Types Of Sunfish In Kansas

Throughout the waters of Kansas resides a thriving sunfish population. There are several varieties to be found, including green sunfish, bluegill, hybrid sunfish, warmouth, yellow perch, redear sunfish, and white bass. Several types of sunfish are usually found within any warm water stream you might happen across. They are also regular staples of the many ponds and lakes of Kansas. They’re also quite common throughout the rest of the world.

Varieties Of Sunfish In The Sunflower State

Sunfish are able to survive quite comfortably as long as their environment has plenty of worms, insects, crustaceans, and minnows to feed on. Interestingly enough, they tend to be very competitive among themselves. Their stinginess with food makes them incredibly easy to catch. The state records for yellow perch and green sunfish catches were made in private ponds, and the redear sunfish state record was established in the Finney State Fishing Lake. If you want to try catching fish of this variety yourself, however, your best bet is probably any large-sized lake.

As mentioned above, there are several notable varieties of sunfish. Bluegills are undoubtedly the most commonly found. When it comes to fishing, panfish in general rarely pose a problem. They spawn very prolifically, and they reproduce fairly rapidly. In fact, overpopulation is actually quite a major problem. This also forces their average size to stay fairly small given the fierce competition for food.

Best Bluegill In Kansas

Bluegill in particular are most commonly found in still, murky waters. They prefer warm water for sure, though the ideal range is fairly wide at 60 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The world record bluegill size was 4 pounds and 12 ounces. In Kansas, the largest caught thus far was just 2 pounds and 5 ounces. You may have also heard bluegills referred to as red-breasted bream, long-eared sunfish, or red-spotted sunfish. There are many other forms of crossbreeds and variations.

Bluegills run in large schools, and they rarely stray far from their natural food supply. They’re generally found about 35 feet down, but they commonly come up closer to the surface during certain parts of the day. You might find bluegill as close as a mere 1 foot deep when they’re active.

Green Sunfish Kansas Missouri

Green sunfish are among the most popular types, especially in farm and private ponds. They need average water temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The world record catch size for green sunfish is 2.1 pounds, but a 2-pound, 5-ounce specimen was caught in Kansas. If you’re looking for one of your own, you need to seek out ponds and lakes that have a lot of vegetation. Their natural diet includes larvae, insects, and small invertebrates. When fishing, you need to use light lines, cut bait, crickets, worms, and size 12 hooks. Green sunfish group into schools, making them fairly easy to catch overall.

Fishing For Hybrid Sunfish

Hybrid sunfish are essentially a cross of bluegills and redears, green sunfish, and redbreasts. Their ideal water temperature is around 70 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Quite a large number of these hybrids are male, which unfortunately holds back their reproduction rate. Even so, they do manage to thrive within private ponds and smaller sized lakes. Any area with heavy vegetation and plenty of places to hide is ideal. If you’re fishing for these in particular, you’re going to need to use small hooks with insects, cut bait, worms, or prepared bait.

Identifying Redear Sunfish

Redear sunfish are also called shellcrackers and stumpknockers. They grow much larger than most varieties of sunfish. They survive most comfortably in 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures. As such, they’re much more common in warmer regions. Redears are usually yellow along their sides, with dark green and brown along the top, and white on their undersides. The males also have interesting red stripes lining their ears; in females, the same stripe is orange. All of the common sunfish baits like grubs or worms work quite well for redears. All you’ll need is a light line with a small hook. Surface baits or flies aren’t usually very successful.