good or bad for a pond in Texas - I have bass and bluegill only -

Good good good can’t think any negatives other than those rascals are hard to catch

That is one fish I plan on getting in my pond. Don't see any downside.
tim k I see you are from Lampasas Tx. I have a cousin that lives in that area.

Redears are fond of snails.

Snails are a vector for Bird->snail->fish->bird->... parasites. So redear are recommended to reduce parasites. Pretty much standard in BG LMB ponds.

Agree on redears.

actually live outside Georgetown -

Yes they are good to have in your pond.

RES information and links to other RES threads

More than you ever wanted to know about RES and a fair amount you shouldn't know.

TimK, don't let the links and obviously authentic photos scare you. RE simply want to be understood and loved as they are. Adopt some today.

Very good addition. See below pic.

Stocked 100 of them today on my 1.5 acre pond along with another 500 bluegill and ten lbs of minnows. I already have a strong group of bluegill in my pond but thought I would add a few.

I dip seigned the ditches around the house last weekend and caught a few dozen small crawfish and fished them on/near the bottom in hopes of catching one of the few RES I stocked, just to see how they were doing. I caught everything BUT RES!! I'll be glad when Overtons gets in some bigger stockers so I can boost their numbers.

Mike
I don’t see many in my pond either, occasionally I’ll catch one as a by catch while fishing a jig for BCP. They hang out in shallow water on sandy bottoms 18”-24”. Fish them with earth worms and you might have better luck. Very elusive in the pond

Could be I was trying too deep, Pat. I was under the impression that unless spawning, and even then, RES tend to keep to deeper water. I tried everything from around 4' out to 11'. The shallower depths under a bobber, until the length of line got too long to make a decent cast, then I went without it and just splitshot the hook on the bottom.

One thing about crawfish, everything that bit tried to swallow the hook, and I had to cut off several to keep from killing them.

I found a couple of 'dads holding eggs in my bucket, so they got tossed in the pond. I probably signed a death warrant on my Widgeon Grass doing so....hope not.

On another note, my BH are looking really good!! I also find I catch bigger BG if I use doughballs, I seldom ever gut hook one, I can catch several fish on one bait, and hardly ever catch a GSF...crawfish...its one and done, and everything in the pond eats them....except RES, LOL.

“Shorty” is the Guru on catching RES , you might PM him