Recently, a Nebraska fisherman managed to catch a uniquely colored fish species previously unknown in the state. Avid fishing enthusiast Scott Buss of Norfolk, Nebraska, reeled in a longear sunfish with bright orange and turquoise colors that was not thought to be native to Nebraska. However, the fish is reportedly known to inhabit waters in nearby Kansas.
“We hear about new species in Nebraska from time to time, but most of them are unwanted, invasive species,” Daryl Bauer, Fisheries Outreach program manager of the state’s Game & Parks Commission, explained in a statement to Fox News Digital. “I get reports almost every year of aquarium fish that were illegally released in our waters and then found dead or even caught by anglers.”
Bauer noted that this is the first time in his career that he has encountered the fish in Nebraska waters. “This was the first time in all my career I had ever heard of a longear sunfish in Nebraska,” he said. “They are beautiful fish and I was thrilled to get a message from Scott Buss and then see his photo. It got even better when he was able to bring the fish to show me.”
Buss illustrated the depth of his fishing hobby, claiming he enjoys reeling in fish of all varieties. “I do a lot of fishing and a lot of multi-species fishing, so I like to catch a little bit of everything,” he said told the outlet. “I certainly wasn’t specifically fishing for the sunfish, but I was using a small hook and small bait, which gives you a chance to catch a lot of different stuff than just your typical catfish.”
The fisherman explained how he caught the fish while working with a piece of a worm on a small hook and bobber setup. However, he instantly knew that something was different about the fish he hooked. “Immediately, I said, ‘Whoa, that’s different,'” Buss said. “It’s a very cool-looking fish. I looked at it and said, ‘That’s a longear,’ and I knew it hadn’t been officially documented here. So, I kind of struggled with what to do.”
One of the most unique features about the fish is its beauty, where it is covered in exotic colors. “By far the most exciting thing about the fish was that none [of these] have ever been caught in Nebraska before, and how beautiful it was,” Bauer added.
Buss highlighted one of the most entertaining aspects of fishing: the serendipity of not knowing what one will catch each time he casts out into the water. “You just never know what you’re going to catch,” he said, speaking about the longear. “An old 50-inch muskie, a 10-pound walleye or 2-ounce sunfish. It’s all exciting,” he said.
Bauer further explained how unique the catch was, especially given the time of year. “Right now, mid-summer, flows are low. Typical fish species in the Little Blue would be channel and flathead catfish, a variety of minnows and suckers, some sunfish like bluegills, green sunfish and orange spotted sunfish, but no longears,” he said. Buss instructed his fellow anglers,”Just go fishing. Get out outside and have some fun because you never know what you might catch.”
Featured image credit: I, Mike Cline, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LongEaredSunfish.jpg
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