The past few days I started noticing a bunch of snails in my pond. So today I put an order in for 100 4-6 inch RES. Probably should have stocked them originally.

good deal Tom,

look forward to a couple stocking pics. do you think yer pushing the northern limit for RES?

if yer lucky, you too can gain acceptance into the RES Club....

If Tom ordered RES then he is in the club.

I've read were RES have been stocked up into Michigan. I'm close to two hundred south of the Michigan state line. I've talked with some locals that RES in their ponds so don't think it going to be a problem. It's going to be awhile before I can get pics. The fish place won't start up deliveries again until mid September. They said delivery would be sometime between then and mid October.

Tom,

You shouldn't have any problem with the RES, I've had 'em for over 10 years and the're doing fine. I'm about 10 miles North of the ohio border.

Good luck.

Dan

Will it took some time but they delivered my RES today. Now they can feast on all the snails. Here's a pic of one of the 100 I got.

That's a good looking fish. Appears really healthy. He also looks like he's a little irritated with somebody. Careful.

Bruce, That's why I let the delivery guy hold it.

Good move. The red eartab serves as a warning signal.

By the look in his eye, you just know he's thinking about taking off a finger!

Excuse my ingnorance but, why are snails so bad?

They are a parasite vector.

Kingfisher or other "fish birds", eat the fish, which has the parasite, and then defacates the parasite to the water where the snail picks it up. Fish then eats snail to complete the process. Not a very detailed explanation, but you get the idea.

Reduce snail numbers, and the consequence is fewer fish parasites.

My pond is just now two years old. We put in 100 redear one year ago. Caught a couple with a cast net a couple of weeks ago and they were not much bigger than when we put them in. I worry that they do not have anything to eat. Are snails pretty much there only meal? Maybe we should have waited a couple of years to get things going before putting them in.

Pond Girl, I've been told, they eat mostly snails and fingers.
No, really, if not much natural cover, such as stumps and logs or shallow vegetation to harbor smails, they may suffer in growth. When your water gets low, plant some rye or other grass on the exposed banks to provide snail and other aquatic invertabrate habitat. Keep the ones you can net or sein out. Stock in a lower percentage, if no suitable habitat.