Camping and Outdoors Blog | Fish Identification: Bluegill

Fish Identification: Bluegill

By Justin on June 29, 2007

Under Fishing | Comments Off

Fish Identification: Bluegill

Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
“The Beginner Fish”

Range and Description:
Also know as bream, brim, or sunfish, Bluegill are of the first
types of fish you probably started out catching as a kid or maybe
as an adult is the Bluegill. These fish are one of the most
widely distributed pond fish in North America and range from
Minnesota to northern Mexico. They are the fish that more often
than not will nibble and peck on your line and steal your bait
while your not looking.

Identify:
Bluegill are a smaller round fish with compressed sides. Color
can vary greatly between the sex of the fish as well as age and
even season. The most common identifiers are black spots found at
the edge of the gills and base of the dorsal fin. Then generally
they will have about 6 dark vertical bars on each side. As I said
the color varies but you can come to a conclusion that on average
bluegills consist mainly of a lavender and bronze with males
being slightly darker and more colorful in spawning season.

Identify Male / Female:
While sometimes it can be hard to tell Male Bluegill usually have
an orange underbelly while females have a more yellow hue and are
usually on the smaller size.

Fishing Tips:

• If you aren’t catching them in one area then move, Bluegill
  don’t move around a whole lot so you will have to find a good
  spot. Especially in ponds and small lakes.
• Bluegills in ponds usually don’t get as large as the one
  that live in lakes because in ponds they often are stunted by
  lack of food due to overpopulation.
• Bluegill are more common than other species in ponds and
  can easily be caught with common baits such as: Worms,
  Crickets, Artificial Flies, and smaller jigs.

Was anything missed? Have a favorite Bluegill story from fishing? Add your comments below.

By Jesse G. Roland