We haven’t seen any of these guys in 2 years and thought perhaps they died of from the area. This year we have had a very large population not only at our property but many properties surrounding us.
Caught while fishing. Definitely appears to have traits intermediate with bluegill (L. macrochirus) and redear sunfish (L. microlophus). Traits that show redear include an elongated pectoral fin (but not as long as on a pure redear). Going to call this one a hybrid. In my opinion, it definitely has redear in it. *Redear sunfish have been confirmed to live in this pond.
One got stuck in our sun room today so I tried to get good photos of his patterning for ID