By Rye Mann
Spring is the time to feast after the long winter fast and mate to produce the next generation of bluegills. Bluegills are congregated and less wary than any other time of year making them more easily caught. And if you like me, nothing is better after a long winter trapped indoors than spending some time fighting one spirited bluegill after another.
As the water warms to the low 60 degree mark, bluegills will start their move from their deep winter time haunts to the shallows for nesting. On the way they will be eating machines trying to gather as much energy as possible for the upcoming spawn and the year to come. You will have to monitor this temperature on your own since there are many factors that affect when a body of water will reach this magical number.
Southern waters will obviously warm up faster than northern waters while other factors will separate conditions of water close to each other. The more water a pond or lake has and the deeper it is will slow the warming process. Cold water run off into streams and rivers can dramatically affect the temperatures in a short matter of time. Even the bottom composition can drastically affect temperatures. Dark colored mud and clay will absorb and radiate heat to the water above.
Bluegills will use deep water weed lines and dead wood to use as cover to make their moves. Again, look for darker colored objects as they will radiate the heat that the fish are looking for this time of year. While they stage in these areas, the feed bag is on! They are doing what they can to fill their belly’s and gain strength after the hard times of the winter. Big bluegills are much less wary and more apt to chase down a tantalizing offering.
As the waters move into the high 60’s, the males will move to the shallows to start picking a site and building their nest. Bigger males will be in the middle of a colony vigorously defending their territory. The large females remain adjacent to these colonies in slightly deeper waters preparing to mate. They will still be eating vigorously while their eggs are maturing in their bellies. Once the water hits the magic number of 70 degrees, the spawn will start with it peaking at 75 degree water mark.
The females will swim into the nests to deposit their eggs to be fertilized and then move back to the deeper water. The male remains to defend the nest until the juveniles have hatched and moved on to fend for themselves. Aggressive males can be caught simply by casting into the colony while the larger females will need to be sought after in the relatively deeper water out from shore.
Please practice responsible fishing at this time. Over fishing can decimate a population in a body of water. Further more, removing only the biggest bluegill will leave the genetic traits of only the smaller fish to be carried on ultimately stunting the population forever. Take only enough to satisfy your hunger that day and harvest a mix of sizes to keep the population in balance. By following this simple strategy you will keep your favorite fishing hole intact for you to return year after year to enjoy.
I am a lifelong multi-species fisherman from the Midwest. I have fished for most freshwater species of North America plus a few slat water species for fun. While I enjoy fishing for all of these various species I inescapably return to the type of fishing I personally enjoy the most, Bluegill fishing. I am not a paid fishing professional or sponsored by any company, so my experiences are those of an average fisherman that has to pay for what I use fitting my trips around work and family. To learn more about the bluegill spawn and how to catch more and bigger bluegills, please go to Bluegill World.
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