The Baddest Sunfish on the Planet

I will say this...I have caught just about every kind of sunfish out there to include coppernose bluegills, red ear sunfish, pure strain bluegills and pumpkinseed sunfish. But the undisputed, pound-for-pound toughest fighter among them all is the Hybrid Sunfish...specifically the green sunfish X bluegill cross, a lab produced fish that grows fast and fights like a demon. The colorations are astounding and the power of these fish on 2-pound gear are unbelievable.

Most hybrid sunfish waters are private ponds.

Hybrid sunfish aren't found just anywhere...they are stocked by some pond owners here and there to get some big panfish, and fast, into their lakes for fun and food. Almost 95% of the first generation, lab produced hybs are males. Hence reproduction of any subsequent efforts from the stocked fish leaves very few offspring. No overcrowding means fewer, and usually bigger, fish to go around. But females do exist. They grow fast, live about 8 to 10 years and are extremely aggressive, attaining 10 inch status quickly.

First cast of the day produced this powerhouse hybrid for Linda!

My wife Linda shows an outstanding 10.5 inch hybrid she recently caught and released at a local pond on one of my grass shrimp hair jig patterns.Notice the yellow/white pectoral fins and the 'hump-head' of this unblemished male...cool!

The pectoral fins on this male are only slightly edged in yellow. Very few hybrids look exactly the same. Some bear the body dynamics of a spawning male bluegill and others are more elongated with the shorter opercular eartab of a female bluegill. Most have the larger mouth of the parental green sunfish.

Say 'Ahhhh!'

This guy here took a jig tipped with a piece of nightcrawler and stayed still just long enough to let me take his picture. Check out the sun sparkles!

Almost like something out of the Amazon!

Fin edging and an orange/yellow crescent on the eartab is also a trait. Each spiney dorsal spine is etched as well. This one went 11.25 inches...another reason I dig hybrids!

Check out this big female that hit a grey grass shrimp jig! Wow!

And this 11.25 inch male that brutalized a Rattle Flash spoon, 10 feet down, in nearly 100-degree heat!

Anyway you look at it, even if they are created in a laboratory situation by mankind, they are still the baddest sunfish I have ever caught, or fought with! They very seldom occur naturally in the wild, but God gave man the ability to create something as beautiful as this fish, just like he gave you and I the ability to create something beautiful, whether it would be music, a story, a house, garden, or perhaps a relationship with a friend or family member. God did not mess up when he gave us the skills and gifts to create beautiful things.

Romans 1:20 says this...'For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities...His eternal power and divine nature...has been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.'

Ultimately, our handiwork is God's handiwork as well. Let us not be so haughty as to think we can do it on our own.