Bass Forage: Bluegill Sunfish

When bass were introduced across South Africa during the mid 1970’s, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape, the clever chaps at Nature Conservation reckoned in order to maintain healthy populations of bass they’d better bring them a prolific food source, which they did in the form of Blue Gill Sunfish, a preyfish that ranks highly on a bass’ menu in their native home range. Based purely on our own observational research they form part of the recipe for growing giant bass locally, with dams such as Albert Falls producing better than average quality bass because of their stocking. But as prolific as they are, there is one major drawback that bass pose when stocked into smaller dams, namely they have the propensity to overpopulate rather quickly, stunting their growth. This has a negative effect on smaller species who then have greater competition for food. Native to the Eastern parts of America Blue Gill have been distributed across the United States, Europe, and Japan as fodder for predatory fish and also as a popular table fish too, growing in excess of 1-kilo although much larger fish have been caught locally. Similar to Redbreast and Vlei kurper they gravitate toward shallow, weedy backwaters are often found in the back of bays during mid-summer. During the spawn they seek out gravel and rock where they construct large, saucer-shaped nests approximately 30cm in diameter, often spawning in large groups. These nests show up as large indentations grouped together, which are easily spotted on side imaging on your sonar. Bluegill are also highly adaptable and will spawn in temperature ranges from 12°C – 31°C and flourish in cold impoundments such as at Woodstock, Wagendrift and Clanwilliam dams, which regularly experience near freezing air temperatures in the winter months. Easily identifiable by their deep and relatively flat bodies, they exhibit a small mouth and head in relation to their overall size, which becomes more prevalent as they get bigger; what differentiates them from our local baitfish species is the continuous dorsal fin that begins halfway down the body. The front section of the fin also has a spike similar like a bass, so care should be taken when handling them. Colouration: The flanks are olive with pronounced barring in males and a reddish tinge to the belly. The iridescent blue markings after which they are named appear on the chin and gill plates of adult males, and when combined with the large black spot are definite focal points for bass to key in on. Behaviour: When patterning forage fish Australian Bass World Champs representative, Julian Smith states: “To find bass, you need to find baitfish and then their food.” Bluegills are omnivorous, which make them trickier to zone in on, but American ex-pat George Robey shares these hints for targeting them to find bass. “In Ohio we caught plenty of Bluegills feeding on the surface on small insects, invertebrates and of course fish. They’re very aggressive and will eat baits ranging from poppers to crankbaits and even spinnerbaits, and in the heat of summer they’ll flock to the shallows in large groups to spawn where they become easy targets for bass. Bluegill nests are often grouped together and show up on sonar or side imaging as large indentations. For the most part they feed aggressively on the surface during low light periods but are just as comfortable relating to deep ledges in the depths. Look for bass always to be nearby”. https://youtu.be/RfcVvDmYkNk Swimming Action: Bluegills tend to school in the summer months and can be seen in the shallows making them an exciting sport fish to target with small jigs and earthworms. When viewed underwater they exhibit a very erratic swim action, darting in a zigzag pattern in very short bursts thanks to their large tails. Mimicking this behaviour is key when imitating Bluegill and many US pro’s advocate pausing moving baits mid-retrieve especially when fishing crankbaits, ultra-realistic swimbaits and swimjigs. An ultra realistic Sly Guy Lures Replica Gill imitation from US bait builder Clayton Sly. Image: facebook.com/slyguylures/ How to imitate them: Most Bluegill patterns are of adult fish and anglers should be wary of imitating juvenile Bluegill profiles with adult colour patterns. When matching the hatch and bait to the fish’s colouration be sure to start off with juvenile colouration in smaller baits before progressing to large 6-inch plus swimbaits to mimic larger adults. Swimbaits: Dark Gill, Light Gill, Bronze Gill. Paddle Tails: Sungill, Sunfish Laminate, Copperfield, Green Pumpkin Gold. Skirted Baits Bluegill , Hot Gills.