Orange Spotted Sunfish - Kansas

Good morning friends,

I am new to this forum and was looking for some information on where to catch Orange Spotted Sunfish (Lepomis humilis) in Kansas.


I live in Salina but am willing to drive anywhere these fish are known to be.

I found a collection report from 1997 that suggests they can be found at Dragoon Creek and Mission Creek. But I was looking for more recent evidence.

I am trying to collect them for a 135 gallon native Kansas aquarium that I am in the process of setting up.

attached is a picture for reference

No help here but that is a beautiful fish

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FurFlyin

No help here but that is a beautiful fish

---

Yeah, they are a great looking little fish. I am hoping to keep them with some Longear Sunfish, Pumpkin Seed, Bluegill and maybe a Bullhead or two. I wouldnt mind getting a Green sunfish as well, but I have read they can be quite aggressive in home aquaria.

I've always like the idea of having a large native aquarium, and being able to go fishing with my girls and if we catch some striking looking panfish we can take them home and put them in the aquarium.

Pretty sure there is a population of them in Geary State Fishing lake. I know for sure there is somewhere close to me that has them and that is the only place that comes to mind when I'm trying to place where I've caught them.

thanks for the tip and reply. I will try Geary State Lake out for sure as its a hour closer to me than the other 2 spots.

Scratch that, just found out that Geary State Fishing Lake is a ANS lake and fish can't be transported from this lake while alive.

Wabunsee lake and mission creek around Dover have good populations. At wabunsee we catch them up around the dam using small hooks/bobber with a chunk of worm, and at mission we walk the creek ( mainly shallow clear water rock bottom) and catch them the same way in the deeper pockets of holes

Thanks, I will give that a try

PM sent