Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Redeyes in small ponds?

Over the years I've spent quite a bit of time in southwestern VA, in mountains, fishing drainages into and within the New River. My wife has family sort of near Wytheville.

There's a small 'game' fish there called a redeye that grows somewhat larger than the various lepomis species. It has skin coloration similar to bass sp. (greens and blacks), a large mouth relative to BG, and big striking red eyes around black pupils. Its got pretty stout dorsal fin spines you need to be careful of. It doesnt resemble a bass, nor a BG....it looks like a redeye.

I've caught hundreds of them, and dont know anything about them. what family are they in, what's there genus and species? wasnt very successful trying to find them on internet. Years ago i used to live in MD, and never caught one on the Potomac river, so i think they're a more southern water fish, with southern VA perhaps being the northern part of their range.

Does anybody here have experience with these fish, and would they make good additions to small ponds?

Is this him?

Howdy Bruce,
could be...my memory says the fish in your pic is too perch-like in appearance, but maybe there are variations from region to region, or i'm not remembering accurately (its been 3-4 years since I was back there). All my GSF questions lately made me think of them. my feeble memory says the coloration is about right (maybe a bit too yellow), spines look about right, but I remember eyes to be really huge and red...maybe they just haunt my dreams.

Of all the ones I cleaned, I remember fairly big scales for the sp., and boy did they taste good in the morning, fried in cornmeal w/ a slathering of henhouse fresh scrambled eggs, drop biscuits and gravy. they have good cheek meat...one of my favorite parts.

Is this rock bass AKA "redeye"? with a range in southeastern freshwater creeks, streams, and rivers? Seems he might add nice diversity to a pond.....they are aggressive, fun to catch, and great to eat.....

Is this closer? Smallmouth Bass have striking red eyes.

o.k., now that i had narrower search parameter....ambloplites.....not a lot of those around the net......

the pic at the Virginia Tech link: VT - rock bass
is really not very good, but the text splains it all......you hit nail on head....Thanks Dr. Condello.

Has anybody experimented w/ these in ponds? If not why?

D.I.E.D. dont know much about sunfish speciation, but he do know SMB....good try, you nailed it the first time...

I've caught them before in some local sandpits. They are a blast! They fight hard and will agressively take an artificial bait.

My Dad caught a Rock Bass over a pound at Lake McConaughy just a few weeks ago.

Maybe the reason they aren't experimented with more is the fact that they aren't readily available from suppliers.

Anybody tried them??

Here's an excellent thread with comments from Bill Cody, Dave Willis, Norm Kopecky, ewest, Sunil and others.

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000438#000000

yup, great thread, thanks Bruce.

Sunil, would love to see a pic of one from yer pond. if you havent tried eating em yet, yer in for a treat.

i dont imagine i could get those out here , i think a 1 ac. pond full of trophy size GSF and redeyes would just about knock anybody's socks off....great light tackle fishin.

Warmouth, or "goggle eye" as we call them locally, have fiery red eyes, and look almost identical to the "rock bass". I am considering adding them to my pond, but probably won't. They have a fairly large mouth... about the size of crappie... and hit artificial bait.

DaveIED, I've only ever caught the one rock bass in my pond. However, I've felt reasonably comfortable in believing there are more in my pond. So if I catch another, I'll try and get a pic. As an example, I had my pond for at least three years before I found I had Yellow Perch, so I still get surprised every once in a while with learning about something new in the pond. Therefore, if I only catch one of a certain species, I'm more inclined to believe I have others of the same species.

I've caught hundreds of rock bass in Lake Erie on the PA Shoreline segment. If anyone knows the mouth of Elk Creek, on the western side of the mouth, there is a partially submerged rock jetty. Sometimes, the highest point of rocks is 3-4" below water. You can wade or step out onto th rocks. We would catch rock bass on every cast using maggots on a mini-foo jig.

Oh yeah...that old chestnut. :p We always used to follow up a tough day of larval trawling by grabbin' the ol' mini-foos and chunkin' some maggots.

Didja ever get the feeling you just put together a sequence of words that have never before been seen in the English language?

So does Sunil - hence the shades.

ROTFL!

Man!!! I thought I explained that those were perscription sun glasses, as well as being polarized!

We'll see who gets the 'ole red-eye when we meet at the 1st Annual Pond Boss Jamboree early next year.

Sunil I am counting on well behaved attendees. I sure hope we don't have to have a moderators table at the convention. At least not for red-eye reduction , behavioral therapy or recreational therapy aka ludotherapy . :p

you know how they say owners are a lot like their pets (or vice versa).......i wonder if that holds true for PMs and their fish?

i apologize to the BG purists, but if i want an acre pond full of trophy GSF and redeyes, hmmmmmm.