snub says
It appears less is known about the RES than most of the other fish.
I currently have a 1/20th acre pond with only RES and loads of FHM. I hope they do well and reproduce. We will see. Also have a 1/10th acre pond that has FHM and stocked 175 RES along with 100 CNBG. How will the RES do when they are the primary fish and the CNBG have to play catch up? Will the RES do better than they otherwise would where they start out with less competition? (I realize the CNBG will eventually get ahead of them spawn wise).
What I'm really trying to find out is if emphasis can be put on RES and do any good towards making them thrive? Or am I just wasting my time and doomed to failure?
It appears, based on what types of lures the RES have been hitting, their diet either varies a lot and will try to feed on numerous foods, or they just have a bad attitude and bite at whatever irritates them.
Bill, you are one of the last guys on this forum I would dare to disagree with. And I'm not trying to do that now. It is just that your comments in the past have led me to believe efforts to improve RES fishery might not be successful and they may always be relegated to a novelty fish. Yet there seems to be some limited evidence that there might be room to manage specifically for RES. I'm just trying to explore what evidence I can find.
Let's discuss this topic a little more.
1. Don't ever be afraid to disagree with any of my statements. Disagreement is a learning experience and creates room for discussion and learning which is what I think this forum is all about. I welcome disagreement especially when it leads to learning.
2. You are correct RES as a species is not as well studied as the BG. There is a lot of room for more learning about RES.
3. Your using RES in the small ponds will be very informative to more knowledge about RES especially if you share your experiences with the PB Forum.
4. ... "based on what types of lures the RES have been hitting, their diet either varies a lot and will try to feed on numerous foods, or they just have a bad attitude and bite at whatever irritates them." A lot still needs to be learned about RES behavior and feeding habits. Will we ever learn if fish have emotion and attitude???
5. "It is just that your comments in the past have led me to believe efforts to improve RES fishery might not be successful and they may always be relegated to a novelty fish. Yet there seems to be some limited evidence that there might be room to manage specifically for RES."
There are successful RES fisheries. I think they are not as common as successful BG fisheries, which leads me to think they are a more difficult or "tricky" fish to use for a high quality relatively abundant panfish compared to some of the other panfish such as BG, HBG or YP. Let's learn more about growing RES.
6. I applaud your efforts to learn more about RES in your ponds and I hope you have great success and can share your results with us. I was encouraged and learned back in graduate school to disagree with open minded professors and to defend new thinking. Keep up the good work and do not hesitate to disagree with me on the forum. I do not take disagreement personal. Disagreement should lead to discussion and learning.
Here is a link to the RES article written by VanDehay and Willis that Snub referred to above:
https://www.sdstate.edu/nrm/outreach/pond/upload/Redear-Sunfish-May-June-2010.pdf
