Bluegills -Easy to Catch & Tasty

Paul Katsus has worked for twenty five years for a major utility company in the Houston, Texas area as a Service Consultant. Paul Katsus enjoys fishing for a variety of fish species in his spare time. Paul Katsus had begun catching Bluegills, as his first species of fish, as have many young fishermen. Bluegill and other sunfish, are sometimes called bream, and are often referred to as perch. But the Bluegill is not a Perch. Perch are very different and actually belong to a separate family of fish not related to bluegill or other sunfish. The most common species from the perch family include walleye, sauger, yellow perch and darters. Bluegills are an important species when it comes to fisheries management Bluegill provide an excellent forage species for bass due to their ability to reproduce at a rapid rate. During one summer, a female bluegill can spawn up to three times releasing 2,300 to 81,100 eggs per spawn. This rapid rate of reproduction helps to provide the necessary numbers of bass forage to help maintain a balanced bluegill/largemouth bass fishery. The Bluegill has a thin saucer-shaped body with a smallmouth and a black or navy gill flap. It is mostly olive green with an orange to yellowish belly. Bluegills are usually 4-6 inches but it is not uncommon for them to grow to 12 -14 inches. They have been recorded to weigh up to four pounds.

Bluegills can be found in lakes, ponds, reservoirs, streams, creeks, and rivers, in other words, just about any body of fresh water. While, most experienced anglers might say they prefer to catch  other fish such as trout, largemouth bass or crappie, they probably learned to fish while catching bluegills with their bobber baited with worms or liver. Almost any bait (live or dead)  or small spinners will catch Bluegills. Paul Katsus would recommend introducing newcomers; especially children to Bluegill fishing because they are relatively easy to catch and will readily take a huge variety of baits