The bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) is arguably Kentucky’s most popular sunfish, a native species most common in farm ponds, small lakes, and major reservoirs.
A perfect fish for beginning anglers, the bluegill is a real scrapper when hooked on light tackle, and is one of our best-tasting fish. The bluegill’s white flesh is sweet and firm, especially when taken from cool or cold waters.
The bluegill was first described in the scientific literature in 1810 by French naturalist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, who was a botany and natural science professor at Transylvania University, in Lexington, Kentucky, from 1819 to 1826.
The bluegill is a member of Family Centrarchidae, which includes 18 species of fish in Kentucky.
Size and coloration
Adults are four to nine inches long, rarely more than 11 inches.
Large, hand-sized bluegill, about seven to eight inches long, are saucer-shaped, beautiful fish.
Their mouths are small, and bodies slab-sided.
Coloration is variable, but generally they are olive green with emerald, copper, and bluish reflections on their sides, dark above the lateral line.
Their lower sides and belly are whitish to yellow. Breeding males may have orange or bright red breasts.
The current Kentucky state record bluegill weighed 4.19 pounds. It was caught on August 5, 1980 by Phil M. Conyers of Madisonville. Conyers was bass fishing with spinning tackle and a 6-inch plastic worm in a stripmine lake in Hopkins County when the giant bluegill struck.
Geographic range
The bluegill’s native range is east of the Rocky Mountains, from coastal Virginia to Florida, west to Texas and northeastern Mexico, and north to western Minnesota, and western New York. Bluegills have been introduced widely in North America, most notably the states in New England.
Top local fishing waters
Bluegills are present in all river drainages in Kentucky, but are most successful in standing waters, farm ponds, small lakes, major reservoirs or sluggish flowing streams. They thrive in waters that don’t have populations of gizzard shad.
According to the 2025 Fishing Forecast, published by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR), these five small lakes in Central Kentucky offer excellent bluegill fishing:
• 81-acre Lake Reba, in Madison County
• 149-acre Elmer Davis Lake, in Owen County
• 51-acre McNeely Lake, in Jefferson County
• 96-acre Corinth Lake, in Grant County
• 92.1-acre Boltz Lake, in Grant County
Food habits
Bluegills are omnivores, eating both plant and animal material.
Young readily consume algae, but the diet of the bluegill consists mainly of larval and adult aquatic and terrestrial insects, crustaceans, and small fish. They often raid the nests of other fish, including black bass, preying on fish eggs, and fry.
Spawning
When water temperatures reach into the 70s bluegills build circular nests, clustered in colonies in shoreline shallows, in one to four feet of water.
Males make the nests by fanning with their tails, and lead females to the nest. Multiple females may deposit eggs in the same nest. The female leaves after spawning.
The male guards the nest and becomes very territorial, biting aggressively when a baited hook or tiny fly is near their nest.
Fishing for bluegills
When fishing for bluegills, keep the tackle simple and lightweight.
Two excellent tackle options are a pole or an ultralight spinning rod and reel.
A 10-to-12 foot pole made from river cane works great. Another option is a telescoping fiberglass pole, light enough for even small children to handle.
Use 10-pound test monofilament line on poles to avoid line twist. The heavier line also makes it possible to straighten out light wire hooks rather than break the line when snagged on cover.
Rig your line with a No. 4 lead split shot, balsa wood or plastic float, and No. 10 long shank light wire hook. The long shank hook is easier to remove when the bluegill shallows the bait. Hemostats are a great help when removing hooks lodged way down in a bluegill’s throat.
Bluegills can be taken on a wide variety of live bait. It’s hard to beat red worms, bits of nightcrawler, crickets, and meal worms, the larval stage of a beetle. These baits are all available commercially.
Another local favorite is bag worms, found throughout the state on evergreens (especially Eastern red cedar) in August. Use a small pair of scissors to open up casings to remove the worms inside.
Spinning tackle has an obvious advantages over a pole because bait can be cast to likely fish-holding structure, far beyond the edge of weed beds.
Bluegills are great fun when caught with fly fishing tackle too.
Early in the season cast bead head nymphs, which imitate aquatic insects. Any small trout pattern flies will catch bluegills too. During the spawn, small topwater poppers, or foam flies that imitate grasshoppers or spiders, will draw strikes when bluegills are in the shallows.
Bluegills are abundant, found statewide and easy to catch.
Late spring and early summer during the spawn is one of the best times to fish for bluegills, but anytime water levels are stable, bluegills will cooperate.
They are the ideal fish for youngsters or beginning adult anglers.
