Bluegill Species?

[Angelo C Mastrando Jr.]

I live in South NJ and I know Bluegill's/Sunfish and Redbreast. We also have Green Sunfish Mud Sunfish, Black Banded Sunfish. Does anyone know how to find the Green/Mud and the Black Banded Sunfish? How to fish for them? Deep/Shallow? Live/Artificial? Im still very new on catching bluegill's. Only thing I know is that the Black Banded Sunfish/Mud Sunfish are small people have told me. How many Species (Bluegill's) are there? What are there names? What is a Sunfish hybrid? When do different species spawn? What Months? What does the water temp must reach? How deep do they go? How aggressive do they become? Yea I know I sound like a Baby but I would like to know and get some good information, techniques other than using my fly rod time to time. Thanks!

Tight Lines!

[Tony Livingston]

Holy broken bobbers Batman, that's a lot of questions! Bruce is the expert where sunfish are concerned, but I'll take a stab at a couple of em'.

First off, it is my opinion that there are very few hard and fast "rules" where Bluegills are concerned. Many of the varieties will readily cross with one another, and they share, or at least overlap each others habitats, forage preferences, and spawning times. I feel that there may be more similarities than differences in the various fishes.

How many species of Bluegills?  There are a handful, but the two most commonly encountered are the native, or Northern Bluegill, (Lepomis Machrochirus Machrochirus) and the more Southerly Coppernose Bluegill, (Lepomis Machrochirus Purpurescens, or Lepomis Machrochirus Mystacalis). In between these two live a veritable smorgasbord of offshoots, hybrids, local adaptations, and one or two more sub-species of Bluegills generally recognized as such.

Hybrids are just that.... a combination of two species. USUALLY, when hybrids are thought of in the Bluegill context, it involves the offspring of a male Bluegill, and a female Green Sunfish. However, many species of Lepomids are quite capable of hybridizing naturally, and will readily do so under certain conditions, resulting in quite a mix of fish lumped under the heading of Bluegills, or Brim.

Spawning usually begins in the Spring when water temps warm into the upper 60's. I tend to see Redear sunfish starting to spawn slightly earlier than Bluegills, although the two will be on the nests at the same times. Redears may only spawn once or twice per year, while Bluegills can spawn all summer long.

There are a couple notable differences in fishing tactics for the various species. Redears are known to feed on, or near the bottom, while Bluegills can usually be taken throughout the water column, including top water. Green Sunfish have larger mouths which allow them to utilize larger items as prey. They are often taken on Bass lures.

What are their names? That depends on where you're located at. Oftentimes the same fish is labeled differently from one locale to another. Plus, there are localized, indigenous populations of sunfish which may not occur anywhere else, and these fish have adapted to their environments by sporting different coloration, and/or feeding habits.

I hope this helps a little. If nothing else, it makes me think that the time has come for some kind of Sunfish primer here at BBG..........

[Angelo C Mastrando Jr.]

Thanks alot Tony! You did help alot! 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

May I think aloud, here, and share a bit of what I've gathered - from a NON EXPERT viewpoint?

Sunfish can be generally thought to favor one or another portion of the water column. Remember, sunfish are not speedsters - they don't chase their prey, like bass or pike and they prefer calmer waters.

Some, like the red ear, or "shellcracker," are oriented towards the bottom. These fish forage primarily on crustaceans, snails and other bottom dwelling creatures, so are most often caught there.

Others like true bluegills, are mostly insect eaters. They like to lie in wait and tend to favor wood and weeds, where they can find both aquatic and terrestrial insects to feed on.

Then there are the seasonal variations of depth. In winter, the fish go deep and get slow, as a rule. Feeding bogs down and they get very picky.

In spring they come more and more into the warming shallows and feed more voraciously. Once summer comes on, they again go to deeper haunts to escape the bright sun, and wait for evening and morning to forage in the shallows.

And like with all natural creatures, there are no hard and fast rules. Sometimes they are where you least expect them, often because of some structure or food element of which you are unaware. At other times they seem to disappear from even the 'fishiest' looking spots. But thinking in terms of depth can generally help you find the better specimens.

Thoughts on Water Depth

1 - 4 ft of water - this is the territory of the smallest sunfish. In the early season, and morning or late day in summer, the bigger fish *can* be found here - which is why most fly men do their thing here and then. But these bigger, more desirable fish tend to vacate for cooler, darker haunts once the sun gets high. This usually means deeper water, or deep hiding places which might not be readily apparent.

4 - 10 ft of water - here is where the fish start improving. You want to look for places where deep water meets shallow areas. Areas where pond bottoms rise to the first shore break, Docks extending into deeper water, flats next to drop offs, logs and structure that extend into deeper water, etc.

10 - 20 ft of water  - The biggest fish are found out here, which holds pretty constant throughout the year. The one change to this is in the early AM and late PM, when the large ones come in to feed. Get up early and come back late - and bring that fly rod. These depths are where boats and fish finders seem to come into their own. It is also where alternatives, like spoon chucking, deep jigging and billed crankbaits are most likely to do their work.

Keep in mind that I am referring here to naturally occurring, wild specimens. In managed ponds, where "cattle" bream are hand fed, well... all bets are off. The many species of sunfish are almost too numerous to catalog, too, as Tony suggests. Rather than trying to key on one single species, may I suggest you focus on where the different size fish prefer to live? This inevitably means variations in depth and those things that attract the fish to them. 

[Angelo C Mastrando Jr.]

Thanks David, Man can't wait til early summer morning's with my fly rod. Fishing for shore and with no fishing vertical near weed bed's and trees will hurt for targeting different species mostly those Green Sunfish I would like to catch. Thanks man great info!