RC,
I stocked RES in my new pond 7 years ago as fingerlings. I noticed that there were thousands of tiny snails on my rip rap lining the dam at the time. Two years later it was common for me to catch 2+ lbs. RES resembling small footballs. The very next year large RES were rare to catch and the snails were sparse. I haven't seen a large RES in almost four years now. The snails are now pretty much wiped out. I bet it's not a coincidence. Additionally, many of those large RES had wounds from GBH attacks. Slow grazing habits along with proximity to shoreline probably made them easy targets.
That's good to know Blaine. I will probably get several hundred from a supplier this year and feed train them in one of my RAS tanks. Then when I can sort the males from the females I will plant the males in the trophy pond and sell the females.
I have a lot of ramshorn snails in my ponds. And I believe it has caused issues with parasites on my bluegills. Although I have figured out how to keep the herons out, I've read in literature it still takes a few years to break the parasite cycle.
