Transplanted fish into both of my tanks in May...cats are about 12" and this monster bluegill..don't laugh my fingers are 10" long

Well your bluegills could be bigger because that there is a green sunfish. Not a bluegill

Correct.

Didn't buy any green sunfish. Bluegill, black crappie, Hybrid stripers, catfish and millions of minners and shad. How are you certain it's a green sunfish? They are both very similar.

Mouth is to large, you can see the Orange around the ears and starting to form on fins and tail, can see the beginning of black spots on the back dorsal fin and anal fin. No bars like a bluegill has either, and to long and not enough girth to be a bluegill

I'll say it again, that's a green sunfish, won't be long you'll prob get some bullheads in your pond too, birds carry eggs on their feet easily, and fish find ways to move around, it's inevitable. Biology, wildlife and marine biology especially are my thing. I'd be willing to bet I could id any fish or animal you show me. Just google green sunfish. Bluegills don't have those green pretty lines through the face and body, and the red gill plate should tell you that it's not a "blue" gill

Did you start with empty ponds and fill em then stock em, they were most likely there before you stocked

Either one of them will bait a trot line or feed your bass.

looks like green sunfish. good eating

Green sunfish= goggle-eye, rock bass, or branch perch!!! But it's definetly all of these and not a bluegill!

Green sunfish


Bluegill

Forgot war mouth!

The tanks were bone dry before May so there were no fish before. Entirely possible it was dropped by a bird. Or maybe Pond King slipped some in on me

If you want them as forage fish then it's ok I guess but if you were trying to grow big bluegills then I don't know how everything will play out, bass and cats will eat em and there good eating like a bluegill when they get big but it's just another species in there that take up growing room for more desirables I guess you could say. How big are the ponds

Actually the war mouth and rock bass are two totally different species than the green sunfish as well

Yep, green sunfish. They don't get as large as bluegills but will out fight them every time. Actually a cross between a bluegill and hybrid bluegill. They only spawns annually so aren't considered good forage for bass. I love fishing for those mutts.

they're all perch.

Billybob, look into Coppernose BG, they are prolific, eat smaller meals and will take pellets great.

I used them in 2 ponds years ago and they where great for forage (spawned 3-4 times a year), got bigger than my other BGs as well. Great eating too.

What type of Cats did you stock with?

Actually the cats are in another tank but I got blues and channel. I confirmed that Pond King did not slip any green sunfish to me...so it must be birds. I have a lot of ducks and cranes that reside there.

If they'll bite a worm on hook, who cares what they're called.....

Dennis when the crappie and stripers get big enough...I don't think much else will survive. The main pond is about an acre and the catfish pond is about .5 acre. Both have trenches that are 8-10' deep. I feed the cats but the other predator fish need to hunt for their own. As I said earlier they have a zillion minners to mess with.

You put/have stripers in a pond?

Yea they are hybrids. Sandbass/striper and they do not propagate

Who gives a rats azz what kind it is, they fry up the same and go great with a cold beer!?