Lepomis gibbosus
Punkies, yellow sunfish
The pumpkinseed sunfish is a very colorful, deep-bodied, slab-sided fish with a small mouth. Breast and belly are orange to yellow, with lighter colored sides in a variety of bright colors. The gill flap is black, but has an orange-red spot on the border.
Pumpkinseed will consume plankton and rotifers in smaller specimens. The larger fish also consume nymphs, small insects, scuds, freshwater shrimps, small snails, baby mussels, minnow fry, and worms.
The pumpkinseed can be found in the northern United States in the Mississippi River Basin and the Northern Appalachians.
The pumpkinseed sunfish enjoy cool, clear, spring fed lakes, ponds, and streams. It will seek out springs and small, clear, gravelly, feeder creeks of lakes and reservoirs.
The average size of the pumpkinseed is 5 to 7 inches in length and 1 pound or less in weight. The lifespan of the pumpkinseed is 8 to 10 years.
1 pounds, 6 ounces (Source - IGFA)