3 replies to this topic

[sunny17]

Hello all,

 

I'm going to be taking a family trip to the San Antonio area in the end of March.  I was wondering if anyone could help point me in the direction of some lakes/ponds that I may be able to catch some sunfish?  Could you also let me know what types of sunnies may be near this area.  Looking possibly for longear, redspotted, redbreast and warmouths.  Thanks!

[Betta132]

I don't know about specific ponds, but I can tell you how to find what you're looking for. 

Longear will be in more open areas with less competition. Look for circles about two feet across that have been stripped bare of anything but rock- those are nests. Don't take the males in those nests, they're busy and won't adapt well to aquarium life anyway, but you should be able to find babies around there. They're usually in water 3-4' deep, and they'll hang around large boulders if they're present. They're pretty common. Also, if you just go at a bunch of submerged plants with a net or two, you should get a bunch of babies.

Redbreasts are a bit less common. Try water a bit deeper, 5' at least, and fish with live maggots if you can. If you don't have maggots, any small and nice-smelling bits of white stuff will work. Gulp maggots are great. You might also be able to find baby redbreasts in reeds- look for tiny sunfish with little green markings on their faces. Just be sure you don't get greens, they have longer bodies and large mouths. 

No idea about redspots. I've only ever seen one. I suspect you can find babies along with the rest of them, though I'm not sure where you'd get adults. Around boulders might do it. 

Warmouths are lurkers. They hide under snags and overhangs and erupt out of hiding to snag food. They'll be most enthusiastic about things that look like fish or bugs, especially if you plop it right in front of a good spot like the minnow just jumped or the bug fell out of a tree, and they strike hard. The little guys will be hiding with the rest, though apparently warmouth babies are very sneaky, as the smallest I've ever seen was a little 2.5incher that I accidentally caught from under a bunch of water plants. 

[sunny17]

Thanks for the help Betta!

[Mike]

There is a stream by the San Antonio Zoo that has lots of Redspotted Sunfish & Redbreast Sunfish. Parking lot right outside zoos gate, creek right there too, and a large park.