Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Show off your catch A growing RES

I was asked to post this in a thread instead of just the gallery.

I stocked 300 of them at 3" in May of 2014 (IIRC) and they've done their job of eliminating snails. I don't know much about them other than seeing Shorty's success with them and maybe one day they'll be as big and nice as his!

I will occasionally go "worming' around the pond with a nightcrawler and bobber and that's how this one was caught, near the drop-off of the deep end. For me it's a rare catch but they're just so dang cool!

Male or female? I have no clue .

Good going Keith!

I'm thinking this one is a male that may have been tending a bed late summer, or this fall.

Sweet. Those little buggers put up a fight too!

Cmm

Can someone help me make a stab at the age of that fish? If he stocked spring of 2014, and stocked at 3" how old were they at stocking and now?

I ask because Keith has a northern pond like mine (probably his winters have more cold and less snow than in W Mi.) I stocked in spring/summer 2014 but stocked 25 small RES (maybe biggest 2", many 1.5") Never saw any again. Then did another 25 stockers of same size this spring. That means that in my pond without predators at least a few of the initial 25 should have survived. I saw no spawning beds this year from the small ones last year.

Like Keith I do see my NATIVE snails (small ones) which were hundreds last year are gone this year. I have no FHM left either (though perch helped on that front too).

So I'm hoping I'll spot one on the beds next year or be able to catch one and I'm curious how big they are and how they escape being seen so well for the last year. I wonder how big mine are?

Keith yours look great. Love that brilliant red ear tab, they sure are eating something that they like.

Isn't it unusual that they would go after a nightcrawler? It sounds like other PB members had to catch them on micro baits.

I'm down with male also.

Canyon creek, I am in missouri, and have caught res on pieces of worm, small crank baits, wooly buggers, bead head nymphs, and 3 in one night on a giant top water foam frog!!

I catch most of them on beds while spawning, but those top water babies came out of the middle of a brush pile with no spawning any where close. I catch some near brush in deeper water on nymphs too. The nymphs are pretty small, may qualify as a micro bait, but the wooly buggers are a mouth full for res. Mine at least have a tendency to be opportunistic feeders, they are not near as fat as shorty's or Keith's though. Lol

Cmm

With the wooly buggers and bead head nymphs, are you using a fly rod?
Just curious how you are fishing them..
Thanks
Jeff

Can someone help me make a stab at the age of that fish? If he stocked spring of 2014, and stocked at 3" how old were they at stocking and now?

RES stocked at 3" in May were likely hatched in June of 2013.

I seined a few RES from my pond at the end of August from this years hatch, they were 1-1/2" to 1-3/4" when they went into my aquarium. They are now 3-1/4" to 3-1/2".

Shorty or Keith,
Do either of you see the RES when walking around the pond or only when they are on the spawning beds? I should at least have 3" RES if any survived, maybe bigger, but have never seen anything that looks like a sunfish since stocking. I also put in 25 LES and 25 LCS and apparently they never made it either.

I'd love to know why they didn't survive since they came in good shape, swam away, never saw floaters, no predators (that I know of!!)

Hmmm...

maybe next spring they will spawn and I'll see them.

I don't normally see RES cruising the edges, but It's common for us to see their hybrids. (RES x BG)

I rarely see my RES when walking the pond. I do see them at night sometimes while walking the pond with a flashlight, they will be sitting very shallow right on the edge.

Most of the RES I catch are in less than 2ft of water with the bait dragging on or near the bottom.

I initially stocked 110 four to six inch RES in my 1/4 acre pond and only caught one or two a year for the first 2-1/2 years.

Jeff, yes, I mostly fly fish. Unless I'm fishing with kids ot the wind is just too much for my limited skills, I have a fly rod in hand.

Cmm

Limited skills, Cmm? I think not! I was fortunate to be on the receiving end of witnessing your skills, knowledge and great (and helpful) instruction for a day and half of fly fishing your pond! Impressive to say the least!


Thanks, CC!

I've caught them on night crawlers, red wigglers and even a Pan Fish Assassin. But again, it's rare and usually on the bottom as Shorty has commented.

As far as seeing them swimming, my water clarity is less than 12" so unfortunately I see no swimmers or spawn beds .


Thanks, Shorty!

I know there was spawning activity in September but unsure what all spawned (just BG, just RES, BG & RES, etc.), again due to minimal water clarity. The spawning clues for me were the change in feeding habits (including LMB and HSB), fish caught along the shallow (likely bedding) areas and seeing YOY shortly thereafter, of which I now wish I would have corralled a few for positive ID. They're now nowhere to be seen (many digested I'm guessing).

And, Shorty, is it the colors on the fish that lead you to believe it may have been tending a bed, i.e., spawning colors? All the ones I've caught in the past have been darker like the one in the pic.

The darker color and the ear tab being a darker red rather than orange makes me believe this one is a male. If you had taken a picture of the underside I would be a lot more confident in my guess.