Northwest Fishing Reports

This is kind of a strange question, but I am curious as to how to tell the difference between male and female sunfish. I'm thinking that the ones with a more brilliant coloration may be spawning males, namely the pumkinseed. The only current way I know how to tell if a fish is male or female is after it's dead and cut it open to check for eggs. If anyone knows how to tell the difference between the two, explantion and pictures would both be good. Thank you.

Welcome to the site. Feel free to ask any questions you have.


I found a poster for sale on line with male and female Pumpkinseed...



Then I found this article...

Forest Preserve District of Cook County (Illinois) wrote:"the male has brighter colors than
the female, particularly during the spawning season, and sometimes a
different color pattern."

If you want to read the article it is at http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/natbltn/100-199/nb154.htm

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the information, the pictures, and the link. I really appreciate them and they helped out alot!

A good rule of thumb for determining gender for everything but humans- the colorful/ornate one is nearly always the male.

little balls.......