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Photo: Paleo1954, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Lepomis macrochirus
How to catch Bluegill
Bluegill feed in 45–92°F water and bite best at 68–82°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 49 waters.
5 pts · trophy at 10"Feeds 45–92°FBest 68–82°FIn season nowPond / pitLakeReservoirCanalDock / pilingsCreek / streamFish attractor / brush pile
About
The bream: the fish every Florida kid catches first, on a cane pole and a cricket, and the fish the grandparents fry on a Saturday. In every lake, pond and canal in the state.
How to fish it
A cricket under a cork along the edge of the pads in spring, when the beds are visible. Light line, small hooks, and a bucket.
What it eats
cricketswormstiny jigspopping bugs on a fly rod
Live bait for it
NightcrawlersWhole on a #6 to #2 hook under a bobber or on a bottom rig; threaded on a spinner harness drifted for walleye. The bait that catches everything in fresh water.
Wax wormsOne or two on a tiny ice jig or a #10 hook for bluegill, perch and crappie, under the ice or a float.
Grass shrimpTwo or three on a #6 hook under a small cork — the bream, crappie, sheepshead and mangrove snapper bait nobody sells.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
Hook#2–3/0
Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
Braid10–30 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereFifty panfish per day in aggregate — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Fresh water by state