Does anyone know what this fish is?

[peteseibold]

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[davetclown]

for future refferance, it is not a good idea to keep fish you dont know what is... good way to get a ticket..

now that the precatuions are done, I have to ask Where did you get that thing...

I looked at it and bud, I had to do a double take, A giant blue gill?

hope you still have it whole frozen in the freezer...

looks like a 14 inch sink with a 17.5 inch blue gill or member of the family of species...

if you still have the fish and it checks out to be in the gill family, you may have a world record if not a state record for the year...
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[peteseibold]

We through it back. []

Anyway, I dread that it's true. It could be a world record. When I brought it up, some "expert" told me it was something it wasn't, and I wasn't even thinking world record. I swear I hope I didn't throw back a million bucks worth of publicity.

It was a warm, muck pond, overgrown with lilies. Biggest freshwater fish I've ever seen short of Lake Michigan salmon.

How could I find out if it's a gill?
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[peteseibold]

I read that the redbreast sunfish crossbreeds with other sunfish. The only problem is the world record is 5 lbs 3 oz?

Did I throw back a fish that's 4 times bigger than the current world record? Please tell me I didn't.
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[davetclown]

what state did you catch it in? I dont need or want the name of the body of water you caught it in.. It will only serve to make me want to pack my bags....

the reason I need to know the state and general location in the state is because each state has different names for fish. like tennessee and south they are called breem. In michigan ohio and most northern states they are called gills, now we have dozens of different gill species...

any way the location will help us best identify it for you... to bad you dont have a pic with measurements on a flat serface...

ly we dont have a biologist here, well we do but his speciality is lizards salimanders and mud puppies...

by the way, how close was I on my measurments?
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[davetclown]

I caught a gill in a like in michigan that went 14 inches, it was a dark "deap water roach"

there are breaders that cross these species to make hibreds that are stocked in lakes and ponds... they do tipicaly grow 15-17 inches, they grow at a decent rate to boot wich makes them a plus for any pond.

I remember seeing a company that was selling these stockers... the down side to them is they dont breed, steril for the most part, I will have to do some looking for you as soon as I know the local.
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[davetclown]

5 pounds sounds about right for the world record, I dont remember it off hand...

also I am going to move this to the pan fish board where it will get a look at by other pan fish anglers..

now I know what that 36 inch frying pan is for that I saw up at gander mountain the other day [laugh]
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[peteseibold]

I had the shrimp about 14" inches from the surface. Is there any way to get credit for the record without an official weigh?

I've attached another picture. My foot is 12" long, next to this fish-- 26.5" long, 25" around.
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[davetclown]

in this second photo it kinda reminds me of a shell cracker.. "salt water species"

unfortunatly with out a tape measure yard stick to show lenth you cant even get a catch and release record..

michigan keeps records of species that are caught and kept and caught and released, but there are rules about both, and both say it has to have a pic with a tape measurment that is readable and it has to have a quality pixel so that the numbers can be read in the pic.

for a world record, no chance with out the fish being caught and kept.....
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[davetclown]

I almost forgot, being that it is 26 inches in lenth, there is no chance of it being a blue gill....
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[davetclown]

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[bassrods]

The fish is a Black Pacu....


.
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[chomponthis]

yup that looks like a pacu probly someone released thier over grown pet
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