Redear Sunfish

Redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) are a cousin to the bluegill and are commonly stocked in recreational ponds because they eat pond snails that other species do not. Pond snails are intermediate hosts for common fish parasites, so redear are stocked to limit the snails’ numbers so as to lessen problems with parasites on your gamefish.Our brood stock redear came from the Ocklawaha River in Florida.  We should have our first crop of fingerlings in May or June 2020.  Redear grow larger than bluegill on average; the world record has been broken twice in the last three years by fish caught from Lake Havasu in Arizona, and the current record fish weighed nearly six pounds. They are typically stocked at a rate of 20% redear to 80% bluegill in terms of total sunfish numbers.