Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass anise worm questions and RES

I read this article and have three questions:

1. What is an anise worm and is it worth the hype? Is it supposed to have a particular scent or is it a special shape or texture?

2. Seriously, a 5 pound RES in Georgia? What are the records in states outside of Michigan?

3. I have thousands of snails but my FHM and GSH just went in about 2-3 weeks ago and i want to give them some time to have one or two spawns. Is there a source for RES close to W Michigan that is recommended and should I stock this fall or wait till next spring?

see this article:

http://www.bassriveroutdoors.com/nearrecordredear.html

Redears prefer warmer water and I thought us here in Northern Indiana was the upper limits of their surviving the winters. Pumpkinseeds are better suited to take the nitche of RES in northern ponds, but they don't grow as large.

Loretta put RES in her pond in SE michigan. She was worried about overwintering this past winter. Loretta, do you know how your perch, walleye and RES did over the past winter?

Any ideas on stocking sources for either pumpkinseed or RES?

Anise is a licorice flavor ingrediant frequently added to plastic worms, as well as garlic and other flavors.
Kinda like like adding fish food to a Stubby Steve...

I only know of 2 sources at this time for PS. One is Keystone Hatchery in Illinois, the other is Smith Creek in New York. I don't know if Keystone will sell fish in Michigan, and getting PS from Smith Creek is always a challenge due to limited supply. RES this year are hard to source due to the hard winter that we just had. I'd be leery of getting them from down South, I don't know how they'd like our winters.

The Maryland record is 2 lbs 5 oz. From a state park public lake.

I'm sure that 'anise worm' would work. Red wigglers seem to be the killer bait for redears. But pieces of nightcrawlers or earthworms will definitely also work. And of course they love any kind of snail or clam. I dont think redears are real particular about bait, as long as it is on the bottom, or very close. The trick is to find them after they spawn.

MSC,
Did you mean it is important to find them after they spawn because they are bigger then or do you mean they don't bite well on anything other times of the year?

RES are easiest to catch during the spawn...after they leave their beds they can be more difficult to target. However, sometimes RES will spawn throughout the Summer, like they did last year for me, so take that into consideration. MSC is right on regarding angling tactics - they are more benthic in feeding behavior [see terminal mouth] and a light jig/crawler is down deep or on bottom is reliable angling method.

TJ,
Is there another source for RES in your area that would ship to me?

Not sure on the shipping, but RES aren't hard to source. You could always make a drive and see some pondbossers on the way. Bullhead, Condello, Shorty, and Omaha are all within 40 minutes of my farm and we'd like to meet and hang out.

RES are far less fecund than PS and reach bigger sizes, so if you can try RES first I'd suggest it - easy to manage and better angling return in my opinion. Sure, you might lose some during tough winters, but if they don't make it you can always consider stocking PS.

You might want to try sourcing BRES or RBG hybrids - they are up to 97% male so population is easy to manage, grow large, and will train on pellets but also retain the pharyngeal molars for grinding snails/crustaceans, and their cold tolerance I imagine is far better than pure RES - but that last detail is pure conjecture. If you are interested I know someone in Ohio who is raising them - and I've done it in the past with some success. You can also do it yourself if you have a spare 1/10th acre cell - I can walk you through the process.

I bought my RES from Imlay City Fish Farms in MI but they sourced them from the south. They made it through 2 winters but I don't know if they made it through last winter, it was a tough one. I'm not sure anything made it. If my RES made it I'll assume everything did. I had planned on fishing this week to check it out but I've been so busy and I have to remember to keep the dogs out of the pond if I plan to fish that day and that hasn't happened, lol. I'll let you know when I find out.

Have you read this?
Redear Sunfish Management in Michigan
http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/ifr/ifrlibra/technical/reports/2003-3tr.pdf