Those were some brutes!!! I bet they were pullers. I'd like to get after some this year myself. I fished Hamelton high and low last year looking for them and everything else but came up empty while my buddy managed to find a few on Gillham lake. Most of what we catch are just the bull bream though not the bigger redears like you have here. I noticed the meat is even a different color, the copper, red bellied bream have a darker meat, still good, but not like the redears white meat like a crappie will have.