Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)

 

 

Bluegill?

Bluegills are medium-sized fish that can be found in freshwater lakes, ponds, springs, and rivers all over North America. They get their name from their blueish purple gills. Bluegills are very common and can easily be mistaken for brim, which are also common fish that look very similar to bluegill. The next time you’re around a body of freshwater, try looking for bluegill, which can be spotted from the shore, through your goggles underwater, in a canoe, or from a dock.

Diet

Bluegills are carnivorous fish, which means they eat meat. They like to eat bugs, worms, and smaller fish (such as mosquito fish and minnows). Sometimes people feed bluegills bread. This normally doesn’t hurt them, but you should always be careful about what the condition the bread is in. For instance, bluegill shouldn’t be fed moldy bread.

Catching Bluegill

Many people like to catch bluegill because they are good to eat and taste similar to bass. If you live on a lake, pond, river, etc you can prepare bluegill to be caught by feeding them bread, then putting bread on a hook and catching them. If you do not live near a body of freshwater and are visiting one, try using live worms or small rubber ones.

However you go fishing, always remember to take what you need and no more. Bluegills play an important part in the freshwater food chain, and other animals can be effected if too many bluegill are caught.

Bluegills In Tanks

Because bluegills are such beautiful fish, keeping one in a tank may sound fun. Actually, it is quite hard to keep a bluegill in a tank. First of all, you need a very large tank for a full grown bluegill. Also, unlike brim, it is very challenging to get a bluegill to eat fish food you buy in the store, and they can’t survive on bread alone. You will probably have to supply it with live minnows and/or mosquito fish. Luckily, these can sometimes be purchased in pet stores. Still, I would recommend choosing a different breed of fish for an aquarium.

Other Good Resources on Bluegills

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia

Probably the best way to gain more information on bluegill is to observe them in the wild and in aquariums.