There aren’t many gamefish can you count on to cooperate almost every time you try to catch them. But there is one. That fish is the humble bluegill. On a recent outing my angling partner and I caught over 50 fish. And we only put in half a day’s effort. That’s not unusual for bluegills and their related kin such as redears and pumpkinseed sunfish.
It’s no wonder why this is the most popular gamefish in the country. For sheer fishing fun and fast action on the water, it’s hard to find a better quarry.
Sunfish can be found in ponds and lakes, rivers and streams throughout Virginia. They are especially good targets for family outings or introducing a novice to fishing.
One of the most appealing traits of bluegills is they can be caught with all three major angling methods—live bait fishing, casting lures, and fly fishing. In this column and next week’s we’ll look at the best lures for catching bluegills and follow that with a rundown on fly fishing methods and live bait tactics.
Lots of times a trip for these feisty panfish will mean bait fishing. For fast and furious action, you can’t go wrong with a garden worm, red wriggler, or cricket on a small, fine-wire hook. Add a split shot and bobber and you’re good to go.
These brightly colored sunfish are also superb targets for the fly fisherman, readily snatching sponge rubber spiders off the top and wet flies and nymphs slow-crawled beneath the surface.
But bluegills and their kin are also great fish for the angler tossing ultralight lures. Here are some tips on how to catch sunfish on spinning tackle and artificial baits.
Lure Fishing
When choosing lures for sunfish, one of the most important ingredients is compactness. With tiny mouths, a bluegill simply cannot get its lips around a big lure. The fish know this and will seldom strike large, cumbersome offerings.
Once the requirement of compactness is met, however, these pugnacious gamefish will attack a wide variety of lures. Some days they’ll nab a spinner flashing through their weedy lair. Other times they’ll wallop a subtle grub slinking past a sunken log or a small Beetle Spin cast into a placid cove. Here are some of the top lure choices for sunfish and insights into how to fish them.
Plastic-tailed Jigs. A lead-head jig of 1/32 to 1/8-ounce with a soft plastic body is without question the single most productive bluegill lure of all. Grubs look like aquatic insects and offer fish a soft and chewy morsel to sink their teeth into. The pliable texture encourages fish to hold the lure longer, making hook setting easier.
Top grub tails for bluegill fishing are usually short and stubby—either single or split. Fluttering curly tails are more minnow-like in appearance and bluegills simply don’t feed on baitfish very often. Best colors include pumpkinseed, motor oil, smoke, chartreuse, orange, white and black. The whole lure–including the jig head–should be around an inch long.
Slow, steady retrieves work best, though pausing occasionally can help at times, particularly in deep water. If you really need to slow things down, put a bobber on the line so the lure can suspend as you inch it back. This is especially helpful after a cold front blows through.
Spinnerbaits. While the plain grub is usually best, sometimes the same basic lure rigged on a safety-pin spinnerbait frame, such as the famous Beetle Spin, is a better bet. This makes a slightly larger offering and the small Colorado spinner adds a bit of flash. That’s helpful when the water is murky, and also when fish are in an aggressive mood, as they often are in fall.
Though a slow, steady retrieve is usually best, sometimes a stop and go presentation works. Cast out and let the spinnerbait sink near the bottom, then begin a smooth retrieve. When the lure passes a log or weed bed, pause suddenly in your retrieve. The fish will often nail the bait as it drops down like a struggling insect or crustacean.
Next Week: More top bluegill lures and also tactics for fly fishing and using live bait.
Award-winning outdoors writer Gerald Almy is a Maurertown resident
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