Email this article

Catching Bluegill

Catch bluegill wherever they swim

By Craig Springer

Bluegills are perhaps the most widely recognized fish in North America. They are native to New Mexico and eastern Colorado and have been widely introduced elsewhere all over the country. Most every angler in America brought into the sport in youth cut their teeth on this fish. Maybe for that reason they are unfairly perceived as a kid's fish.

But that's a perception held by the uninitiated. In small waters, they are prone to overpopulating and stunting, and thus shunned by anyone seeking fish of size. But for those in-the-know, they know bluegill get big. A new book by biologist John Tertuliani called simply, Catching Bluegill, tells everything you need to know to consistently catch those big bluegill through the seasons wherever bluegill swim.

Tertuliani brings a unique perspective to his subject matter; he is among the initiated. He grew up fishing bluegill in Ohio and Kentucky. And moreover, he's a trained biologist having studied extensively fish biology and aquatic entomology. He has worked with rainbow trout, coho salmon, and striped bass, and presently holds a day job with the US Geological Survey researching problems in water. He's researched residual pharmaceuticals in water and coal-bed methane issues in Wyoming and South Dakota. But Tertuliani knows bluegill and this scientist unlocks some science to catching bluegill. He says that bluegills in reservoirs grow the biggest and are the hardest to catch. And that's where most of the bluegills are in the Southwest.

Bluegills live over much of the Four Corners. They are native to the Pecos River and the Rio Grande in New Mexico, having once naturally occurring as far north as Espanola. They swim now in all the major drainages and the flat waters of the Gila, San Juan, Canadian, Mimbres and Chama rivers. In Colorado, they naturally occurred in Arkansas drainage. They have been stocked in nearly every water body in the state warm enough to harbor them. That includes the Pueblo Lake, Chatfield State Park, and Bear Creek Lake State Park. In Utah, Lake Powell is a sure bet to find bluegill, as are the bigger waters around Phoenix, Arizona, like Canyon Lake and Lake Pleasant. It's these bigger water that you'll find the bigger fish says Tertuliani, if you know what to look for.

The bluegill's quality as a game fish and frying-pan virtues rank it high for anglers that know how and where to catch the big ones. And they do get big. One of the largest ever taken was over two feet long, with a girth of almost 19 inches, and weighed nearly five pounds. Even a largemouth bass this size would be impressive. What's more common, however, are fish in the 10-inch range just under a pound.

Bluegills are easily told apart from other sunfishes in found in the Southwest. Those other sunfishes include largemouth and smallmouth bass (they are not true bass). Bluegill are deep-bodied, disc-like, and when you hook a big bull bluegill, that body shape can lead your line to and from on the fight. Bluegills have a dark tab on their gill cover that otherwise lacks any coloration. That's one give away. They also have a powder-blue throat and a long and pointed pectoral fin. In fact, the pectoral fin is a sure-fire way to identify a bluegill. Gently fold the fin forward to the eye, and the leading edge goes past the front of the eye, and only on a bluegill can you do that. All other sunfishes have smaller pecs.

Tertuliani says that bluegills by nature are a loosely gregarious fish. They take up station in water from one foot to 20 feet deep, and in summer, they will be on the shallow side. When autumn approaches, they will be tending deeper water.

"Focus on structure near shore in the sun-lit zone," said Tertuliani in a phone interview. "You can get to big bluegill one cast away from shore. It's the sunlight that is important to these sunfish �? it's the vegetation that grows where the sun hits and the fish food that results."

The ideal habitat is rooted aquatic vegetation, said Tertuliani. In absence of that where reservoirs are fluctuating, then look for recently downed timber.

"That's a close second to rooted vegetation for big bluegill," said Tertuliani. "The timber gives shade, cover, and structure. That is where the food chain starts, and bluegill are close to the primary production ? the beginning of the food chain."

Catching Bluegill takes you through the fish's life history, explaining in lay terms what a biologist knows about how the fish makes a living. Tertuliani lays out what you need for tackle, how to introduce kids to bluegill, and how introduce yourself if you've never targeted bluegill. Whether you are a confident angler or just starting out, catching bluegill and other species of sunfish will be easy if you follow the methods described in the book. The book offers the angler most everything you ever needed to know about bluegill, including instruction in all forms of tackle, everything from live meal worms to dry flies.

This first comprehensive book on bluegills helps you identify bluegill habitat, and as only an articulate biologist could do, Tertuliani explains what happens to water over the changing seasons, like in reservoirs as the water cools, and how the fish respond. As summer closes out and yields to another autumn, bluegill fishing can turn on as waters begin to cool.

You never know how much you don't know until you learn it. This applies to fishing for bluegill. Catching Bluegill is more than a primer to angling what is arguably an accessible, easy to find fish �? one that is normally abundant where ever it lives. You could take home a basket of bluegill. The book is profusely illustrated, and even has a section on how to cook what is arguably one of the tastiest piscatorial treats to be had from waters of the Southwest.

The book is available at Amazon.com. This is Tertuliani's second book; his first is Smallmouth Bass and Streams: Thoughts on Fly-fishing.