Wild caught juvenile Big Mouth Bass and Bluegills... Help?
- Thread starter Mary Ann W.
- Start date
Bronze phase channel catfish, most tend to lose this color as they age,
Also if you like smaller semipeaceful fish try orangespotted sunfish, they get about 3 inches
Bronze phase channel catfish, most tend to lose this color as they age,
Also if you like smaller semipeaceful fish try orangespotted sunfish, they get about 3 inches
wrec.igfa.org/WRecordsList.aspx?lc=AllTackle&cn=Bluegill
I believe that was a 15" fish
Sadly there's no pictures of that fish, however you can check out the lake havasu redear sunfish world record and there's a picture of a huge hybrid bluegill of over 5 pounds from a pond
If you want to keep native fish there is a plethora of species far more suitable than blue gills and LMB. I am rather fond of blue spotted sunfish, I used to breed them commercially and 3" or so is their max size. Black banded sunfish are in the same range if a little smaller and small catfish like madtoms and spotted bullheads are nice too.
I am fond of yellow bullheads, nice personable fish and active feeders even feeding from your hands eventually. They get a bit big but raising a fry in a tank will result in some dwarfing, probably stay under 12" or so depending on the population you acquire them from. Brown bullheads are nice looking fish but really do get to over 18" even in a tank if kept correctly and most bullheads do like to be part of a group.
yellow perch in my area seldom get larger than 8" or so but some populations get much larger. If you like predators redfin pickerels are the best choice, staying small and very colorful aggressive feeders on gambusia sized fish. Red fins usually stay below 12" in most populations, males are much smaller than the females.
Then you have all the minnows, way too many to go into here, but many are great aquarium fishes. Live bearers like Mollies, least killifish, and gambusia are easy to keep and catch. Top minnows, darters, jumprocks, the list is quite long.
I'm not sure where you live but if you are catching plecos they are probably part of a large number of invasives that escaped fish farms in southern states like florida or texas.
If you are interested in native fish this site is all about the natives! http://forum.nanfa.org/
Where are you getting this information? I target sunfish all over the state of Texas and Arkansas, I am good at it, and there is not a single public water fishery nor a privately managed water body that I have fished or heard of that has average 12" fish. There are fisheries I have access to where I can get Coppernose & Redear over 11" and hybrids over 10". But they don't average that size. Don't get me wrong, I'd loved to be proven wrong on private water having an average of foot long Sunfish. I will start figuring out a way to fish it as soon as it's verified.
I understand your point to the OP that the tank is much to small for LMB or BG's, but why go so far over the top that people (like me) who fish for/collect/keep natives must jump in and say something?
And to the other poster that said LMB get almost 3ft, no they do not, they do not grow that big in a home aquarium. They don't grow that big in Falcon Lake lol.
I have high praise for native fish. I keep them in a 1100gl Koi pond, a 250gl, 160gl, 40gl, 32gl aquariums. If anyone was going to brag on these fish it would be me, but y'all probably cant even keep a poker face when you post some of these exaggerations.
And to the OP- Good rule to keep, ---> Do some research before you put a predator in your home. I would rather have a long tank than a tall tank when keeping natives, and must have a strong filtration system, Sunnies/Bass/Cats are dirty. What I mean is, some 75gl are better than other 75gl aquariums. Gook luck to you, natives are a blast to keep, you just happened to pick some of the more demanding species, and commonly collected species that have unfortunately ended in dead fish stories because people didn't understand their fish requirements.
You can grow bluegill quite easily to 12 inches in an outdoor goldfish pond, the key is to bring them in before the water cools so they don't reach sexual maturity (which causes them to stop , slow down growth ), keep the bluegills warm in tanks thru the winter, then put back in goldfish type pond when water warms. After two or three years when the desired size is reached you can let them breed,the juveniles then won't breed till they're roughly the size of the parents, (make sure to raise the fry with the parents ).Where are you getting this information? I target sunfish all over the state of Texas and Arkansas, I am good at it, and there is not a single public water fishery nor a privately managed water body that I have fished or heard of that has average 12" fish. There are fisheries I have access to where I can get Coppernose & Redear over 11" and hybrids over 10". But they don't average that size. Don't get me wrong, I'd loved to be proven wrong on private water having an average of foot long Sunfish. I will start figuring out a way to fish it as soon as it's verified.
I understand your point to the OP that the tank is much to small for LMB or BG's, but why go so far over the top that people (like me) who fish for/collect/keep natives must jump in and say something?
And to the other poster that said LMB get almost 3ft, no they do not, they do not grow that big in a home aquarium. They don't grow that big in Falcon Lake lol.
I have high praise for native fish. I keep them in a 1100gl Koi pond, a 250gl, 160gl, 40gl, 32gl aquariums. If anyone was going to brag on these fish it would be me, but y'all probably cant even keep a poker face when you post some of these exaggerations.
And to the OP- Good rule to keep, ---> Do some research before you put a predator in your home. I would rather have a long tank than a tall tank when keeping natives, and must have a strong filtration system, Sunnies/Bass/Cats are dirty. What I mean is, some 75gl are better than other 75gl aquariums. Gook luck to you, natives are a blast to keep, you just happened to pick some of the more demanding species, and commonly collected species that have unfortunately ended in dead fish stories because people didn't understand their fish requirements.
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I have experience doing this, and wish to later attempt to grow one to at least 19 inches.
