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Redears are native to warmer waters and might not do well in lakes that freeze over for long periods. At least I have never heard of any good redear lakes that ever froze.
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An even better reason to experiment with them in a lake that freezes over for a long period of time. If they turn out to be a bad idea, nature will kill them off.
If they turn out to be seen constantly munching on quaggas, then they could consider placeing them elsewhere.
**Works for me.
But I ain’t chief in charge of new introductions.
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I thought you knew the chief?[:P] if the redear works then the DNR should look into it.
**I would not be surprised if it was not already on the review list. Our DWR folks are well eddicated and know how to use both a library and the Internet to do their research. The fact that redear sunfish eat small mollusks…like zebra and quagga mussels…has been common knowledge for years now. And the documented results of their aggressive feeding on those invasive pests is well documented.
That would be a good topic to bring up at a future open house session. I’m sure we would be surprised at how far they have already taken their looksee.
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If it is on their plans it would be interesting to see
I’ve made note of the DWR open house dates and two of them fall on days off. I think I might just stop in and have a chit chat with them. At least it would be interesting to find out some of their plans.
Many of my fondest childhood memories are of filling stringers of shellcrackers from various ponds and lakes in Alabama. My uncle taught me how to tie roadkill on a branch that hung over a submerged log or other structure and come back later to catch the bream that had fattened up on the maggots that fell into the water. There were many days that I would catch several 3/4 lb shellcrackers and half pound bluegills to take home for dinner.
If the UDWR decided to plant shellcrackers in a Utah water, they’d probably have a slot limit on them. [:p]
**Amazing how many calls, PMs, emails and responses I have received about the redears since I brung up that subject. Seems like a lot of Utah transplants (from other states) have already had a lot of great experiences with them.
I fished them for several years while living in Arizona, but have also had some memorable catches in Georgia and Louisiana. The fish I caught from a small lake in Georgia regularly exceeded 2#. And the ones in Louisiana only slightly smaller. Got those on some small grass shrimp we netted out of a small bayou stream outlet…and then fished in a bigger flow.
Those redears like all kinds of mollusks and crustaceans. But they eat worms, bugs and other stuff pretty good too.
Interesting comment on the slot limit. Any special reason why you think they would do that? Not a common thing for panfish.
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Waht most people don’t know is that we have native mussels in Utah. Most of the mussels are threatened and the introduction of Redear’s would put them at risk. Most of them are found in the southern part of the state. We also have some threatened species of snails that would be at risk.
I was unaware that they had put them in Havasu to work on the Quagga’s, which is good to hear.
**Always more than one side to any issue. But it would be a shame to give more “weight” to an endangered mollusk than to take measures to aggressively control an invasive one.
Unbelievable how some land owners and businesses have been affected by “too little too late” radical efforts to save inconsequential lower forms of life that contribute nothing to the ecology…besides just being there. I have heard of farmers literally losing their farms because rare species of snails were found in their primary water source. Kinda reminds me of Junie mania.
Most of our lakes and streams harbor little clams and mussels. You can see their empty shells strewn along the shorelines each year when the water levels drop. These would no doubt be rooted out and eaten by the redears but the quaggas and zebras attach to objects above the bottom muck and are easy targets for mollusk munchers.
Just another potential bullet in the battle against the nasties. Hope it never comes to needing them. But it would be nice to have some in a water somewhere in Utah.
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My youth was spent at lake in southern michigan. We would catch TOAD redears in the spring. I mean TOAD like 11 inches toad. They were truely finicky had to either drag a jig through there bed or a live leech anywhere near them. No fish resists the live leech when its doing its dance in front of them 
That lake would stay frozen about the same amount of time as lakes around here roughly. They were not as common as bluegills or even pumpkinseed sunfish but when you caught one you loved life lol.
**I know there are redear populations in more northerly states. But there has to be one or more good food sources for them to prosper. Most of our Utah waters have difficulty feeding trout and/or dinky bluegills.
Here’s a pic of a former well-known BFTer from Utah who came down to visit me in Arizona. I got him into a redear that weighed over two pounds. Anybody recognize this angler?
[inline “XMAN REDEAR.jpg”]**
Hmm - gotta wonder what a Utah take would be? If YOU’RE not dislodging the maggots, but they just fall out. . . does that count at chumming?
Saw a dead mouse on the side of a road, and though “hmm, good catfish bait!”
Can’t use live minnows, but is there anything against a drowned rat wiggling on a line?
just a question for all the redear fans out there:
Why don’t we hear more about them in Havasu and Meade?
If they are so wonderful, we’d be hearing more about them from where they already are…
Chumming is prohibited on all waters except Lake Powell. (Chumming means to dislodge or deposit into the water any substance, not attached to a hook, line or trap, which may attract fish.) Please see the Rules for specific waters, Lake Powell on page 27 for more information about chumming at Lake Powell.
I think the key word is deposit. If you tie a carcass in a tree, you know that the maggots will be deposited in the water.
You can use live mice or rats, baby ducks, chicks, etc. Provided of course you aren’t out there raiding nests of Mallards and other migratory wildfowl.
I was just taking a potshot at the UDWR. Seem like any fish stocked to control another species gets a special slot (Tiger muskies and BL Cutts). In reality they’d probably be C&R only. [sly]
I’m not so sure I’d advocate decorating a tree in Utah with a dead critter but chumming and live bait were OK in Alabama. Most folks that lived on lakes there would feed minnows and fry around their docks with cornmeal cakes and other feed just to attract the bigger largies and catfish.
One thing to remember…a rotting raccoon in a tree carries a lot of stink!
I’m pretty sure you’d be OK fishing with a dead rodent in Utah though. Try it and report back. [;)]
There are several people that have wrote some good studys on Redear’s as a prevenative and a control of quaggas/zebras. I think the studys are ongoing to find out if they(redear’s) pose a threat to native species of fish & mullusks and as well.
As far as “jumping the gun” on introduction of a new species, I think thats always a mistake, that being said I do think that streamlining action for invasive species (Quaggas/zebras) needs to be a priority.
also somone wrote on here about native or endangered snails/mussels being a Redear’s lunch. If quaggas/zebras take hold in a lake wouldnt it be a moot point for those species anyway? My understanding is the" Invasives" would dominate the enviroment to the point of ridding natives from the water.
Can you say, catch 22?[:/]
just a question for all the redear fans out there:
Why don’t we hear more about them in Havasu and Meade?
If they are so wonderful, we’d be hearing more about them from where they already are…
**We don’t hear much about them in Utah because not many local folks go that far to fish. No need to.
There is plenty of buzz in SoCal, Arizona and Nevada. However, there are so many other glamor species…like stripers, largemouth and smallmouth that any sunfish is like an orphan stepchild. Just doesn’t get the same love. But there are plenty of sunfish fans that are making special trips just targeting the big redears. But a lot of the biggest ones are caught on bass gear by anglers targeting other species. And they tend not to brag on it.
Also, having fished Havasu with a cousin who used to live there, I can attest to the fact that it is difficult to focus on fishing sometimes. The “scenery” is very distracting. Has you seeing double a lot…if ya know what I mean. Tough to be looking down in the water when the big attractions are cruising around on daddy’s boats…competing to see who can get by with wearing the least. A lot of those poor young ladies can’t even afford a whole swimming suit. Severe eye strain.
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