What is a redear bream

So what is a redear? It is a panfish and cousin of the more common bluegill.

While the bluegill is named for the powder-blue edges of its gill cover lobe, the redear is named for the bright edges of its lobe, which can range from a dull orange to a bright red.

The body of the redear is a lot lighter in color than that of the male bluegill, which is why anglers in some areas call them yellow bream.

Another name for the redear is shellcracker because one of their primary food sources is small mollusks, which they can crack open with grinding teeth in its throat. Shellcracker is the more-popular name with fishermen in the coastal area, especially near the Pascagoula River.

The redear also is a lot more tolerant of brackish water than other sunfish species.

Jack Herring, a former MDWFP executive director, likes to call them “guv-ment bream,” because he said they became prolific in Mississippi when stocked by state and federal hatcheries.

They are also known as chinquapin (pronounced chinky-pins) or just chinqs (if you’re into the whole brevity thing) and stump-knockers. I have found no explanation of either.

But, by any name, they are fun to catch and great to eat.