Went out to hand feed the HSB I'm growing out in this forage pond. They are really feeding aggressively now.
But what I noticed was a half dozen newly cleaned beds. I could tell they were fresh because there was no algae on the limestone rocks in the nests and I could see the fresh sediment ringing them. I put 100 1.5" RES in this spring and I have caught a few a while back in the 3.5" range. I thought there might be a late fall spawn but was really surprised to see they were building nests this soon. I suspect there are some 4" and maybe a few 5" RES in there.
Surprising how soon sunfish will "mature" when there is no competition from larger bull males. All that is in this pond is the RES, the HSB juveniles and FHM.
