They dont seem to find artificial lures especially appealing. Redear sunfish feed mainly on snails and insect larvae. A deep sided fish with a black ear flap rimmed in red or orange. It is a member of the sunfish family native to north america and lives in streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Bottom fishing with natural bait like crickets, mussels, grass shrimp and worms or small crayfish seem to be most effective. They use their flattened throat teeth to crush the shells of snails, clams and mussels, both native and nonnative species. The shellcracker is also known as the redear sunfish and will average between one and two pounds during spawning. In our area, we have bluegill, pumpkinseed, redbreast, shellcracker, green sunfish and warmouth in most bodies of water. Deepbodied, olive colored, with darker spots and flecks of red, and occasionally vertical bars along the sides.
How to survive alone in the wilderness for 1 week eastern woodlands duration. None of their close relatives grows as big, and none fight harder than these scarleteared beauties. They dine on small snails, mussels and other mollusks they crush with teeth in their throat, thus the shellcracker nickname. Redear sunfish prey on zebra mussels in the laboratory.
As our local name implies, they eat snails and small mussels but will also eat worms and bugs. Gustaveson is receiving pressure from people thinking introducing the redear sunfish to. Small, colorful sunfish, with numerous reddishbrown spots, red eyes, and reddishorange sides and fins. Although redear sunfish are unlikely to turn down an easy meal, tackling anything from crayfish to juvenile shad, aquatic clams and snails are their mainstays. Although we lump them all together as bream, each species has its own characteristics. They are able to crush the shells of their prey, blowing out the hard shell and consuming the soft flesh. The mouth is small and when closed barely reaches only to the front margin of the eye. Redear sunfish love to crush and devour snails and mussels. Possible worldrecord redear sunfish caught in arizona. Since it is a popular sport fish, it has been introduced to bodies of water all over north america. The redear sunfish is called shellcracker due to teeth in its throat that allows it to crush and eat crustaceans, but that doesnt necessarily mean its the sole reason for the bigger fish. Meanwhile, the redear sunfish specialization of deepwater, molluscfeeding allows the sunfish to be introduced to lakes without the risk of competition with other fish preferring shallow water or surface feeding. If sunfish were placed in divisions like boxers, the shellcracker would be a heavyweight contender.
Lepomis is a mixture of the greek words for scale lepis and gill cover poma, known as the operculum. The redear sunfish lepomis microlophus, also known as the shellcracker, georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, rouge ear sunfish and sun perch is a freshwater fish in the family centrarchidae and is native to the southeastern united states. The specific name microlophus is greek for small nape froese and pauly, 2007 lepomis microlophus is referred to in scientific literature as the redear sunfish due to its characteristic red spot on the operculum. Redear sunfish shellcracker typically begin spawning about one month before bluegill. Sometimes shellcracker and bluegill occupy a spot thats not easy to reach. I went fishing for shellcracker at clarks hill the week after easter last year. Fishing conditions on lake havasu are ideal almost yearround. The name shellcracker was derived from the ability of this fish to capture and eat snails, clams, small mussels and other mollusks. Worms and crickets generally work well throughout the spring, summer, and fall. For some reason, shellcracker prefer a little cooler temperature than bluegill and other bream species. Does well in pools and backwaters of streams with low or intermittent flow. Among the fish species thriving in the lake are largemouth bass, striped bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, channel catfish and flathead catfish.
Redear sunfish larger cousin of the bluegill kapamego. The shellcracker has thick pharyngeal teeth which are movable plates in their throat. Getting serious about monster bluegill in your pond. Lake havasu is the location of over a dozen fishing tournaments and activities a year. Hector brito is seen with the world record redear sunfish he caught in february 2014 in lake havasu. Phoenix have the redear sunfish at lake havasu really gone quagga crazy. Bluegill bluegill are fairly abundant along submerged shoreline cover throughout the lake.
They eat a variety of food, from bugs and worms to small mussels and snails. Diet primarily consists of small crustaceans, larval aquatic insects, and an occasional small fish. Around the full moons in the spring, redear sunfish commonly known around here as shellcrackers are spawning and they really like earthworms fished on the rocky bottom of this canal. The fwcs big catch program recognizes catches of redear sunfish shellcracker that exceed 2. In addition to being fun to catch, both species offer tasty fillets. With a diet consisting mostly of mussels, snails, and other shelled prey, the redear sunfish is also known as a shellcracker. Favored live baits include earthworms, crickets, grass shrimp, snails and mussels. Specially modified teeth in the throat allow them to crack mollusk shells. Catching bluegill and shellcracker on kentuckhy lake. Teresa gardner of spring valley entered the record books on monday with the largest redear. In south florida, shellcracker may spawn as early as the last week of february but more likely around the fourth week of march. Shellcracker, stump knocker, yellow bream, cherry gill, chinquapin. Casting into a very small pocket with a little wind present is a recipe for disaster. Snails and other mollusks are preferred, but diet also consists of crayfish, insects, insect larvae and fathead minnows.
Information for information on the best bait, lures and times to fish for different species. Unlike bluegills, shellcrackers feed primarily on bottom. Florida shellcracker fishing spawning bluegills mwoutdoors. These bream get larger than bluegill, with the state record approaching 5 pounds, and they are great eating due to their diet of snails and mussels. The redear sunfish feast on the invasive quagga mussels earning them the nickname, shellcracker. Some believe the large size of redear sunfish in lake havasu is due to their eating of invasive quagga mussels.
Redear sunfish to biologists, or chinquapin to louisiana anglers, these feisty fish typically favor deeper haunts, but when a. Laboratory in reclamations lower colorado region as both quagga mussels and redear sunfish were easily accessible. Shellcracker fishing tips sheelcracker fishing florida. With the expansion of the range of zebra mussels, and the damage they cause, i began reading up on which native animals eat them. Redear are equipped with a set of crushers in the back of their throat. Both sets of experiments confined quagga mussels with one or two redear sunfish and. The hind end of the gill flap is black with a white border and has a red spot on the tip hence its name. When i sampled the lake a few days later, the bluegill averaged 5. More recently it has been discovered that the redear sunfish is capable of adding quagga mussels to its diet. From this habit they get their common name, shellcracker. It is documented that red ear sunfish eat zebra mussels, along with blue catfish and some type of foreign goby. This research study conducted laboratory and field enclosure replicated experiments to determine the ability of the fish to potentially reduce mussel infestations. At the same time, he said that in 2005 2 years before quagga mussels were discovered in lake havasu an electroshocking of 75 sites produced redear sunfish that averaged more than 2 pounds. Now a redear sunfish isnt going to limit himself to just things that go crunch.
Redear prefer hard bottoms, congregating in deeper water than bluegill. Gamefish redear sunfish shellcracker gamefish 1 to 3. A good way to find a patch of grass with a healthy supply of mussels. Shellcracker grow larger than bluegill, with fish over 1 pound common. Have these panfish that really can fill a pan, and are widely regarded as one of the better fish species to eat, found a surplus of invasive quagga mussels to munch. The redear sunfish has caught the attention of researchers as a possible way of managing quagga mussel infestations when it comes to dams, docks and other pumping operations because the quagga. Redear sunfish panfish florida bass fishing experts. Although we caught only a few fish on that trip since it was too early, it did bring back memories of how much fun bream fishing can be. It usually hides around, and inside, old tree stumps and other underwater structures. In the laboratory experiments, most fish consumed quagga mussels 89. Redear sunfish at havasu have been reaching world record sizes. These crushers consist of an upper and lower pad attached to a set of very strong muscles. Redear sunfish, or shellcrackers, are giants of the sunfish clan. Redear sunfish get their name from the red gill flap but most southern anglers refer to them as shellcracker as they feed on small, freshwater mussels that inhibit the lake bottom.
Bluegill is a freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. They use their flattened throat teeth to crush the shells of snails, clams and mussels, both native and nonnative species, hence its most common nickname the shellcracker. Shellcrackers are also called redear sunfish due to the red tinge around the side fin. The owner told me that when he bought the lake, preshad, the bluegill had been huge, as had been the shellcracker. Shellcracker, bluegill bedding times near outdoors. It is important to keep in mind that when the nights start warming into the high 50s and the days warm into the mid 70s, spawning will occur. Shellcracker feed almost exclusively on the bottom of ponds and lakes, looking for snails and crustaceans.
Creek fishing country style catch and cook duration. Fishing for bass, bluegill and shellcracker youtube. Basically the redear sunfish is an exoskeleton crushing machine. Shellcracker fishing catching huge monster slabs duration. A redear sunfish panfish has a bright red mark on the back edge of the gill cover is very distinctive. The redear sunfish lepomis microlophus, also known as the shellcracker is a freshwater fish in the centrarchidae family and is native to the southeastern united states. Doug adams, a former lake havasu citybased fisheries biologist for the bureau of land management, said he also knows that redear sunfish eat quagga mussels.
The nickname of the redear sunfish, shellcracker, comes from its preferred diet of snails and other mollusk types. Her massive redear settled the official scale on the dock. They have grinding pharyngeal teeth in their throat that enable them to crush the shells of little snails and small mussels. I spend a lot of my lunch breaks fishing a small storm drain adjacent to a wooden dock behind my house, but the usual bass and bluegill targets took a backseat to the unexpected appearance of bedding shellcracker. Redear sunfish prey on zebra mussels in the laboratory sudoc i 49. Red ear shellcracker sunfish and zebra mussels pond. They are able to spit out the shell, retaining only the flesh of the shellfish.