Hey Guys, 

Was fishing a local lake and caught this little guy on a 5in GY Senko. Me and friend couldn't agree on whether it was a crappie, blue gill, and some kind of hybrid. The biggest confusion was just the size of the mouth. Even the larger Bluegill in this lake have mouths i can barely get my thumb in, but this mouth was MUCH larger than usual. Anyways, thanks for the help guys!

I believe that's a Warmouth. Not certain because they're not around here, but I think that's what it is.

That is a warmouth and a dandy! (don't confuse it with the green sunfish). 

That is a warmouth and a dandy! (don't confuse it with the green sunfish). 

This guy sure was aggressive! He took on a worm longer than him!

 

Just curious, does anyone know why the mouth is so much bigger? Is it some relative of another fish? Its just the only panfish I have seen with a mouth that large.

That's a large mouth bream hahaha

Just curious, does anyone know why the mouth is so much bigger? Is it some relative of another fish? Its just the only panfish I have seen with a mouth that large.

They are in the same family as sunfish and bass. They kind of have the same looking mouth as a Crappie.

They are predators. Like green sunfish they like to hang around shore under rocks and wood ready to ambush small minnows/fry. But they will take bugs and small crawifsh as well. Their mouth is big enough to take crawfish and minnows. They are similar to a crappie in that aspect.

 

Bluegill have small mouths because they are pretty much scavengers and opportunistic feeders. They just cruise around eating bugs and whatever will fit in their mouth. Different mouths for different forage. 

Warmouth and Green Sunfish are kill-on-sight by the NJDEP as an invasive species. They taste pretty good also.

Yep war mouth I've caught some crazy colored ones. They are super aggressive and get caught on 5 inch worms. I eat em as they are very tasty.

love when I come across these guys. awesome fighters.

I used to confuse these with Rock Bass.  Had one absolutely SLAM a Caffeine Shad the other day.

The ones we get around here are often very colorful fish, and aggressive. This one ate a 1/2oz brush jig.

The ones we get around here are often very colorful fish, and aggressive. This one ate a 1/2oz brush jig.

 

I'm pretty sure that's a shellcracker. I like catching them in the spring with a fly rod. Warmouths and Rockbass do look similar, but are usually colored differently. I don't get too many, but when you run a lure by them they are very aggressive.

I'm pretty sure that's a shellcracker. I like catching them in the spring with a fly rod. Warmouths and Rockbass do look similar, but are usually colored differently. I don't get too many, but when you run a lure by them they are very aggressive.

It was for sure a warmouth and not a shellcracker, or redear sunfish. Shellcrackers have the red "ear" spot on their gill plate and small mouths like a regular bluegill. Warmouth have much larger mouths like a green sunfish or rock bass.

I wish I had a pic of a warmouth. They are super colorful and the mouth is like the size of a Quarter or larger. Also there body's are pretty thick.

Blue basser has a crazy pic because the head color is like a warmouth but a tiny mouth. I mean these things around here look like a blue gill bred with a large mouth and they have tons of red.

Yea they definitely are agressive. I had a pet warmouth in my goldfish pond one time that was about 8" long (we put all kinds of stuff in that pond) he was doing great until he choked to death on a bluegill that was way too big for him to fit in his mouth! They are really cool fish, I love catching them.

The ones we get around here are often very colorful fish, and aggressive. This one ate a 1/2oz brush jig.

 

You were there and saw it live (and judging by your thumb you've seen a few fish ) So yeah. There are several less popular sunfish and basses that look quite similar, and can be easily misidentified.

That is a warmouth and a dandy! (don't confuse it with the green sunfish). 

 

That's definitely a warmouth, which are definitely aggressive and definitely strike bass lures.

 

As Kevin pointed out, warmouth are often confused with green sunfish.

Colors may vary but the 'cheeks' are the best place to look for quick positive ID:.

> Warmouth:         A few brownish cheek-stripes fan-out at eye level

> Green Sunfish:   A few squiggly blue cheek-lines run beneath the eyes.

 

Roger

 

I uploaded a picture on my profile of like 45 war mouth we caught with a few bream haha good eaten!

Blue basser has a crazy pic because the head color is like a warmouth but a tiny mouth. I mean these things around here look like a blue gill bred with a large mouth and they have tons of red.

 

 

Red? on a warmouth? That's a new one. Are you sure it wasn't a green sunfish?

 

No definitely a warmouth because I showed it to fish and game.way bigger mouth than what you guys are showing same stripped head as blue basser pic.

Dude Wikipedia it it clearly shows a warmouth with orange and red with a large mouth.

It was for sure a warmouth and not a shellcracker, or redear sunfish. Shellcrackers have the red "ear" spot on their gill plate and small mouths like a regular bluegill. Warmouth have much larger mouths like a green sunfish or rock bass.

so thats a redear/shellcracker? nice, glad you posted that pic, i caught one of those this weekend at smith mtn lake that went 10.25 inches. SML isnt known for big panfish because of competition from shad and alewives. though they have some huge crappie in there. i measured it because its not often to catch a decent sized panfish there.

 

i was killing the panfish on white and pink trout magnets, chartruese caught a few but wasnt as good as white or pink. even caught a largemouth on a pink one.

Red? on a warmouth? That's a new one. Are you sure it wasn't a green sunfish?

 

We catch them with red on them all the time, bright orange as well. They're very pretty fish that come in a multitude of colors like a lot of sunfish species do. That's a great looking greenie in your picture, makes me want to to flathead fishing