Record setting Ontario Orange-spotted Sunfish?

[zippyFX]

Was having no luck this morning on the rideau up in Ottawa, I did not have minnows so I was using some worms I had on hand; Small fish were steeling them so I kept going down hook sizes until I hit 1/32.

I caught a about dozen perch and a dozen rock bass, a couple of sunfish but then I caught an Sunfish with Orange accents. Did a quick google and found out it was an Orange-spotted Sunfish... The one I caught was about 5 inches (about 12 cm).... Which makes it bigger than the average adult length and it turns out this fish is rare in Ontario.

By the looks of this page http://ontariofishes.ca/fish_detail.php?FID=133 the largest recorded in Ontario was 9.9.


It figures.. I been trying for musky, pike, bass, walleye, and what I get is an Ontario record Sunfish... sigh, and I did not have my camera....

You guys believe me right?

Will I ever catch a break....


(Cross posted from http://www.fish-hawk.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=49558)

[MichaelAngelo]

Fascinating, are you sure? I haven't heard them being reported near Ottawa at all.

If my rod and reel are with me, my camera always is as well. Fishing is one of those things where you just never know what can happen!

I PM'd you someone you can contact about this.

[zippyFX]

Yes... looked exactly like this: http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/risk.php?do...87&lang=en

I saw the orange belly when I was reeling it in.... When I was unhooking it I notices all the gold flecs and thought it was neat and I flipped it back in.... Someone mentioned it being a pumpkin seed but there was no wavy blue green pattern.

[MuskieBait]

It's hard to believe...since the recorded range of the Orangespotted Sunfish in Ontario is restricted to the western end of Lake Erie and the Lake St. Clair region, at the very trip of the southwestern region of Ontario. Even if the cited "expansion" of their range is happening, I really don't see them popping up in Ottawa all of a sudden.

Here's a little info from the USGS website.

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet...ciesID=383

[Jeremy Ray Green]

Believe it or not, I have seen this species or something that looks almost exactly similar too this in the york region area.


~Jeremy.

---

There is also the Blue gill but that wasnt it.

~Jeremy.

[MuskieBait]

We can speculate all we want, but without a picture, it can never be verified. One of the easiest ID key for the Orangespotted Sunfish is the lack of red or orange dot on its black ear flap that is trimmed with a relatively wide white margin. All the other Ontario Lepomis species either has a red dot on the ear flap (Pumpkinseed, Northern Longear, Green and Warmouth) or it completely lacks the white margin and red dot (Bluegill). In Green Sunfish and Warmouth, the red dot may be faint or faded, but these two also has much narrower white margin around the ear flap. Plus, Green Sunfish and Warmouth looks nothing like the Orangespotted Sunfish, with clear colouration and physical differences between all three.

It is possible that a hybrid Lepomis shows intermediate characteristics, as is seen in Pumpkinseed X Bluegill or Green x Bluegill or Pumpkinseed x Green. To be completely honest, the range of Northern Longear (restricted to southernwestern Ontario in a couple of rivers and their tributaries), Warmouth (restricted to southwestern Ontario in a few bays of Lake Erie) and Orangespotted Sunfish (restricted to a couple of sites around the Detroit area) that it is highly unlikely...unless these fish were mixed up with other sunfish during a stocking or introduction event.

Picture speaks a thousand words...Or know the species characteristics beforehand well enough so the species can be accurately identified in the field.

As good as recollection and pictures are, fish ID can still be extremely hard. Here's a trick question...what species are these two? (I do have the answer)

[OldTimer]

Many see Elvis here and there............... smile

Cheers,

OldTimer

[MuskieBait]

(11-05-2012 07:01 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  Many see Elvis here and there............... smile

Cheers,

OldTimer

Same goes for Sasquatch and Loch Ness Monster............smile

[Giuga10]

(11-05-2012 07:01 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  Many see Elvis here and there............... smile

Cheers,

OldTimer

If you rearrange the letters in Elvis it spells "livEs"
Spoooooookyyy

Giuga10

[Jeremy Ray Green]

Thanks for your post muskiebait.


Just to add a interest to your post and the pictures init.
Crappie??


~Jeremy.