Lepomis macrochirus

bream, blue bream, sun perch, blue sunfish, copperhead, copperbelly, roach

fresh

Bluegills have small mouths and oval-shaped, almost rounded, profiles. Body coloration is highly variable with size, sex, spawning, water color, bottom type, and amount of cover. In general, they are somewhat lavender and bronze with about six dark bars on their sides. Males tend to have a copper-colored bar over the top of the head behind the eyes. The breast is silver to slightly blue most of the year, with some yellow or orange during spawing season. Females are generally lighter colored than males. Two distinctive characteristics are the prominent black spot on the rear edge of the gill-cover and a black spot at the base of the posterior portion of the dorsal fin.

Bluegills prefer the quiet, weedy waters where they can hide and feed. They inhabit lakes and ponds, slow-flowing rivers and streams with sand, mud, or gravel bottoms, near aquatic vegetation.

Insects, insect larvae and crustaceans are common in a bluegill's diet. Vegetation, fish eggs, small fish, mollusks, and snails make up the secondary portion — although they may dominate the blugill diet during certain times of the year.

Their growth is rapid in Florida. A one-year-old fish may be 4 inches long but they live up to 11 years. Spawning may occur the first year. The rate of growth varies considerably in different bodies of water. However, a 6-inch bluegill in Florida is typically 2 to 4 years old.

Because of its willingness to take a variety of natural baits (e.g., crickets, grass shrimp, worms) and artificial lures (e.g., small spinners or popping bugs) during the entire year, its gamey attitude when hooked and its excellent food qualities, make the bluegill one of the more important small sportfish in Florida and the Eastern United States.

The flesh is white, flaky, firm and sweet. They are generally rolled in cornmeal or dipped in pancake batter before frying. Many rank the bluegill as the most delicious of all freshwater fish.