It can be taken by anglers with worms or other small live baits, flies, spinners, or poppers. The following are fishing methods used to catch this fish:
It has a larger mouth and a thick, long body than most sunfishes or of the genus Lepomis and more closely resembles the warmouth or its larger relatives of the genus Micropterus, such as the smallmouth bass. Most species of sunfish in the genus Lepomis are deep-bodied, notably roundish in profile, and have an extremely compressed extended gill cover flat, or ear lobe, which is black edged with light red, pink or yellow. The body is usually brown to olive green with a bronze to olive green sheen, paling to yellow-green on the lower sides and yellow or white on the belly. There are emerald or bluish spots on the head and sometimes, wavy or radiating lines of the same color. Seven to twelve dark bars are vaguely visible on the back.