How Important Is A Family Name?

I have been catching fish for as long as I can remember.  I have caught dozens of species.  I have always known that there are separate species of panfish that I catch, but for some reason they always just lump in my mind as "bream" or "perch".  An incident yesterday has changed my perspective.

It is not uncommon to encounter these small fish in ponds and lakes while fishing for bass, especially when using soft plastic worms or lizards.  These little freshwaters jewels will be tempted by the curly tails of these lures and grab them as they come through their area.  It can be annoying when my concentration is focused on landing bass.  If I have a rod rigged with a Roostertail or Beetle Spin, I will often toss them out to snag these guys.  Yesterday's sunset fishing trip was no exception.

I was slowly working a Texas-rigged 4" watermelon red lizard near the banks of a local pond.  It was rigged with a 1/16 ounce bullet weight and a 1/0 hook with the hope that a largemouth bass would find it appealing.  After a few casts, I felt a tug.  Experience told me that it was not a bass.  A few casts later the lizard went through the same area and the tug was felt once more.  This time I decided to give a good hookset to see what would happen.  (Keep in mind that I have done this a bunch of times, as "bream" bites are very commonplace in the ponds I frequent.  The mouths on these fish are so small that the hook is not ever near getting into them.)

As I jerked the rod, a small fish came flying out of the water over my head.  There was no fight.  It was all in the air and over with in less than a second.  I looked and saw this fellow dangling from my rod. 

I was amazing that it was able to inhale an entire 4' lizard and a 1/0 offset worm hook.  As I began to examine the situation, I noticed that this particular fish had a larger mouth than most I see.  It forced my interest to grow, so I came home to research the topic.  I began to learn that all of the fish I catch like this are not bream or perch.  They are, in fact, all part of the sunfish family.  Within the sunfish family, we find bluegills, red-eared sunfish, long-eared sunfish, green sunfish, and a whole lot more.  The largemouth bass is also part of the sunfish family. This family will often inhabit the same waters and mate causing a variety of hybrids.  My particular fish seems to be a hybrid version of the green sunfish based on its markings and mouth size.

Again, I have caught hundreds of sunfish.  I have heard that name many times, but I have continued to refer to them as bream and perch.  It will be a hard habit to break, but I am going to do my best to give these little fish a bit more respect and refer to them by their family name - sunfish.


On Another Note....

I also got the chance to meet Nolan Ryan yesterday.  I don't normally get excited about meeting celebrities, getting pictures made with them, or receiving their autographs.  I have met my fair share, and they are just people.  This was an exception.  As a child, I idolized this man.  I had pictures on my wall and even saved newspaper clippings that mentioned him.  I knew his birthday and remember having a small celebration in my room for it one year.  I am definitely grateful for the opportunity to satisfy the dream of a 7-year old Stephen.