Quebec Green Sunfish!

After returning early from our trip down to Connecticut, Alex and I found ourselves with a spare day in the Eastern Townships region of QC. I figured it might be worth going to check out a creek where I had heard rumours of a population of Green Sunfish. This species is not supposed to be present in QC, but apparently has spread in the area because of aquarium releases and milder winters. I already had the Sunfish on my lifelist, but Alex did not. Besides, it's always cool to catch something new and your home province. We arrived to the beautiful creek seen below:

I dropped down my tanago rig and it didn't take long before I had my first bite! Unfortunately, it was just one of the ever-present Creek Chub.

Creek Chub aren't usually a good sign when it comes to multi-species fishing. Fortunately, I noticed some smaller fish in the margins, while the Chubs seemed to hold more in the main current. The smaller fish kept dropping off my tanago rig, so I switched to regular gear with a size 16 hook. In short order, I lifted up a Green Sunfish! I was honestly pretty surprised that the rumour turned out o be true.

After catching the first one, it became apparent that the creek was absolutely infested with them. All juveniles, I think the water may have been too small for larger individuals to make their way up. I handed the rod over to Alex who quickly lifted one up as well :)

After Alex had her lifer, I proceeded to explore more of the creek simply because I was enjoying the spot and I have a thing for catching small fish :p This further exploration yielded a cool Green Sunfish x Pumpkinseed hybrid as well as some Pumpkinseed, Common Shiners, and Fallfish.

Green Sunfish x Pumpkinseed

Common Shiner

Fallfish

Pumpkinseed