Green Sunfish & Scraper

Fished the Skunk River in Ames, IA with couple of buddies. Smallies were targeted and we did pretty good. I'm adding Green Sunfish to the species list and retracting Orange Spotted. Showing a couple specs within the Sunfish family.

Check out the scraper I found on one of my home creeks (wasn't found on the Skunk). I keep an eye out for this kind of stuff when I'm on the sandbars. This is my first artifact and a dandy at that.

Green Sunfish (top left) Hybrid Sunfish (top right)
Characteristics - bluish green back and sides with white to light yellow belly; sides of the head mottled with emerald and yellow streaks; black ear flap has a whitish or yellowish margin; leading edges of the dorsal, anal and caudal fins typically whitish or yellow-orange. (IDNR)

**From looking at pics online I'm pretty sure the top right sunny is a hybrid. The mouth is smaller than the Green Sunfish and his colors are a little different. A hybrid is a cross between a male bluegill and a female green sunfish. This spec top right has the deeper slab body and smaller mouth like his bluegill dad with the coloration of a green sunny.

Bluegill (bottom 2)
There's variation in the shades of bluegill. Coloration can vary greatly with age, season, and sex.

John-8, LM, SM, Bluegill, Quillback, Bullhead, Crappie, Spotted (Kentucky) Bass, Green Sunfish.