H2O, I'm interested that you got red ears rather than pumpkinseed. Similar panfish, but I thought pumpkinseed are better adapted to northern climate.

I do have redear (RES), but rarely catch any. They are much less aggressive than bluegill & are difficult to tempt on artificial lures. Live bait on bottom is usually the ticket. They do a good job keeping the snail population in check, so tend to limit snail parasites crossing over to fish. In Louisiana they are called shellcrackers.

7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160