They might hang out in open water as they travel around, feeding on plankton in large schools.

The rest of the year, bluegill can be found all over. They will nest on rocky or muddy banks, ideally near some form of cover. In larger bodies of water, you might find bluegill spawning around five or six feet deep, usually in pockets of water along flat banks. The nests are up to four feet deep in murky water and as much as 15 feet deep in clear water. However, despite being at the bottom of the food chain, these small fish are undoubtedly fun to catch and great to eat. These fish are small, rarely coming in at more than five pounds. Spawning is an opportune time for fishing because fish tend to bite at anything that comes into its spawning zone. These fish mate longer than most other types of fish, breeding from late spring until early fall, depending on where they live.įemales of this species can spawn an impressive nine times each year! It’s so easy to catch bluegill because they spawn for such a long period of time. The body will be a dark green – usually olive – in color and the sides and the breast will be red or yellow. Using this trick can help you differentiate between the bluegill and similar types of sunfish.Īnother way to tell it’s a bluegill you are looking at is that it will have a dark blue ear flap, known as an operculum, that covers the gills. The fin extends past the eye of the fish when it’s folded inward toward the mouth. The bluegill sunfish is most easily identified by its long pectoral fin. Some are only regionally available, but bluegills can be found just about everywhere. There are more than a dozen species of sunfish, of which bluegill is one, in North America.

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