetricus), redspotted sunfish (Lepomis miniatus) and orangespotted sunfish (Lepomis humilis). These sunfish species usually aren’t large enough to provide recreational value.

Great post. Thanks for sharing.

Enjoyed the video as always. Thanks for sharing.

I appreciate all the kind words and views again y’all!

Definitely had a great day on the water for sure! Thanks for all the great info and thanks for the ID help!

Tough to tell from the video but looked like an orange spot to me. Like Banker mentioned, lots of them in the comal and I have caught many in various creeks feeding the quad, especially near the state park. They are cool looking fish, would love to be able to transport a few to where I'm at in AZ so I could have a native tank to remind me of home.

That is a Redspotted Sunfish Torrey. I can catch them pretty regularly in a couple creeks in East Texas and one Creek in Austin. Thats why I like to target Sunfish, allows an angler to see many different species.

It was either 2015 or 2016, I was fishing with Chuck and Mike near SA, and Chuck caught several Redspotted. They make for great aquarium fish, most people have never seen one before.

Nice one on the video, T.

I appreciate the help and the kind words, my fellow sunfish chasers! a great community we have indeed!

Thanks for the clarification dfitz. I agree, great community wish I could meet you guys.

Cool video. Thanks for sharing. Is that reel a 6725XT?

>E

Thanks for taking a look. Yeah, good eye. Love my
Pflueger President XTs!

Well, if you ever want to get rid of any of the "maroon and gold" ones I will gladly take them off your hands or if you see any for sale let me know. I have one (ebay) and would like to get at least two more. I need them to go on some custom Waterloo rods I have in TXST/SWT colors.