Fish of the Week-Topic 9: Bluegill

Beve · Post by **Beve** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:36 pm

Probably wasn't expecting Bluegill, huh...

I love panfish. For many a sunfish of some kind was the first fish they caught.

In Texas, I'd venture to say bluegill outnumber the other sunfishes. They definitely have more range statewide. Bluegill have interesting coloration and can vary from one water body to the next, not to mention hydridize with other cousins.

I think the bluegill should get some healthy respect. A great forage fish, and killer catfish bait. In some small ponds they can be harmful though.

In clear, quick rivers like the Llano or San Marcos, they are quite strong on ultralight tackle or the fly.

I like to catch them on beetle spins and roostertails. Of course mealworms, red wigglers, and crickets on a ultralight or cane pole works well too

Bluegill taste great. One of my favorite pastimes is perch jerkin and frying up a mess of bream.

I have used Bluegill for catfish bait. Have heard it's good for striper bait.

Anybody use it for bait for anything else?

What are your favorite bluegill methods?

I see them spawn pretty much from mid-late spring well into the far reaches of summer. Anybody see a different pattern?

An old-timer once told me to go for bluegill under full moons at night. Anyone heard this as well?

Also post any pics of bluegill-I love their colors!

CityByTheSeaCitizen · Post by **CityByTheSeaCitizen** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:49 pm

I always referred to perch jerkin as catching crappie off shallow structure in the spring with long rods. Do most people use this to refer to catching bream?

I love bream and have caught them my entire life. I have also kept them in aquariums for my entire life. Along with bass, catfish, crawdads, ... My own little semi-illegal version of what Bass Pro Shops has.

Anyways, bream are wonderful in an aquarium. They will get so aggressive that they will jump out of the water to eat food from your hand. They also have great coloration, every species. I personally like the pumpkinseed the best.

They will not live with crawdads. Either the crawdad will kill the fish or the fish will eventually kill the crawfish. They will live with smaller catfish.

Also, they are a complete nuisence when fishing submerged structure for crappie. If you are getting little pecks, and after retrieving your shiner, you find it without eyeballs, you know it was a bream. They peck the dang eyes out of shiners. Pack up and change locations.

yakin ag · Post by **yakin ag** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:57 pm

Something I've noticed when fishing for bluegill is they tend to hang out with like-sized fish. If you catch 2 or 3 hand sized fish, good chance most of the fish around that strucure will be larger fish. Ditto for smaller fish. As far as using them for bait, we normally use them for catfsih bait, but the last few times Ive been fishing they've inadvertantly become gar bait. My favorite method is a small piece of worm on a small hook fished near the bottom (K.I.S.S.)

AyJay · Post by **AyJay** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:08 pm

Lake Conroe, the dam, from April to October, white curl tail jig on 1/8 oz or 1/16 oz jighead.

Hand sized bluegill and hybrids all day long.

You can thank me later.

johnnyquest · Post by **johnnyquest** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:18 pm

perch, bream , are great eating.I once accedentally caught one in my throw net that was darn near a foot long,i got no idea how big they get but i caught another one on my following throw and ive never seen one that size again and probably wont.Ballooned em both out and imediatly got attacked!!!!!One i reckon i didnt get a good hook in cause it got off quickly the other had the hook turn into the meat of that big blue gill,the sides of it looked scaled ,no doubt a big ,big ,fish.I usually catch more bream,when i let my net go all the way down then let it sit for just a second dont know why but it really works

Maulwalker · Post by **Maulwalker** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:40 pm

For fast fishing, throwing an inline spinner on a clear Central Texas creek can't be beat. Black and green Panther Martin.

Also, Huntsville State Park has some excellent bluegill fishing. My wife and I caught a nice meal of hand-sized perch on worms under a bobber off of the southern-most fishing pier.

Night Wing · Post by **Night Wing** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:56 pm

AyJay wrote:Lake Conroe, the dam, from April to October, white curl tail jig on 1/8 oz or 1/16 oz jighead.

Hand sized bluegill and hybrids all day long.

You can thank me later.

Filed for future reference.

Night Wing · Post by **Night Wing** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:57 pm

Maulwalker wrote:Also, Huntsville State Park has some excellent bluegill fishing. My wife and I caught a nice meal of hand-sized perch on worms under a bobber off of the southern-most fishing pier.

Is this Lake Raven?

greyloon · Post by **greyloon** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:16 pm

AyJay wrote:Lake Conroe, the dam, from April to October, white curl tail jig on 1/8 oz or 1/16 oz jighead.

Hand sized bluegill and hybrids all day long.

You can thank me later.

Lake Conroe almost anywhere. The lake is one of the best bream lakes around. The rock rip rap around the bridges can be good too.

greyloon · Post by **greyloon** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:19 pm

I love to watch bream suck a popper down. Used to get these little green foam spiders when I lived in Austin. The were real killers. The spiders I've used these days just don't do it for me as well as those.

The San Gabriel River is a great gill fishery. My best weighed just over a pound and was caught in the Gabe at the Georgetown city park on popping bug.

Iamdamoder · Post by **Iamdamoder** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:29 pm

I don't usually target these fellers but wanted to post some fish ambition pics.

#3 and 4 hooks 6" rubber worms

Fished · Post by **Fished** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:40 pm

I agree bluegill are a very good eating fish! I haven't fished for them in a long time. I remember when I was a kid (maybe 8 or 9) we had a neighor named Charlie Brown. He took me fishing to some little pond, that was either in Kentucky of Tennessee, been a long time ago. We were fishing with worms. It was great fun. The bite was quick. We took a bunch back home and mom cooked them up for dinner. Loads of fun and good to eat too!! Thanks for reminding me! Need to fish for them again!!!

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:42 pm

Now you done done it Beve. I've got all next week off and I'm gonna spend one full day targeting bluegills and other fine panfish. None of 'em's gonna be bait either

For a real slaughterfest I'll fish both lures and live bait. The Worden's Roostertail in chartreuse is my favorite lure. For bait, hard to beat a box of DMF nightcrawlers from Walmart hung under a weighted slip bobber and fished next to downed treetops. The larger fish tend to be farther away from the structure, and deeper. The hole I love to fish is the Middle Bosque River near Waco. From July to October you can count on a healthy bite, with fish up to 10". There are redears, greens, longears and hybrid bluegill/greens and the occasional channel catfish or drum. Keep ya busy during the hot hours of the day.

(yeah I know this one's a greenie)

nitecrawler · Post by **nitecrawler** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:52 pm

I love to catch bream. I think pound for pound they are the toughest fighting fish in our freshwaters. Anytime I don't feel like making a longer drive for some "real" fishing, I can go down to Slaughter creek and catch them one after another. They are good fun. I like to catch them on beetle spins or if I am feeling a little lazy I put a Crappie nibble on a small gold J hook under a Thill float.

YaknYota · Post by **YaknYota** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:56 pm

I am a great promoter of Bluegill.............I've been introducing them to striped bass for years

.

As egg eaters, they are a Bass's natural enemy.
Ever watch a male and/or female bass on a bed? The number one priority will be keeping the resident panfish off the nest.

Here is a chunky Brazos River bluegill that I caught on a Zara Puppy -

greyloon · Post by **greyloon** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:16 pm

Serves green trout right that their eggs are eaten by gills. I they'd stop trying to eat gills, the gills would leave 'em alone.

Now, as for eating, there's none better than a batch of fried gills.

Iquest4fish · Post by **Iquest4fish** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:26 pm

They are one of the best and fastest teachers of how to fish.

TexasZeke · Post by **TexasZeke** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:35 pm

I never learned to identify all the different perch varieties, but usually I catch them for bait. All of the places I have tried around waco, be it the lake or creeks and rivers they are plentiful and easy to catch with a tiny hook and a bit of worm. My problem is that usually I end up catching closer to the eating size than the bait size

Jerry Hamon · Post by **Jerry Hamon** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:39 pm

They are fun to catch on lightweight fly gear.

So are the big green sunfish.

As much as I love to eat crappie I think bluegill is my favorite.

Iquest4fish · Post by **Iquest4fish** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:51 pm

TexasZeke wrote: My problem is that usually I end up catching closer to the eating size than the bait size

If you are using hook and line try closer to the bank. And maybe smaller hooks, less worm. Swat
so the little ones will come in. If the bait/hook is to big then the little one will carry it out to the bigger fish, scare off the little ones and you catch dinner.

brazosace · Post by **brazosace** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:54 pm

greyloon wrote:I love to watch bream suck a popper down. Used to get these little green foam spiders when I lived in Austin. The were real killers. The spiders I've used these days just don't do it for me as well as those.

The San Gabriel River is a great gill fishery. My best weighed just over a pound and was caught in the Gabe at the Georgetown city park on popping bug.

Great PICS..

Beve · Post by **Beve** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:10 pm

Nice Pics guys..keep em comin....sunfish can show off some nice colors

Moder, you're first pic looks like a redbreast. They fight even better than gills IMO. Are those from the SM?

TCF that is one of the fattest green sunfish I've ever seen.

I love eating bream. Greyloon refers to them as "freshwater pompano." Apt description

Strider, looking forward to your next bream haul.

Night Wing · Post by **Night Wing** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:05 pm

I'm still old fashioned when it comes to catching bluegill and their ilk. For me, a worm on hook with a plastic red and white small bobber is my preferred method.

Iquest4fish · Post by **Iquest4fish** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:15 pm

Night Wing wrote:I'm still old fashioned when it comes to catching bluegill and their ilk. For me, a worm on hook with a plastic red and white small bobber is my preferred method.

Get up with the times!!! It's a green and ahhh..? orange bobber now! I think?

Night Wing · Post by **Night Wing** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:27 pm

Iquest4fish wrote:
Night Wing wrote:I'm still old fashioned when it comes to catching bluegill and their ilk. For me, a worm on hook with a plastic red and white small bobber is my preferred method.
Get up with the times!!! It's a green and ahhh..? orange bobber now! I think?

I'm old school. An aging dinosaur. Grew up with red and white bobbers. Besides, I still like and wear "penny loafers" for dress shoes.