Pond Boss
Posted By: snrub RES info and links - 01/18/14 02:37 PM
I have a particular interest in RES. Did searches to see what I could find out from older threads, so decided the effort might benefit others interested specifically in Redear Sunfish (RES) also. Below are the links to old threads I found with useful info on RES. Newer links are listed in another post down below.

Breeding between BG & RES 2008

RES eating AM500? 2013

Sexing RES 2013

Stock to many RES? 2013

RES habitat 2013

RES & HBG stocking 2011

Will add some more as I find them.

Pellet training RES 2013
Update to above thread with results. Turned my winter RES loose today 6-1-2014

RES spawning 2013

RES Management 2013

Unknown Facts RES 2009 starting page 10
----------------------------------------------------
I get the uneasy feeling that Redear are mean? Dare I swim in the pond again??????
----------------------------------------------------
mtalley: Today I spotted three large RES in the shallow end of my pond. Wonder what they were plotting?
Bruce Condello: That's easy....Your demise.

Sheesk! Maybe I don't want these fish in my pond after all!!!!!

More unknown facts 2009 starting page 1

I went back and looked at the management link Bruce management link ............notice Bruce is only displaying 3 fingers????? Hmmmm? Maybe there is a reason he raises such big RES and only 3 fingers showing? Feeding a little more than AquaMax Bruce???......LOL OK, OK I got side tracked. Reading all that scary stuff made me go back and look.

If others have useful links to RES, please add them as I am interested.

Edit 2/28/2014 add link Redear in the winter

Edit 3/6/2014 thread about YP eggs but gravitates to RES behavior

Edit 4/19/2014 RES Dying

Edit 4/28/2014 Fingernail clams and Redear

Edit 6/7/2014 Redear feeding - old post from 2004 but recent re-visited

Edit 6-8-2014 Stock RES early or later?

Edit 6-10-2014 Whats up with my Redear?

RES on pellets

Edit 6-17-2014 Anise worm questions and RES

Edit 7-9-2014 RES - where did they go / how deep to fish

Edit 7-27-2014 http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=383405#Post383405 Discussion on RES only pond

Edit 7-27-2014 2009 thread about RES and Zebra Mussles

Edit 8-11-2014 What do RES eat?

Edit 8-17-2014 RES spawning late in the year

More links listed lower down in this thread. All the newer links are listed in another post down below.

Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 01/18/14 03:46 PM
Ok, esshup, thanks for adding the picture,.....I think.

But now I am worried.

A month ago, before reading all the unknown facts and leaving to warmer climates for the winter, I took our 10 gallon aquarium with 4, 3" RES and bequeathed it to my three smallest grandkids that are in the 6-10 year old range. The grandkids were going to grow the (pellet trained) fish up and we would release the RES next spring into the newly refurbished pond I created for them last fall. Reclaiming a 50 year old pond

I have not heard from them in a while.
Posted By: esshup Re: RES info and links - 01/18/14 04:13 PM
Maybe they haven't learned how to dial a phone with their nose yet?
Posted By: Dwight Re: RES info and links - 01/18/14 09:10 PM
Testing Recent Posts Island.......
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 01/20/14 02:41 AM
Pretty good short RES article RES, are they still in your pond?
Posted By: Mobilus Re: RES info and links - 01/20/14 03:16 AM
Originally Posted By: esshup
Maybe they haven't learned how to dial a phone with their nose yet?


At first I thought you meant the RES! I know they're smart, but dang!
Posted By: esshup Re: RES info and links - 01/20/14 06:23 AM
Originally Posted By: Mobilus
Originally Posted By: esshup
Maybe they haven't learned how to dial a phone with their nose yet?


At first I thought you meant the RES! I know they're smart, but dang!



laugh
Posted By: Cecil Baird1 Re: RES info and links - 01/20/14 12:09 PM
Hey don't put it past 'em. Compliments of Ande from another site:

http://www.fish-school.com/publicity/guinness.jpg

Sorry. Supposed to be a video of the fish in action. Not sure why it won't work.
Posted By: ewest Re: RES info and links - 01/20/14 04:08 PM
Barry Smith , author of the article above, is an owner of American Sport Fish.



Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 03/27/14 01:39 AM
Just ran across this old PB article that is featured on SDstate outreach web site to add to this RES info thread.

RES article PBM May-June 2010 PDF download

This article gives me additional insight into my "RES heavy" pond I desire in this thread green sunfish in RES pond thread The Missouri research was of particular interest, as it showed good RES population in the presence of GSF.

Posted By: Bruce Condello Re: RES info and links - 06/09/14 03:59 AM
Great thread!!!
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 08/18/14 09:40 PM
My edits are getting so long in the original post, going to start putting the new RES links here.

8-18-2014 From post on 6-10-13 RESx BG Hybrids

8-19-2014 RES article with a good general overview of the fish

8-28-2014 Redear source for northern climates?

10-7-2014 RESxGSF hybrids

11-12-2014 RES diet

11-7-2014 What do baby RES eat? (short answer - they are not big enough to eat full sized humans yet) eek

11-7-2014 What do RES eat? (surprisingly, not whole humans - but not because they do not want to. Usually only fingers crazy )

3-12-2015 Why do Redear despise me?

3-12-2015 Late RES spawn

3-30-2015 Rolling spawn and natural hybridization

4-6-2015 They really do exist

5-10-2007 RES on very shallow beds

5-19-2015 Low and slow - Catching RES thread by Shorty

6-9-2015 Male RES sprkplug showing RES known to be male

6-22-2015. Will RES herd FHM

6-24-2015 RES in NE Iowa

10-20-2015 Same RES?

11-16-2015 RES relative weight chart

11-25-2015 RES and Zebra mussells

12-19-2015 Pumpkinseed tendencies This thread is about PS, but there is lots of discussion of how they compare to RES and how they do together with RES

2-27-2016 RES cold tolerence
This thread is about ice out, and starting with this post discusses RES tolerance to cold and winter survival

4-19-2016 First RES caught

4-27-2016 Giant RES

4-27-2016 cnbg/res mix? Can CNGB cross with other fish like regular BG?

5-3-2016 Hybred RES growing nicely Discussion on Male BG x female RES hybrids purchased from commercial fish farm

5-19-2016 RES Discussion about how to catch RES

5-31-2016 RES control of Zebra mussel

6-28-16 Not seeing any RES Not seeing RES feeding along with his BG

7-5-2016 RES or BRES Picture of fingerling fish wondering if it is a RES or hybrid

7-17-2016 Talks about hybrid bluegill but page two turns into a RES discussion

7-18-2016 Typical BG coloration Starts out about BG but numerous good pictures of RES in the thread

8-16-2015 Quick Sein survey Shorty running a sein and showing lots of good pictures of small RES

8-5-2016 A few RES this week Shorty

9-1-2016 Thread about fingerling identification starts out BG, HBG and GSF but adds in RES later in the thread Fingerling identification

9-14-2016 Stocking some Red Ear Question about stocking RES in a pond with predators already established

9-25-2016 Redear id

9-25-2016 catching RES by fly rod

10-11-2016 Redear disappeared? having trouble finding his RES and what to do about it

10-20-2016 Lowering pond level to control FA in NEDOC's RES/SMB pond This is his trophy RES pond.

10-30-2016 Pond dedicated to raising RES fingerlings small forage pond dedicated to raising RES fingerlings and minnows

11-18-2016 A pond dedicated to redear sunfish Construction of a pond being built specifically to be a RES only pond.

3-4-2017 scott69 thread on trying to get RES on Optimal feed

4-14-17 RES do they have multiple spawns? Spawning depth

4-14-17 BG/RES ID? Mostly discussion on BG, but also some discussion on RES hybrids

4-29-2017 RES ID request for identification of three fish pictures including at least one RES

6-9-17 RES spawn

10-28-17 Raising Redear in a cage thread by Reno403

11-7-17 BG or RES fingerling? by KapHn8d

11-26-2017 Raising RES in a cage by scott69

Edit 12-15-17 Are RESxBG hybrids feed trainable old thread from 2012 brought back to life

Edit 3-19-2018
Fingerling identification between RES and CNBG

Edit 6-21-18 Hungry Redear by CMM

Edit 7-18-18 RES spawning habits by chunting

Edit 7-30-18 RES deep spawning beds in a clear quarry by scott69

Edit 9-15-2018 KapHn8d thread requesting fish ID videos of what may be RES stalking minnows

Edit 10-17-2018 RES in Nebraska by jwetovick asking about the species

Edit 10-17-2018 Fish parasites thread by Quarter Acre. Not specifically about RES but why you want RES in your pond.

Edit 11-1-2018 structure for redear discussion started by TGW1 about creating structure specifically to attract RES

Edit 2-16-2019. Are RES good for a pond?

Edit 3-13-2019. Thread by Geosteve asking about a RES and HSB stocking option in small pond

Edit 6-3-2019. new Iowa state record RES

Edit 6-19-2019. How to identify RES by setterguy

Edit 6-26-2019. Feeding baby RES

Edit 2-8-2020 Thread by NEDOC feed training and capturing RES

Edit 2-7-2020 Thread referencing this thread - is this circular logic at work????

Edit 2-13-2020 Where to buy RES in Wisconsin thread

Edit 3-31-2020 Thread by jpsdad with questions on LMB and RES together

Edit 4-16-2020 Shorty thread on RES fanning out beds in aquarium

Edit 4-23-2020 Theo Gallus experience with BGxRES hybrids

Edit 6-23-2020 What do RES eat?

RES compatibility
Posted By: Shorty Re: RES info and links - 08/27/14 01:43 PM
Snrub, did you know that RES love to eat common black crickets and spotted camel (brown) crickets?

On a food preference list I would rank crickets higher than bloodworms as a prefered food item. wink
Posted By: ewest Re: RES info and links - 08/27/14 01:59 PM
I would rank food items as follows

Stubby Steve's
brown crickets (never tried black ones)
worms (blood and red)

See this thread re RES food items

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post258403
Posted By: Shorty Re: RES info and links - 08/27/14 02:40 PM
Thanks Eric!

I have a new small batch of RES in my 75 gallon aquarium that I am pellet training just for fun, I'll toss an occasional cricket in the feed ring and it is "gone in .6 seconds". grin

I still haven't figured out what exactly it is about AM500 they don't like, might be taste, texture, or both, but half of them have figured out that AM500 is better than going hungry. I watched my largest RES (5") eat ten AM500 pellets in a few minutes two weeks ago, once they figure it out they seem to be OK with pellets.

Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 08/27/14 06:39 PM
Originally Posted By: Shorty
Snrub, did you know that RES love to eat common black crickets and spotted camel (brown) crickets?

On a food preference list I would rank crickets higher than bloodworms as a prefered food item. wink


No I did not. Thanks for the info. Will remember that when I try to catch some.
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: RES info and links - 08/27/14 06:44 PM
Ewest

What stores can u find Stubby Steve's in , I live in the Houston Tx area and have not heard of this bait before

Thanks
Pat W
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 08/27/14 07:06 PM
Originally Posted By: ewest
I would rank food items as follows

Stubby Steve's
brown crickets (never tried black ones)
worms (blood and red)

See this thread re RES food items

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post258403


Very interesting on what the different lepomis eat. All the scientific names are confusing, but Shawn Banks gives a good overview in this thread.

Shawn Banks has a couple of posts in this thread about RES diet

Here is the specific quote from Shawn: I'll break down the table that Ewest pasted. L. macrochirus is the bluegill and L. microlophus is the redear. The real interesting tidbit from this table (Tabel 2- the top table) involves the food items. The taxonomy might confuse you, but everything listed is either an invertebrate or a plant. EXCEPT for the heading Osteichthyes- these are fish. Notice the how many fish were found in the redear's gut? None.

He notes that there were no fish eaten by RES. I also noticed that in general there was very little fish consumption for all the sunfish. Could this be because the BOW's where the studies were done had abundant other forage? I had always heard and thought that BG and other sunfish did a number on small fish fry. Maybe eating fish is only done when more preferred/easier to catch other food is not available.

I was thinking Shorty said his FHM's would disappear at night when put in with his RES. So they surely eat fish under some conditions, but obviously not in that study in that BOW.
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 08/27/14 07:29 PM
Notice in the bottom studies, there are no RES included, so can't tell anything specifically about RES.

But look how few fish were found in the stomachs of the various sunfish. Some studies none and others only a very few. Even the much maligned GSF has not eaten many fish. Mostly other stuff.

Seems strange to me. Must have had plenty of other preferred stuff to eat. Or maybe time of year study was done?????

Bottom three studies on the page
Posted By: Shorty Re: RES info and links - 08/27/14 07:46 PM
Snrub, overall length of a FHM seemed to play a big role in whether or not my aquarium RES would actually eat a FHM or not. Mine definitely had a size/length preference for eating smaller and shorter fish.

If the FHM was too long and the tail stuck out of the RES mouth they would spit the FHM out most of the time, if they could fit the entire FHM in their mouth they would pop their jaw several times, crush it, and eat it. When they were smaller and eating night crawler pieces I inadvertently cut some night crawler chunks that were longer than normal, and they simply refused to eat the longer pieces. My thought was that maybe they needed to have their mouth closed completely in order to utilize their crusher teeth in the back of their throat.

I do know there has been at least one study done on RES and size preferences of snails that they eat. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society - Article first published online: 3 APR 2007

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-7345.2003.tb00075.x/abstract

Prey-size Preference, Maximum Handling Size, and Consumption Rates for Redear Sunfish Lepomis microlophus Feeding on Two Gastropods Common to Aquaculture Ponds

Abstract
Maximum handling sizes, prey size and species preferences, and ad libitum consumption rates were determined for three size classes of redear sunfish Lepomis microlophus feeding on Physa gyrina and Helisoma trivolvis, two common aquaculture-pond snails which serve as intermediate hosts for fish parasites. Maximum handling-size experiments indicated that redear sunfish as small as 14-cm total length were capable of consuming all sizes of Physa typically observed in ponds, whereas only redear sunfish of at least 32-cm total length are capable of consuming all commonly observed sizes of pond-dwelling Helisoma. When presented with a range of sizes of both snail species, redear sunfish consumed higher proportions of smaller- and medium-sized snails; the largest snails offered were uneaten or consumed in relatively small quantities. Multiple linear regression was applied to consumption data to develop a simple model for predicting mean daily ad libitum consumption rate (g/g per d) for redear sunfish feeding on snails with temperature (20–27 C) and fish total length (9–24 cm) as independent variables. Our findings will facilitate prediction of numbers of redear sunfish of a given size required to control populations of Physa and Helisoma in ponds. Such predictions will enable pond owners to quickly evaluate whether stocking redear sunfish as a control agent for undesirable snail populations will be economically and logistically feasible. Findings also indicate potential limitations in the use of redear sunfish to control populations of Helisoma due to the inability of redear sunfish as large as 24-cm total length to consume the largest 30–40% of Helisoma commonly observed in ponds and to the expense of stocking larger fish (32-cm total length) capable of consuming all sizes of Helisoma.



Thank you Dr. Willis. wink

PDF link to the entire article
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: RES info and links - 08/28/14 11:28 AM
Pat, you can call Stacy from the number on their web site and ask her. Or just order direct from them. They are a small family business and Steve is a great guy.
Posted By: george1 Re: RES info and links - 08/28/14 04:46 PM
Originally Posted By: Pat Williamson
Ewest

What stores can u find Stubby Steve's in , I live in the Houston Tx area and have not heard of this bait before

Thanks
Pat W

Pat, IIRC, Todd Overton is a dealer for Stubby Steve's as well as Temple Fork Fly Rods, spin and casting rods.
George
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: RES info and links - 08/28/14 05:22 PM
George thanks again for info.
Dave thanks also
Pat W
Posted By: ewest Re: RES info and links - 08/28/14 08:36 PM
Or you can send her a PM --

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showprofile&User=5233
Posted By: Pat Williamson Re: RES info and links - 08/29/14 05:40 PM
I be a him

Pat W
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 08/29/14 09:58 PM
Originally Posted By: Pat Williamson
I be a him

Pat W


Gender can be a tricky thing to determine except when nesting.

I learned that on PBF! wink grin laugh laugh
Posted By: Shorty Re: RES info and links - 11/22/14 06:30 PM
Snrub, just to add to your information.

HABITAT SUITABILITY INDEX MODELS AND INSTREAM FLOW SUITABILITY CURVES: REDEAR SUNFISH 1984 - FWS

Quote:
Redear sunfish display great variation in spawning season. Within most of their range, redear sunfish usually begin to spawn in May to June, and may continue to spawn until September (Schoffman 1939; Dineen 1968; Pflieger 1975). Redear may spawn sparingly during the summer and heavily in the early fall (Swingle 1949). In Florida redear sunfish begin to spawn in late February or early March and continue to spawn intermittently until October 1 (Clugston 1966). In the northern reaches of their distribution (Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana), nesting begins in May to July and generally does not extend into late summer (Krumholz 1950; Cole 1951; Childers 1967).

The eggs are laid in saucer-shaped nests, fanned free of debris (Gresham 1965; Wilbur 1969). Redear tend to be community spawners, often with nests only a few inches from each other (McCl ane 1955; Clugston 1966; Emi g 1966; Pflieger 1975). Nests have been found at water depths from approximately 5 to 10 cm (Swingle and Smith 1947; Gresham 1965; Emig 1966) to 4 to 6 m (Wilbur 1969). Gresham (1965) and Clugston (1966) reported that nests were usually at water depths of 45 to 90 cm. McClane (1955) reported that spawning most often occurred at depths of 91 to 122 cm in the St. Johns River; Swingle and Smith (1947) reported that nests in ponds were most often at water depths of at least 183 cm.


Quote:
Redear sunfish grew faster and reproduced more abundantly in average turbidities of s 25 ppm (Buck 1956b). Although redear sunfish were reported to reproduce and young redear were recovered in a pond with a high turbidity (174 ppm) in one study, the critical level for successful reproduction and growth over time is probably between 75 and 100 ppm (Buck 1956b). Although redear prefer clear waters, redear sunfish seem to be more tolerant of turbidity than bass or bluegills (Buck 1956b; Smith 1979).


Quote:
Adult. The best growth for redear was reported to occur at temperatures \of 23.9° C by Rounsefell and Everhart (1953), but Leidy and Jenkins (1977) reported the optimum or preferred temperature for growth of bluegill s , sma11mouth bass, and largemouth bass to be 27° C. At acclimation temperatures of 16° C, 21° C, and 26° C the redear sunfish selected temperatures at 22° C, 23° C, and 28° C, respectively (Hill et al. 1975). From this information the author assumes optimal temperatures for redear growth range from 24 to 27° C. Cole (1951) reported that bacterial fin rot and fungus attacked redear sunfish almost continuously in aquaria once temperatures fall below 14.4° C. Below 6.6° C, redear were inactive and did not feed. It is assumed that redear growth ceases when temperatures fall below 10° C, as is true for bluegills (Anderson 1958). A lower lethal temperature of 6.5° C was determined in reservoirs by Leidy and Jenkins (1977). Redear sunfish are susceptible to rapid temperature changes (Swingle 1949; Rounsefell and Everhart 1953).
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: RES info and links - 11/22/14 07:14 PM
Note the important temperature related information from the above study are these notes:
C. Cole (1951) reported that bacterial fin rot and fungus attacked redear sunfish almost continuously in aquaria once temperatures fall below 58F(14.4°C). Below 44F(6.6°C), redear were inactive and did not feed. It is assumed that redear growth ceases when temperatures fall below 50F(10°C), as is true for bluegills (Anderson 1958). A lower lethal temperature of 43.7F(6.5°C) was determined in reservoirs by Leidy and Jenkins (1977). Redear sunfish are susceptible to rapid temperature changes (Swingle 1949; Rounsefell and Everhart 1953).
Posted By: Shorty Re: RES info and links - 11/22/14 09:53 PM
Temperature information on RES was what I was looking for in my search when I ran across this article. A thread over on Big Bluegill about ice fishing for RES does come up at the top of the list when you Google " redear sunfish 39 degrees ". grin I wonder if RES caught through the ice will likely end up with a fungal infection if they are released. (I'm Thinking about the RES TJ recently caught.)

The other topics I found interesting were "salinity", "turbidity", "reproduction", and the aquatic "vegetation" notes.

Quote:
Redear adults typically occur in deeper, open waters and only move shoreward to spawn (Chable 1947; Cole 1951; McClane 1955; Lopinot 1961; Wilbur 1969), although Wilbur (1969) reported that greater densities of redear occurred in the peripheral deep water areas near submergent vegetation. Wilbur (1969) concluded that, except during spawning season, emergent vegetation was of lesser importance to redear than open water areas.


Based on my aquarium observations I suspect that RES are much more light sensitive than other sunfish and this is the primary reason that they stay deep during day. Like clockwork my aquarium RES move up in the water column once the light goes out every night. Water clarity/turbidity likely plays a significant role in how deep they typically reside during the day. I suspect that RES move up shallow to feed every night once the sun goes down. If I am right there should be very significant differences in the capture rates of RES by electroshocking during the day vs. electroshocking after sunset.

Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 11/22/14 10:09 PM
Originally Posted By: Shorty
I suspect that RES move up shallow to feed every night once the sun goes down. If I am right there should be very significant differences in the capture rates of RES by electroshocking during the day vs. electroshocking after sunset.


The ones I have caught in shallow water were around sunset or at least when the sun was very low in the sky and the lighting was getting subdued.

Your observation would seem to make sense in relation to snails. I don't know how many snails reside deep, but the high numbers I have seen are along the shore line on the fresh algae on the rocks or plants. It would seem the RES would want to move up into this shallow water at some time during the day to take advantage of these snails.

I do know the snails move deeper and under the rocks more than on top of them as the water cools, but my visible snail population is way down this fall compared to what it was last fall when I added an additional 125 3" RES to my main pond. The ones of those fish I have caught are in the 6-7" range now and I think they have worked on the snails a bunch this year.
Posted By: Shorty Re: RES info and links - 11/22/14 11:28 PM
"C. Cole (1951) reported that bacterial fin rot and fungus attacked redear sunfish almost continuously in aquaria once temperatures fall below 58F(14.4°C)."

When this happened in my RAS system it was mostly a result from netting fish to look at them.
Posted By: ewest Re: RES info and links - 11/24/14 06:14 PM
Who wants to do a tracking study on RES ? That would sure provide a lot of info.
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: RES info and links - 11/24/14 06:46 PM
A tracking study of RES is a very good idea. Too bad RES do not survive in the South Dakota region. The Pond Boss family could take up a special collection to help fund the RES tracking study at SDSUniv. Do fishery biologists do tracking studies of any species in the sunfish family or are the fish too small for inserting the tracking devices? ewest - any tracking studies published for any of the sunfishes?
Posted By: ewest Re: RES info and links - 11/25/14 06:40 PM
I will check. Only ones I have seen from the sunfish family are the Bass and Crappie. I have not seen one on BG or RES.
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 01/27/15 10:09 PM
The audacity of questioning the desirability of RES in a pond

Someone can actually question the need or desire to have such a noble fish in their pond????? grin

(sarcastic humor attempted but not guaranteed successful in this post)
Posted By: esshup Re: RES info and links - 01/28/15 02:26 AM
Given the nitche that they fill, and how that they are not a "mainstream" fish to people that aren't really familiar with pond fish, I think it's a valid question.
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 01/28/15 03:00 AM
Anyone reading the unknown facts about RES might just decide they made a mistake of stocking them! eek
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 07/06/16 03:29 AM
Originally Posted By: Shorty
Snrub, did you know that RES love to eat common black crickets and spotted camel (brown) crickets?

On a food preference list I would rank crickets higher than bloodworms as a prefered food item. wink


I bought some Gulp Alive fake crickets. Got to give them a try!
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 09/11/16 08:39 PM
Couple of small RES I caught recently.

I figured out why sometimes the orange/red on the opercular tab does not show up very well in my pictures. While holding the fish what I observed is that as the fish breathes and moves its gill cover, as it expands the opercular tab pushes away from the fish body, the orange tab slumps, and no longer being against the fish body does not show up well in the picture.

Many times I have caught a RES, it is obviously a RES, I take the picture, then at some later time I look at the picture on a larger computer screen and it shows up hardly at all or faintly.

Both of these fish had a very distinct, solid, orange border on the end of the opercular tab. The first picture shows up "ok" but the second fish hardly at all. But it was there. Not a translucent tab like on a GSF, but solid like RES.

Attached picture IMGA1826.JPG
Attached picture IMGA1827.JPG
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 09/21/16 05:49 AM
Old thread on RES trophy pond I wish the guy would come back and update.

RES trophy pond
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 04/15/17 02:53 AM
Originally Posted By: Shorty
Snrub, did you know that RES love to eat common black crickets and spotted camel (brown) crickets?

On a food preference list I would rank crickets higher than bloodworms as a prefered food item. wink


I have had some luck recently with the Gulp Alive artificial crickets.
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 07/03/17 07:15 PM
Something I have noticed but never knew why was that RES appear to have two different "looks" associated with pictures I have seen posted.

This USGS description might explain it. It says there are two different unnamed subspecies of RES. I had not known that.

USGS info on RES
Posted By: snrub Re: RES info and links - 03/19/18 07:59 PM
Originally Posted By: Shorty
Temperature information on RES was what I was looking for in my search when I ran across this article. A thread over on Big Bluegill about ice fishing for RES does come up at the top of the list when you Google " redear sunfish 39 degrees ". grin I wonder if RES caught through the ice will likely end up with a fungal infection if they are released. (I'm Thinking about the RES TJ recently caught.)

The other topics I found interesting were "salinity", "turbidity", "reproduction", and the aquatic "vegetation" notes.

Quote:
Redear adults typically occur in deeper, open waters and only move shoreward to spawn (Chable 1947; Cole 1951; McClane 1955; Lopinot 1961; Wilbur 1969), although Wilbur (1969) reported that greater densities of redear occurred in the peripheral deep water areas near submergent vegetation. Wilbur (1969) concluded that, except during spawning season, emergent vegetation was of lesser importance to redear than open water areas.


Based on my aquarium observations I suspect that RES are much more light sensitive than other sunfish and this is the primary reason that they stay deep during day. Like clockwork my aquarium RES move up in the water column once the light goes out every night. Water clarity/turbidity likely plays a significant role in how deep they typically reside during the day. I suspect that RES move up shallow to feed every night once the sun goes down. If I am right there should be very significant differences in the capture rates of RES by electroshocking during the day vs. electroshocking after sunset.



If I want to get my best rate of catch for fingerlings with my cast net in my forage pond, I throw it very near shore just before or slightly after sunset before dark. I will get a few out in deeper water, but near shore is best. Mid day bright sunshine and warm water I will be lucky to get one fingerling per cast.
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