Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Warmouth, the Ever-Hungry Sunfish

By: Tom Berg

Have you ever caught a warmouth while fishing for bluegills or other panfish? Warmouth are found in the Great Lakes states and the Mississippi River basin, and they are common throughout most of the southeastern United States from central Texas east to Florida and the Carolinas. They are most common in lakes, ponds and bayous with warm, slack water.

Although many people have caught warmouth, not everyone is able to properly identify them. Warmouth are sometimes mistakenly identified as rockbass, green sunfish or even bluegill. This is not surprising, since warmouth are indeed members of the sunfish family. Like most sunfish, they always seem to be hungry. If you can get a worm or other lively bait in front of them, they will likely eat it.

Warmouth have many local names, but some of the most common ones include: goggle-eye, stump knocker, redeye bream and warmouth bass. They have thick bodies and are a multi-hued mottled brown color with golden highlights. They often have a purple hue to their back, as well. They have a red eye and an extremely large mouth for their size. They use their large mouth to capture and eat surprisingly large prey, too.

These stout sunfish average 7-10 inches long as adults, and they can grow to more than 14 inches under ideal conditions. They are typically very aggressive, and since they have a large mouth they can catch and eat a wide variety of aquatic creatures. Minnows and other small fish make up a large part of their diet, but they also eat crayfish, worms, aquatic insects and terrestrial insects.

Warmouth prefer shallow water with plenty of aquatic weeds which helps them ambush prey. They also like to hide near underwater stumps and brush piles. Bass fishermen often catch them on artificial lures and kids routinely catch them on worms while fishing from shore. If you catch some while fishing this spring or summer, bring a few home for dinner. They make excellent table fare!

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