Redear Sunfish

Habitat Distribution

• Native across the Southeast and lower Mississippi basin, from the Atlantic Slope west to south Texas and north into the lower Midwest. Now stocked into 28+ states well outside that range, including parts of the West Coast and Northeast.
• A warm, slow-water species — ponds, reservoirs, oxbows, swamps, bayous, and quiet river pools with clear water, soft bottom, and submerged vegetation. Avoids strong current.
• Holds deeper than most other sunfish outside the spawn and tolerates higher water temperatures than its co-inhabitants, often staying active when bass fishing shuts down in midsummer heat.
• Unusually salt-tolerant for a Lepomis — uses brackish tidal marshes in its native Gulf range and turns up in tidal-fresh zones of invaded coastal drainages.

Specific Spots

• Wood is the magnet — submerged stumps, laydowns, root masses, and cypress knees hold snails, and snails hold redear. Hard-bottom shell beds in 10-20 feet of water produce nearly year-round.
• Spawning colonies form in 1-6 feet of water in wind-protected coves and the back ends of bays, often deeper than co-located bluegill beds and right on the edge of them. The nest rings are larger and more pronounced than bluegill nests.
• Pre- and post-spawn fish stage on humps, points, channel edges, and depth transitions where mollusk forage is concentrated; in summer they'll suspend or sit on deep hard-bottom flats.
• Winter fish school up with bluegill in the deepest available water and follow the warming bottom up onto points and lead-in banks as spring sets in.