Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Why do Redear despise me?

CJ, I stocked 3 dozen 2-3" GSH in June along with 5 dozen FHM, SMB were stocked in October, my RES were late and got stocked in December. The GSH only had a 5 month head start on the SMB.

I caught two more RES last night and one GSH.

I might have figured out my RES, I caught 19 of them tonight which about matches my entire total from 2014.

I have a strong year class of this size.


and a few bigger ones...






I also caught 2 SMB and 8 GSH.

My bet is your GSH pulled off at least a couple spawns before the SMB were stocked. That first spawn probably had high survival rate and growth. What size were the SMB when stocked?

The SMB were 5 to 8" when stocked in late October and they were large enough to pull off an unexpected spawn the following spring six months later.

It's a game of balance... Quite a challenge at times.

Yep, I have seen a lot of boom and bust cycles since my little pond filled 4 years ago. Most of my initial stocking fish are difficult to catch but some year classes of offspring do have a lot of competition now. In particular small YP seem to be in the worst body condition, yet I have only seen a few of them. Nature also likes to throw some unexpected curve balls too that affect the balance, I have had my share of those.

I did catch 5 more RES last night. All caught in less than 3-4 ft of water. I think I have finally figured them out, I have caught more RES in the last two weeks than I have in the last 3 years combined.

From last night, probably hatched in 2012 and not part of my initial stocking of RES. I am guessing this one is a female.

The key to catching the RES in my pond seems to be a very slow stop and go retrieve and letting the micro jig suspend near the bottom in shallow water. The less windy it is the better.

Make sure the small casting bubble is half full of water. A bobber stop above the casting bubble is a must. Casting parallel to the bank and slowly moving the rig 6-12", letting is stop and sink a few inches, then slowly moving another 6-12",is triggering my RES to bite.

The rubber on the micro jig is nothing more than a small section from the upper looped arms cut off of a Zoom Brush Hog, I can get three pieces per side off of one Brush Hog. A black color works great, green pumpkin or watermelon should work well in imitating a damselfly nymph, I will try those colors next.




This rig should be a killer on BG at more normal retrieve speeds.

Nice work, Shorty! Figuring anything out having to do with RES is quite an accomplishment.

I like RES. They just don't like me.

Gonna have to give those techniques a try!

Gave it the ole' weekend college try.....no RES. A positive note, my grandson caught many nice BG and my son, his two biggest LMB. 3 LBS, 15 ozs and one just under that.....good time had by all.

After work tonight I caught 29 RES, 1 YP, 1 SMB, and 4 GSH.

Shorty, you are an inspiration to those of us trying to raise RES.

Same bait?

Same bait, 2 to 3ft of water along to edge of the pond. If I throw it out farther over deeper water I'm more likely to catch a GSH.

A male!

If we go by bright yellow bellies are males, and creamy colored bellies are female, then I have been catching more males than females.

I go by the color of the margin on the opercular tab. Bright red being male indication, fainter orange being female. I don't know how reliable this method is...I know I've been right more than wrong with it. I often find tweener fish that just don't fit in either category without nagging doubts.

A little better picture of what I have been using to catch my RES.

Shorty, I have all but given up on RES in my puddle. But wait! Those showoffs have 3 beds about a foot deep, 3 feet off shore, and spaced 2-2.5 feet apart! Them little criminals are the most aggresive nest guards I have witness.
So to them I say" I'LL be back, ......back with nuclear weapons!

Mike, if it makes you feel better, once my RES began spawning they started given me the fin and became very unsociable with me. I guess they have other things on their mind.

I think RES are far more devoted parents than BG's will ever be. When our RES commit to a nest, they commit. A BG can be spooked off much easier, and I believe is more affected by temp. swings. Our RES can be frightened off, but they come right back, whereas the BG will languish out in deeper water and observe for a spell. BG's are easier to entice to strike while on the nest in my opinion, often hitting topwater. I have found that it takes live bait squirming in the bottom of the nest most of the time, to tempt RES in the same fashion. I think that could be due to general feeding habits also, however.

I just put some res in my forage pond it has minnows and crawfish plus a few crappie to try for a spawn. The minnows will eat bread and fish food, have not seen the crappie at all. The res don't appear to be eating anything but they spend a lot of time in the vegetation on the bottom. What can I use for supplemental feed for my res. They are about 1"-2" is it too early for an automatic larva feeder?

While swimming in the beach area Sunday, after a very long Saturday :), all of the fish were swimming around me like I was in an aquarium. The prettiest RES swam bye and shook her tail. She wouldn't let me catch it though...

Is it wrong to love a RES?

Just don't let your wife get wind of it.