# New to the Forums



## Juikar (May 27, 2013)

Hello everyone,

As the title implies, I'm a new member. I've been browsing these forums for a few weeks and I like what I've seen. I'd appreciate some help identifying a few fish. But first, a little about myself:

I grew up in Rhode Island fishing the Atlantic with my grandfather. Infrequently. When I was 10, the family and I moved to SE Ohio, where he and I occasionally hit up small rivers and lakes. So while I'm not a complete beginner, I'm certainly new-ish. This year (21 years later), I really got the fishing bug! I've been on multiple outings thusfar and have learned quite a bit. My goal is to start at the bottom and learn all about a particular species until I "master" it. (Hah! Nice joke, huh?) Then I'll move along to a bigger, badder species. So far it's been almost exclusively bluegill. I've recently added a half dozen Largemouth to my count. I will soon be purchasing a canoe. For now, it's all been bank fishing. Different catfish species are my next targets, with bass hunting between bites.

Anyway...this weekend I visited with family in Findlay, OH. While up there I went to Riverside Park and taught 5 kids how to do some bobber fishing. 31 total fishing were caught in a couple hours. This included the four I managed to pull in between the many hook changes/rebaits/fish releases. My 12 year old hillbilly of a sister even managed to jump a frog using her hands! lol The majority of the fish caught were 1) bluegill, 2) what I assumed to be pumpkinseeds but may in fact have been green sunfish, and 3) what I thought were rock bass but may have been warmouth bass. There were also a couple brown trout (I'm pretty sure) and possibly a tiny rainbow trout.

Now let's see if I can figure out how to post links to the pictures in my album:

Pumpkinseed or Green Sunfish? (oddly colored)
 

Rainbow Trout?
 

Rock or Warmouth Bass?


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## JignPig Guide (Aug 3, 2007)

I'm leaning toward top to bottom- Pumpkin Seed/Shiner/Warmouth.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Pumpkin seed, some type of shiner, warmouth.


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

the 2nd pic looks like a creek chub


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

Welcome to the site!

Top to bottom:
Pumpkin Seed
Common Shiner
Warmouth


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## Juikar (May 27, 2013)

Awesome. They were all brand new species for me so I could only guess. Thanks everyone!


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## TurtleJugger (Jun 2, 2013)

welcome to the site! I'm a new guy too lol


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Welcome to the site. The first is not a p-seed looks **** a shellcracker Shiner and a stunted Rock bass. glad the kids had fun!!


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## Bassfinatic (May 15, 2013)

Welcome....to me the first pick has too big of a mouth to be a p-seed...very likely a green or warmouth...nice pix


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Bassfinatic said:


> Welcome....to me the first pick has too big of a mouth to be a p-seed...very likely a green or warmouth...nice pix


War mouth---------- I think you are right


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## SmittyN330 (May 17, 2013)

Welcome to the site!!!

1) Green Sunfish

2) Shiner

3) Rock Bass


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## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

Welcome to OGF. Enjoy!


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

As smitty said

Greensunfish
Striped shiner 
Rockbass

Its understandable if people don't know, but why answer a persons question with wild guesses.


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## bassbully (Feb 28, 2011)

Welcome to the site!


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


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## foxbites (Mar 15, 2010)

green sunfish, shiner, and a rock bass.


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## LastShadow (Mar 16, 2013)

You have to excuse these simpletons for their lack of knowledge. Let me bloviate:

1. Nice Avatar
2. pic is clearly Flathead Catfish bait. They love the soft rayed panfish. Hook it in the tail and tie it to a 1oz egg sinker. Throw near a rocky bank at 4AM in the morning and you will have a Fish Ohio Flatty in an hour tops.
3. pic 2 is a steelhead if I ever saw one.
4. pic 4 is obviously a rock bass or a walleye. The only way to distinguish between is 2 is to define which direction you were facing when you cast. Facing North, its a walleye. Facing more North its a Rocky.

If you ever have any other problems just PM me...I am especially effective at identifying the various earthworm species from this region and their proper care when kept as pets.


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## jonnythfisherteen2 (Mar 5, 2011)

1 Is a green sunfish/pumpkinseed hybrid.
2 is a chub, creek i believe.
3 is no doubt a rock bass.


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## OHfishfinder (Jan 26, 2012)

100% correct in order

Pumpkin seed/Green sunfish hybrid
Trout perch 
Rock bass

(This is from an ODNR fish specialist)


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


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## FishNerd (Apr 22, 2013)

I'm seeing a lot of conflicting answers here, perhaps I'm adding to the confusion but I'm going to try to live up to my screen name:

The first fish is definitely a pumpkinseed, probably a young female, although I agree with some others that it may be a hybrid (with what I'm not sure, maybe redear or bluegill). Pumpkinseeds and redears have the same type of gill flap (black with a red/white edge), but the pattern is definitely that of a young pumpkin seed. Redears have a pattern that's more crappie-like. Check this picture of a young pumpkinseed:









Your second one is NOT a trout perch. The eye is too small, the mouth is shaped wrong, the patterning is different, the scales are too big, the dorsal fin is shaped differently and (this is the biggie), there's no adipose fin. This is a trout perch:









And this is a common shiner, as someone else mentioned:








So it's definitely a common shiner (and bait!)

For the last fish, it's not a warmouth. The clincher is the anal fin spines. Warmouth, like other sunfish, only have 3 spines on the anal fin. Rock bass have 6, like the one in your picture. Usually, too, rock bass have red eyes and warmouth do not, but this varies depending on the time of year, age of the fish, etc.


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## FishNerd (Apr 22, 2013)

Btw, as I see you're now a resident of Athens ohio, you have a lot of nearby fishing opportunities! You have the Hocking and Ohio rivers (Willow Island, Racine, and Bellville are your closest dams), and the Muskingum is not far away. You've also got some of the best fishing lakes in the state within an hour drive - Burr Oak, Snowden, Dow, Fox, Rose (Hocking Hills), Lake Hope, and Lake Logan. Nothing wrong with catching little guys, I've caught more fish this year than any year ever, but nothing over 20" so far. Doesn't matter to me, any fish is worth it


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## Juikar (May 27, 2013)

After reading up on what's been suggested, I'm sticking with:

Green Sunfish (probably hybrid)
Striped Shiner
Rock Bass

Thanks everyone!


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## greendragon (Sep 20, 2007)

Welcome to OGF and good fishing to you sir.


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

OHfishfinder said:


> 100% correct in order
> 
> Pumpkin seed/Green sunfish hybrid
> Trout perch
> ...


33.3% full of crap if not more. 

Sent from my MB886 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


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## rustyfish (Apr 27, 2004)

Not a trout perch and not a common shiner (basically northern ohio only)
So out of 100% trout perch and definitely common shiner there is zero truth. A ODNR secretary would not have called that a trout perch. 
It is a striped shiner.

I will admit that after looking at the first sunfish on the computer instead of my phone that it may very well be a hybrid. But it could easily be a light colored female green sunfish which is my first guess. I find it funny that people who can't identify a rockbass or a striped shiner are giving exact sunfish hybrid crosses. 

Hybrid sunfish are very tricky. Color variation and sex of the fish can have just as much impact on appearance. If there are hybrids there then why assume there is only one cross. A hybrid can cross with another hybrid or a third species. Is it a F1, F2, F3. In some places no true blood line even exist even though the fish may look like a certain species. The more times hybrids are crossed the more they end up looking like one parent species.
So go ahead and tell me about space travel while you are at it. 

Its ok to say I don't know or Id guess this. But why guarantee a random guess.

Edit: Missed the Findlay Ohio part but it's still a striped shiner.


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