Freshwater's prettiest fish?

[fishmounter]

Love these guys!

[tacklejunkie]

I'm sorry, but I'd have to vote Green Sunfish are the most impressive color wise.
Gills are pretty impressive though, you are right there.

[old pudd fisher]

Jeff panfish sure are pretty and colorfull and I love them to, but native So. Cal. stream trout sure are pretty also.

[vanillagurilla]

your all smoking drugs, peacock bass has the best colors.

[Natural Lefty]

I don't have a picture handy, but I would go with the Paiute Cutthroat Trout native to the Silver King Creek drainage south of Tahoe. There is an ongoing project by the DFG to protect them in their native habitat and expand their range. They have a remarkable purpllish color and hardly any spots if any on their entire body. They also have the typical red slash of a cutthroat under their throats. I find Pumpkinseeds to be awfully pretty too, the prettiest of the sunfish, but all of them are pretty.

[Natural Lefty]

Also, the Paiute trout have large purplish parr marks throughout life. If not the Paiute Cutthroats, I would say California's state freshwater fish, the Golden Trout, another California native.

Peacock Bass are awfully colorful too, but they aren't found in California. They are basically large, predatory Cichlids, much like an overgrown aquarium fish (Oscar relative). Actually, if we could include tropical aquarium fish, I have always been partial to the Discuss fish (another Cichlid) or the Cardinal Tetra.

[tacklejunkie]

If not the Paiute Cutthroats, I would say California's state freshwater fish, the Golden Trout, another California native.

These ugly things? No way.


I think the brookies are one of the better looking trouts, although they're technically a Char. (Thanks City Dad!)


Brownies ain't so bad either.

[fishmounter]

I don't know you guys. I guess it might be a personal preference. I love the iridescent blues, lavenders and purples, that these Perris BGs have, but you really have to hold the fish at a certain angle in the low morning sunlight to see these colors well. How about a spawning male Longear Sunfish? Not bad....

[SirBluegill]

I like the colors on those dark male redear sunfish at perris [/IMG]

Also those light blue Gills are awesome as well

[teejay]

Wow, some of those panfish look down right tropical in appearance. Nevertheless, I, like T.J., am partial to the brookie -especially when the males are spawning.