Eric -- we purposely put pumpkinseeds in one pond up here. Like the redears (shellcrackers), the pumpkinseeds eat snails. We've got a bad problem with yellow grub in one pond, and wondered if the pumpkinseeds might reduce the snails and thus the grubs.
They don't get as big as redears. We consistently see the big ones at 8-8.5 inches up here. They spawn more than redears, and will overpopulate and stunt if you don't have a good predator base (e.g., LMB).
I didn't have a chance to look up the pumpkinseed distribution. I didn't know they made it that far south. Lepomis gibbosus, correct?
