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Missing RUGER

Pilchard

Pilchard

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Jan 5, 2018
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Dreaming of Tarpon
I have been on a work trip in upstate NY and got to fish for a few minutes yesterday.

I caught a bunch of these guys and as I was putting the last one back and hanging up my rod the thought of RUGER hit me pretty hard.

I know he would have loved to catch a few of these. I don't actually know what type of sunfish this is but he would have known.

Miss you buddy! Thanks for helping me catch a few yesterday.

IMG_7538.jpeg
 
There are pumpkinseed in the creek on my place. They look a little different, I'm sure because of a different region. The ones I catch are usually about 4" long. Can't imagine 10" plus, had to be fun!
 
Pilchard said:
Maybe a NYARP.

I caught a couple they were pushing 12 inches long.
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thats an amazing fish. like bluegill very slow growing. a 12" fish up north would be about 12 years old.

sadly the one of two lakes in tennesse that have had them have been displaced by shellcracker.

Ruger and i talked briefly about the state record fish that came from it. lol a whopping 5 ounces.

the only place that supposedly holds them now is north east tennessee, but most folks mistake longears for punkinseeds.

Ruger was a good dude and i miss our lepomis conversations.
 
WTM said:
thats an amazing fish. like bluegill very slow growing. a 12" fish up north would be about 12 years old.

sadly the one of two lakes in tennesse that have had them have been displaced by shellcracker.

Ruger and i talked briefly about the state record fish that came from it. lol a whopping 5 ounces.

the only place that supposedly holds them now is north east tennessee, but most folks mistake longears for punkinseeds.

Ruger was a good dude and i miss our lepomis conversations.
Click to expand...
I was fishing a private 25 acre lake and they were bedding everywhere. I didn't have cell service where I was so I didn't have my phone to take a picture.

I didn't measure any of them but they were all the size of the one in the picture or larger.

I knew it was a big sunfish but I had no idea what it was or how big they get.
 
Surely that has to be some kind of hybrid or something right? That would have to be a world record pumpkinseed if that's what it is! I used to catch them on occasion in reclaimed strip mine lakes in Indiana.
 
Ironically, for whatever reason, I was mowing last night and Ruger popped in my head. Didn't have my music on so my mind had free range to wander. I got a good laugh out of our first and only meeting with him in a towel…with a crown and Coke (mostly crown) in his hand. Chris, Dustin and Houston just standing there laughing and shaking their heads. He was just one of those guys that made a lasting impression no matter how much time you spent with him.

Good looking fish brother….i was on a concrete pour in the heat yesterday ya big jerk 😂😂
 
Pilchard said:
I was fishing a private 25 acre lake and they were bedding everywhere. I didn't have cell service where I was so I didn't have my phone to take a picture.

I didn't measure any of them but they were all the size of the one in the picture or larger.

I knew it was a big sunfish but I had no idea what it was or how big they get.
Click to expand...
yeah the northern and eastern states manage sunfish differently than we do here, with the exception of some TWRA lakes. basically the reason a lot of the TARP size fish here are caught out of private ponds. the old way of thinking that keeping the largest bluegill, pumpkinseed, etc and let the smaller fish go will kill a fishery. so will loading coolers with hundreds of fish.
 

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