Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) Identification Guide | + Fishing Tips

You will learn how to identify the green sunfish from other species in this video. Fishing information included for this wonderful species. This common sunfish, or lepomid, or bream fish, is a beautiful freshwater species native to North America and one of the most common sunfishes. The green sunfish exists in Canada, Mexico and all over the United States. We'll thoroughly discuss green sunfish features used for understanding this fish.
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#fishing #fish #outdoors
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:45 Range
1:19 Promiscuous
1:41 Coloration
3:08 Mouth/Jaw Size
3:38 Pectoral Fin
3:58 Dorsal Fin Blotch
4:55 Anal Fin Blotch
5:11 Body Depth
5:31 Fin Spines/Rays
5:53 Size
6:11 Opercular Flap
6:35 Rakers
6:48 Habitat
7:09 Fishing Tips

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Remember all the guide is freely available at ► www.koaw.org/sunfishes Anyone else enjoy catching greenies?

[@johndoe-uz2kc]

Your definitely right on not needing fancy gear to catch these fish. Growing up there was a lake by my house that had only green sunfish. And the only thing I brought was a hook with a small piece of shiny metal attached that would move and flash and that was tied to a 5 foot piece of line which was tied to a five foot stick. On a sunny day all i had to do was flick it out and clouds of greens would flock around it,i would limit out in 10 minutes every time, good memories.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

A great story about green sunfish! Definitely a cheap-rig but it did the trick. Thanks for sharing Richard!

[@kalebmitchell1481]

Literally only thing I use besides a bobber and worm, my dad taught me I can catch anything on a grub jig

[@jeremyblackwater439]

I love green sunnies. They even make decent aquarium fish 🐠

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Me too Jeremy; I'm always happy to see a green.

[@tagg946]

theyre my absolute favorite sunfish to catch, plus they have appetites of bass. i catch them all the time top water fishing with wake baits. id love to own one in a tank.

[@jeremyblackwater439]

@@tagg946 they do well in a tank. Very intelligent and aggressive fish

[@reallysilly5953]

I have one in my aquarium

[@stevesteve4350]

Your shows don't get the credit they deserve. Good attention to detail.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Much appreciated Steve! It's a fairly new channel so the KNFS community here is still building. Thanks for the kind words.

[@tonythelovegun]

I freaking loved this video! I am a fishing addict, in every sense of the term. I love the gear, the different baits / tackle, as well as the various methods used to land my next PB or scratch another species off of my bucket list. However, I have recently been putting more time into trying to actually understand my target species and get to know their behavior as well as the correct identification measures. This video was so helpful and enlightening to me as an angler who wants to know more about the fish that I catch and I can’t thank you enough for your time spent educating us all on one of the funnest fish to catch. Great video bro ….I’m an instant fan of your work here on KZbin!!! Keep up the good work sir! Focker out.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Thanks very much Tony! It's always nice to know a fellow angler is appreciating more of the biology behind the catches. And yeah, I could be considered a fishing addict too.

[@richardcrosby6682]

I love these fish. They're so pretty. I feed them almost every day at a nearby pond and they line up in rows whenever they see me by the water's edge. If I put my hand near the water they'll even come right up to me. They're really good fish.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Hmm...interesting. Thanks for sharing that anecdote!

[@iancatt5915]

I have some in a aquarium. They are small bass. Fun fish to watch and great colors.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

They do look like small bass! Thanks for sharing Ian.

[@aaronrhoades509]

One of my favorite baits for green sunfish is black soldier fly larvae! Add some chicken feed to a little table scraps and when you start to see soldier fly larvae from 3/4 "of an inch to 1 " it's time to go fishing

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Can't say I've tried solider fly larvae for greenies. Thanks for the tip Aaron!

[@cloudyeight]

Well made video! The best I've seen to date. I'll be watching the others you have on various species details.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Appreciate that, Cloudy Eight! Glad you're enjoying these videos.

[@Mgeigs]

I have a native green sunfish aquarium...Prob my favorite sun fish! Cool channel man. I just discovered it yesterday and I am learning a lot from watching your videos.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Glad you enjoy the channel Matt! Green sunfish are pretty cool; great colors on 'em. Thanks for the comment!

[@chadburton3337]

You're not getting a ton of comments but keep doing what you're doing! Sunfish are near impossible to ID for average anglers and this is JUST what we need to better ID them . College level Sunfish ID. Please lmk if you have an account on iNaturalist. I would love to submit questionable sunfish pics to you to get a positive ID and I know hundreds of other anglers that would love that as well

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Thanks Ian! It is in my hopes that the guide helps anglers of all types. And yeah, I am on iNaturalist under the name "koaw". I usually check in at least once or twice a week to help out with ID's on lepomids.

[@diegogonzalez7875]

My favorite lures for green sunfish is ice fishing jigs rigged with tiny soft plastics

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Nice, thanks for sharing your tips for catching greenies!

[@findinghumorthruitall]

I caught three in Southern California around night time at a creek I used a green spinning bait with gold

[@tlsparks]

These little suckers stole my bait all morning. Finally got one. I go to this catch and realize pond that has them loaded. I usually catch 2-3 but will definitely try different hooks and different baits to have better luck not getting robbed so often. Love this video!

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Yeah, those greens can hit pretty hard. Glad you're catching 'em and thanks for the comment.

[@johnharrison6745]

One of my favorite little fishes; along with creek chubs. Both are very UNDERRATED, in my opinion. 👍

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Ah, cheers to that John. Not many people give respect to the creek chub. I especially enjoy seeing the males when they are in their breeding colors with the horns on the head.

[@jeffhudick2385]

Great video. Thank you! Are you an ichthyologist?

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Thanks Jeff. Technically I'm educated as an evolutionary biologist, but main focus has been on ichthyology. And nowadays, depending on who you ask, typically ichthyology is usually referring to people studying mostly the systematics and taxonomy of fishes -- so I am more of just a fisheries biologist these days. Either way, I like studying fishes!

[@samsfishingchannel.4233]

I have a pond full of these guys. Thar I started talking care of. Full of green sunfish. But I called them rock basses because that's what I thought they we're and will continue calling them that in private. The pond never ever gets fished. There are greensun fish longer than your hand. Just a cool fish.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Haha, I like how you'll keep calling 'em rock basses. Sounds like you have some giants in that pond. Thanks for sharing Sam!

[@samsfishingchannel.4233]

@@KNFishingSmarts I bet there are some over a pound. I just gotta do more fishing

[@dandimo12]

I have a green sunfish in my tank right now. I also have an orange spotted and red ear.

[@dandimo12]

Actually after watching this I'm not sure about the orange spotted

[@KNFishingSmarts]

You must have a good-sized tank Dan! Hopefully the guide page we have for this species will help ya decide if that's an orangespotted or not: www.koaw.org/orangespotted-sunfish

[@werftv4580]

man.. if you ever come to Southern CA ... hit me up.. we have hordes of GS, including some bigger ones, here in the local creeks.. lol

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Appreciate the offer! It's interesting seeing the variants of greens outside their native ranges.

[@sarahlarson8226]

Never expected fish to be so beautiful! Question: do people eat Greens?

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Hey Sarah. Yup, some people do eat green sunfish. The filets aren't too big--so usually a number of 'em need to be harvested for a decent meal. Most anglers just do catch-and-release fishing though.

[@sarahlarson8226]

@@KNFishingSmarts, I wonder how many people are temporarily shifting to catch and eat with so many folks out of work or underemployed due to the pandemic. Maybe sometime you could do a video about how to know whether the fish you catch are safe to eat.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

@@sarahlarson8226 Indeed recreational fishing has picked up during the pandemic. As far as a video on fish that are safe to eat: It's a good idea but sort of tricky to produce. I'll think on it though. The meat on pretty much all fish in the U.S. is edible, however, the contaminants like methylmercury and PCB's may be higher in certain waters. (I made a video on this already on Koaw Nature: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6fam42pmr5gb9k ) It's really up to fishers to look at their state's fishing regulations to see local consumption recommendations.

[@doyourbest.9554]

I got a few today. First time for green sunfish on worms. Beautiful fish. As well as my PB Chub! Microtackle. I'm trying to catch these guys for bait.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Nice! And grats on the PB chub. Greens do make good bait. Good luck!

[@joedas2370]

I have a green sunfish I got as a fry a few months ago. It has more than doubled in size. I'd say it's currently 1.5-2 inches long. I was wondering if there was any way to to tell the gender of it

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Hey Joe! Green sunfish are one of the most difficult to ID because there is very little difference in appearance between males and females. Really, at that size, you'd have to dissect the fish and look at the gonads, of which, I'm sure you don't want to do. What you can do is wait a bit longer until it is larger. Usually around 2-3 inches green sunfish reach sexual maturity. If you have the water temp and light cycle right to mimic the breeding season conditions, the specimen will either develop eggs (female) or sperm (male). And you can easily see which it is by very gently squeezing the abdomen and seeing what comes out of the urogenital opening. Milt or sperm just looks like white milk and any eggs look like small orangish balls. I put some images of bluegill urogenital openings, eggs, and sperm on my site. www.koaw.org/bluegill Good luck!

[@mixedup72]

Catching green sunfish with a fly rod and panfish popper is so much fun.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

I would agree. Cheers!

[@nathanraines5212]

I have two for pets. About 4" long. They hide a lot but they LOVE night crawlers

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Juicy meals for 'em. Nice.

[@mrmicksicksux]

It'd be awesome if I could identify make from female :D apparently no one has easy to identify way to do this

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Yeah, this species has little overt sexual dimorphisms. The males will become a bit more vibrant during this time of year (mating season.) Also, you can check the condition of the urogential canal. A gential squeeze on the abdomen could reveal some seminal fluid (white substance) to show it's male. Females this time of year will have a larger, swollen opening. I put some images on my site of a comparison of female/male urogential openings but for bluegill. www.koaw.org/bluegill . Hope that helps a bit.

[@mrmicksicksux]

@@KNFishingSmarts I'm fairly certain Big George (my pet green sunfish) is a boy, he's big and pretty and from everything I've seen just the fact that he's big pinpoints him as male, my problem is catching a female cause they're typically smaller, but when the males are around that size they all look similar. So I don't if I'm catching a juvenile boy or a girl, I want to mate big George so bad but I can't find him a girlfriend 😭

[@333deathprone333]

If you hook the bit of worm over your hook longways so the bit worm is completely over the hook with just the tip of the hook sticking out your bait will last much longer. My record is 27 bluegill off the same bit of worm.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

27 on the same worm?! Impressive. Thanks for the fishing tip Don.

[@thehunted_2019]

I understand why people wouldn't like them, but when you catch the bigger ones on lures it's like bass fishing

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Yeah...big greens = fun.

[@joehodges1311]

Thank you for responding to me via Facebook. You need to need to start a Facebook type social media. Call it fishbook!!!

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Haha, well...you do have a good idea. But there are already a few big platforms out there like that such as FishAngler and FishBrain.

[@KyrenaH]

I used to hate these things. Whenever I'd go fishing for bass these things would be the only fish I would catch.

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Ah, must have been an interesting system to have such an abundance of greens taking baits over bass.

[@chrisfoley3320]

We call that a warmouth

[@KNFishingSmarts]

Where's that at?

[@chrisfoley3320]

@@KNFishingSmarts Here in Va. But know one has every really explained each species the way you did. What we call a warmouth has a way larger mouth than any other sunfis. A 6 inch warmouth will have a 1-1/2 to 2 inch mouth opening.

[@dcac9256]

Green sunfish, an invasive species, has occupied Chinese lakes

[@KNFishingSmarts]

I'll have to look into that more. Thanks for sharing!