How to recognise it
- A dark spot at the base (rear) of the soft dorsal fin, and vertical bars on the sides.
- A small mouth.
- A flexible black ear flap, and deep blue on the underside of the gill cover.
- Usually 10 spines in the spiny dorsal fin and 3 in the anal fin.
- Dark olive back; sides lavender, brown, copper or orange; belly reddish-orange or yellow. Breeding males are brighter.
Habitat: where it lives
- Found throughout Texas: three subspecies live here.
- Vegetation and sunken trees in shallow backwaters of rivers, lakes and ponds.
Habits: behavior, spawning and growth
- Builds nests 1–2 ft deep, preferring gravel; 50 or more nests may cluster in one small spawning bed. The males guard them.
- Its long spawning season lets it overpopulate where few predators or anglers thin it out.
- Texas public waters have produced bluegill approaching 2 lb.
Where and when
- In fresh water all over Texas.
- Spawns from about 70°F, peaking in May–June and sometimes lasting into fall. Nests are 1–2 ft deep, often over gravel, and many are built close together; spawning fish use water 2–6 ft deep.
- Late summer: weed edges and brush piles more than 10 ft deep. Winter: 12–20 ft deep near cover.
Bait and lures
Live and natural bait
- A small piece of worm or nightcrawler, just enough to cover the hook
- Crickets
- Grasshoppers
- Mealworms
Lures
- Tiny jigs, 1/32 oz and smaller (black works well)
- Tiny spinners
- Small black flies
- Small poppers
Why these baits work
- Young bluegill eat plankton; adults eat aquatic insects and larvae, so small baits win: a piece of worm, a cricket, a mealworm, a tiny jig.
- A lively cricket is hard for a hungry bluegill to resist, especially big bluegill in summer and late fall.
- Its small mouth is why the hook and bait must be small: TPWD suggests hooks size 6–14 for sunfish.
Rod and reel setups
Grouped by lure fishing (artificial baits) and bait fishing (live or natural bait).
Tips
- Use the smallest bobber that floats your bait. You'll see more bites.
- If you're fishing on the bottom, watch your line closely: bites are light.
- A small soft-plastic grub on a 1/16 oz tungsten jig under a slip bobber catches just as many bluegill as live bait, without rebaiting the hook every fish.
On the table: cleaning and cooking
- Scale it and cook it whole, or fillet it with the panfish method in the handbook.
Step-by-step cleaning, keeping fish fresh and eating safely are in the handbook.
Size and bag limits vary by state, species and lake. Current limits: Texas (TPWD); elsewhere, your state's fish and wildlife agency. Check before you keep a fish.
