What type of sunfish are these

Got out on a central Minnesota lake on Sat. Ended up with a limit of fish for a buddy who was with us. One of my fishing partners said he believes these were pumpkin seed sunfish or at lease some hybrid of them. I think they are true Bluegills. We had caught a fair # of true pumpkin seeds mixed in with these fish as well. Those I had no problem with identifying as pumpkin seeds. They were fairly decent size fish. I’d say 1/2 of them were 9”+ and many others between 8-9”. What say you all?

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Here are a few images of a pumpkin seed and a bluegill for reference

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I’ll say gills.
Good choice in beer thumper.

chuck100 wrote:

I’ll say gills.
Good choice in beer thumper.

We normally don’t drink when ice fishing but the buddy thru in a few this outing. They sure tasted good. May have to bri g a few more often

The key to me are that pumpkin seeds normally have that red near the bluegill mark and far more blue waves around the throat area

I would say they are large sunfish, depending on your opinion, the size to release.

fishthumper wrote:

The key to me are that pumpkin seeds normally have that red near the <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>bluegill mark and far more blue waves around the throat area

That’s what I always go by, the red by the girl plate is the most obvious. They also seem to have a veiny pattern around their throat area, maybe that’s the same thing you were describing.

I remember your thread from late in the week, good thing you got out!

Nice work thumper those will make a great fish fry. Look like beauty Blue gills

I think they are pumpkin seeds because of the coloring by their plate. They are darker and that may have to do with all the snow and minimum light penetration. Good looking fish.

Dem are Sunfish to me

fishthumper wrote:

One of my fishing partners said he believes these were pumpkin seed sunfish or at lease some hybrid of them. I think they are true Bluegills.

Zooming in on your 1st photo,(upper left photo) looks more like Pumpkinseed to me. Notice the pattern on the lower jaw and the slight fringe around the gill flap.

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There some type of pumkin seed for sure. Nice fish Thumper! Anyone else notice there is not as much meat on those compared to regular gills of the same size?

Well I guess the debate is not just between myself and my fishing partner. The only reason it even matters is because my fishing buddy is one of those who will not keep and eat a pumpkin seed. He says everyone he had keep has had worms. I do know most of the local fishermen on this lake mostly think the same. Every time I’m out there I hear someone say “ I sure wish these pumpkinseeds were not so wormy “ like I said another buddy who joined us this outing keep these and took them home to clean. I’m not even sure if he would know what to look for when cleaning them to see if they had worms or not. Maybe if we get back there again this year I’ll keep a few and clean them to see for myself.

Id say they were pumpkinseeds. Its interesting how fish from different lakes do not have the same coloration. They also tend to change during the course of the year too. Nice fish regardless.

fishthumper wrote:

Well I guess the debate is not just between myself and my fishing partner. The only reason it even matters is because my fishing buddy is one of those who will not keep and eat a pumpkin seed. He says everyone he had keep has had worms. I do know most of the local fishermen on this lake mostly think the same. Every time I’m out there I hear someone say “ I sure wish these pumpkinseeds were not so wormy “ like I said another buddy who joined us this outing keep these and took them home to clean. I’m not even sure if he would know what to look for when cleaning them to see if they had worms or not. Maybe if we get back there again this year I’ll keep a few and clean them to see for myself.

Worms or little black parasites?

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishthumper wrote:</div>

Worms or little black parasites?

Worms. White/ yellow type. Most often found in perch

Worms arent a big deal just pluck them out when cleaning and they will be fine.

Like I said we had caught some slightly smaller pumpkinseeds as well and I had no problem knowing what those were. These just looked different from those. Maybe as they get bigger the coloring changes slightly and make them harder to identify.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Worms arent a big deal just pluck them out when cleaning and they will be fine.

I’ve often done that in the past when there are just one or two per fillet. If they are loaded I just toss them. My buddy says the pumpkinseeds he’s cleaned from this lake are often loaded with them. I know many fishermen who will not eat a fillet even if it has just 1 worm and it easily pops out. Ive read they are safe to eat once deep fried but it’s the thought.

I usually shy away from Pumpkins unless Im desperate for a meal. Nothing wrong with them. I used to see black dots on them more than other fish but I eat plenty of dotted bluegills and perch.

I wonder what the DNR has to say about worms in panfish? Are they safe to eat? Is discarding the fillets wanton waste?
Just a philosophical question.

Just a little added pop of protein.

Its probably a hybrid. They can all interbreed easily.

Tom schmitt wrote:

I wonder what the DNR has to say about worms in panfish? Are they safe to eat? Is discarding the fillets wanton waste?
Just a philosophical question.

Isn’t wanton waste technically discarding game or fish prior to cleaning it? Once you start the filet process or cleaning process at home, I would tend to think after you’ve discovered there is an issue like parasites, worms, etc and then discard it, there is no issue. Obviously you have no way of knowing if the fish has these until you’ve started cleaning them, since they are on the interior.

I would personally not eat a fish that visually has parasites or worms, even if its fully cooked. I can’t get past it. But that’s just me.

Tom schmitt wrote:

I wonder what the DNR has to say about worms in panfish? Are they safe to eat? Is discarding the fillets wanton waste?
Just a philosophical question.

I’ve asked the DNR about it. They have said they are safe to eat if cooked to a certain Temp. The guy I talked with said he did not have the answer to the legality of throwing away fillets with lots of worms. He did say he doubted if any conservation office would ticket you for doing so if they saw the fish in question.

Doing a little more research here is what it says on the Minnesota DNR website

Pumpkinseed
Like the bluegill, the pumpkinseed lives in many of Minnesota’s lakes and streams. This popular sunfish is nearly as large as the bluegill. The pumpkinseed can be distinguished from the bluegill by the bright orange spot at the tip of the ear flap and the lack of a dark blotch on the soft portion of the dorsal. Breeding males are particularly colorful; their cheeks and gill covers are marked by wavy bright blue bars. Identifying and distinguishing sunfish is complicated by frequent hybridization.

I wish I had thought to extend the back Fin and taken a picture. Seems like that may have Helped. Like the DNR description says, they are often frequent hybridization making it difficult to tell. That’s what I truly think these are. A hybrid

I usually call those hybrids. On some lakes they always seem to grow the biggest. My cousin and I also rarely keep Pumpkins or hybrids. They are most often full of little white worms in the meat and given the choice, I’ll happily let them go and keep pure bluegills.

100% hybrids. The smallest one directly below the beer can is a bluegill. You can tell by the little bit of red on the opercular flap/ ear tab and the pattern on the lower jaw as huntindave mentioned. The striping is also different on the hybrids.