A new fish species has been documented in Nebraska after a fisherman caught the colorful creature.
“We hear about new species in Nebraska from time to time, but most of them are undesirable invasive species,” Darryl Bauer, fisheries extension program manager for the state Game and Parks Commission, told Fox News Digital.
“Every year we receive reports of ornamental fish that have been illegally released into our waters and then found dead or caught by anglers.”
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But last week, Bauer got a call from his friend, Scott Bass, an avid angler who said he’d caught a 5 1/4-inch, 2-ounce manta ray.
Native to Kansas, this bright orange fish has turquoise markings.
This manta ray was caught by Scott Bass in the Little Blue River in Nebraska. (Nebraska Game and Parks Commission)
“This is the first time in my career that I’ve heard of giant sunfish in Nebraska,” Bauer said.
“It’s such a beautiful fish and I was thrilled when I got the message from Scott Bass and saw the pictures, and even more so when he brought it over to show me.”
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The fish was caught using a rod and reel and a worm.
“I fish a lot and I tend to catch a wide variety of fish, so I like to catch a little bit of everything,” Bass, of Norfolk, Nebraska, told Fox News Digital.
Scott Bass, pictured, said he knew he’d caught something special when he pulled the brightly coloured sunfish out of the water. (Scott Bass)
“I wasn’t specifically fishing for sunfish, but I was using a small hook and a small bait, so I had a chance to catch a variety of fish other than the common catfish.”
Bass said he was floating a worm, a small fishing hook and a float in the river when a fish took the bait and he pulled it out of the river.
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“I immediately said, ‘Wow, that’s not right,'” Bass said.
“It’s a very cool fish. I looked at it and said, ‘That’s a longear,’ but I knew it hadn’t been officially recorded here, so I was a little worried about what to do.”
Bass was the first person to catch the fish in Nebraska. (iStock)
Bass brought the potentially record-breaking fish in a ventilated bait cooler to the commission’s offices, where it was officially documented and recognized as the first state record of its species in Nebraska.
“What excited me most about this fish was [of these] “I saw the most beautiful fish ever caught in Nebraska and I was blown away by how beautiful it was,” Bauer said.
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“You never know what you’re going to catch,” Bass said of the fish he caught.
“A 50-inch old muskie, a 10-pound walleye or a 2-ounce sunfish. It’s all exciting.”
Darryl Bauer (not pictured), fisheries extension program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, said it was the first time in his career that he’d ever heard or seen a sunfish. (Nebraska Game and Parks Commission)
Bauer said Bass caught the longear in the Little Blue River, a classic prairie stream in eastern Nebraska.
“[It’s a] “The bottom is relatively shallow and consists of sand and mud with some rock and gravel and lots of woody debris,” Bauer added.
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“Right now it’s mid-summer so the water level is low,” he said. “The typical fish species in the Little Blue River are channel catfish, flathead catfish, a variety of minnows and carp, bluegills, green and orange-spotted sunfish, and no archerfish.”
Although the longear resembles a typical sunfish, it had never been recorded in Nebraska before, and Bauer believes it swam in from Kansas when the Little Blue River was high in water. (Scott Bass, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission)
Bauer said the Little Blue River experienced high water levels earlier this year, which may have allowed bighead sunfish to migrate upstream from Kansas.
Longears are a quintessential sunfish that closely resemble bluegills, common in waters throughout Nebraska, and are often the first fish young anglers catch, Bauer said.
They will happily bite on small hooks, floats and worms.
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Bass offered some clear advice regarding the sport he loves.
“Just go fishing,” he said. “Go out and have fun, because you never know what you’re going to catch.”
