Redear

[quivira kid]

Does anyone here catch very many redears on the fly? I've been looking into a few places that have them stocked here in Kansas, but have never specifically targeted them. Anyone got some tips?

[biot midge]

Zac,
I catch quite a few redears in Lake Pawhuska on the same flies that I use for bluegills. Jim Hatch told me that the redears where he fishes in South Carolina hit scuds better than the flies that he uses for bluegill, so that may be worth a try.
Steve

[FishnDave]

They are on my list, Zac! I caught something this year that was either a female redear, or a hybrid redear... still looking for a bonafide pure redear.

I've heard small nymph or scud patterns under indicators near the bottom work well. Obviously the spawning season would be the best time to find them in a predictable, accessible location (in the shallows near shore), otherwise, they are often in deeper water. Later in the season, look near the deep side of weed eges.

In the archived panfish articles on FAOL, there was a guy (his name escapes me at the moment) who would fly fish from a canoe (not Rick Z), and catch redears mixed in with the bluegills... even on dry flies.

[Flyfish Dog]

I catch a lot of them in WV and are a blast. They have beautiful colors on them when spawning.

[Brad Williamson]

That somebody Dave, was/is Joe Hyde.

[quivira kid]

Thanks for the tips so far. I caught my first few redears last year while fishing with some FAOL folks, while we were catching gills.
Steve, I was thinking that little woven nymph or something similar might be pretty good. I'll have to tie up some scuds and try 'em out!

Zac

[Uncle Jesse]

Down here we tend to lump them into the general class of "Bream" which is mostly bluegills and redear, better known as shellcrackers. I have a friend who is mostly a cricket drowner who tells me using worms redears tend to take the bait much slower than bluegill do. My old standby is a bream killer under some type of dry bug, usually a popper or foam grasshopper. The Bream Killer is the model of simplicity. No. 8, or smaller aberdeen hook. Chennille of choice, black, brown, yellow & black full length of shank. Usually 2 sets of rubber legs each side resulting in 8 total, squirrel tail wing. If I slip a little lead wire on the hook for deeper holes, I try to remember to add a tail of some type to add a visual difference. So many of the bedding area are so shallow I usually fish it without weight. Like this

Picture 136.jpg

[mnklagoon]

This is what I use. I toss these and strip very slow. I always know when I have a red ear on because they zig-zag when you fight them!

[Jack Hise]

Zac
There is a spot on the Duck River where a warm stream from a hatchery flows in so you can catch trout on one side of the river and Bream on the other (Blue Gills. Black Perch and Shell Crackers).
A Shell Cracker can actually work it's jaws in a grinding motion to "Crack Shells", the bottom of the Duck show a great deal of evidence to this respect.

[CBarclay]

I catch quite a few around here on slow sinking flies like Bream Killers and Briminators. Though they are supposed to mainly be lower water column dwellers we've also caught several in the surface film and on top. They are some of my favorite fish to catch - feisty and strong.