Has anyone found a lure that will catch these fish. I've caught one on accident once on a home made tiny jig.Other than that, I haven't found anything that will work. They are one of my favorite fish to catch.In my opinion, nothing fo rtheir size fights any harder. I catch them by using big red worms..and fishing them on the bottom with out any weight UNLESS the wind is blowing. They barely move the line thus the reason I use no weight..Awesome tasting.Floridians call these Shell Crackers.
Lures tried and failed
Panther Martin
Tiny Rooster Tails
Beetle Spin
Hal Fly jigs
Various Jigs
Mepps Comet
Poppers / wet flies

What works ..
Red worms
Grass Shrimp..Floridians call them Jumpers with bobber fished deep.
Wigglers

We have them up north and they sure do fight hard. Any maggot will work, as a wax-worm, mousie, etc.

We can use bobbers thought and they put on a pretty good tug.

Most folks in shallow lakes down here use cane poles with a bobber. Where I fish at is kind of deep .I find them mostly just off of rock bars in 6-10 feet of water..I was just wondering if any folks have had any success using artificails. I know I haven't and I fish where there are lot's of shell crackers.
I appreciate the responce.

In Florida....they should be biting right now..I may go out tomorrow and give you all a report..I could bump a jig or worm while waiting on a bite..

I would try a small jig or even teardrop, similar to what we use for ice fishing.

i got them in my pond and i use nightcrawalers and use a small bobber and they love bitting that

A beetle spin as always worked well in the river for them. WE call em pumpkinseeds around here though.

Hey Oneshot...
When I was in Maryland.I caught pumpinseeds ..they are 2 different fish..THe world record Red earred is 5.3 pounds ..The world record pumpkinseed is 1.6 pounds
2 different ..but tasty fish.

Pumpkinseed


Red earred Sunfish

i catch them all the time on my fly rod. go buy a 1-4 weight and go at it. you will catch them all day on a beadhead prince nymph or other little nasty looking flies. also almost any bug that is small, green, brown, yellow, etc will catch em. orange never seems to work for me on them. but they are pretty

little tubes 1inch to 2.5 inches work good. use a light rod about 5'6"