What Fish Eat Bluegill? A Detailed Look at Bluegill Predators

Do most fishermen know what panfish are eating under the ice? With bass, pike, and walleyes its easy. They eat fish. But panfish eat a lot of different things all year long, and they often switch between food sources several times a day. That’s why it can be hard to figure out what they eat without knowing a lot about the plants and animals that live in the lake.

Even biologists dont know in most instances. Biologists writing for Time say that less than 1% of all microorganisms in the world have been named and put into groups. Of the macro-invertebrates, which provide the bulk of a bluegills diet, only about 10 percent have been identified. Before, Jeff Zernov, who is known for his Aqua-Vu underwater camera, showed us a video of millions of macroinvertebrates rising from the water to dance in front of his underwater camera at sunset. None of us, including our resident biologist, knew what we were seeing. Advertisement.

The good news is that panfish eat a lot in the winter, which is why they are sometimes so easy to catch. But what exactly are they eating? With little doubt, panfish are eating zooplankton at some point every winter. Perhaps all day every day. And will that knowledge help you catch them? Only one way to find out.

Zooplankton (microscopic animals) feed primarily on phytoplankton (microscopic plants). This predator-prey relationship of the aquatic food chain takes place virtually everywhere year round. Bluegills, sunfish, perch, crappies, and minnows feed directly on zooplankton, confirmed from observation and by examining stomach contents. Advertisement.

Not only do panfish eat zooplankton, but they thrive upon it. Studies in Michigan suggest that lakes producing big zooplankters tend to produce big bluegills. A lot of the time, these fish eat some kind of common water flea, which is in the group Daphnia. Big in this case is 2 to 3 mm long and visible to the naked eye.

Dr. Harold Schramm of the University of Florida has studied the interactions of bluegills with various zooplankters. “Some zooplankters are big enough to see without a microscope,” he says. “Theyre suspended in the water, almost neutrally buoyant, making little jerky movements and hopping around in all directions. They can move both up and down and side to side with their swimming legs, but they tend to hop in one direction for long enough to be easily caught. To be most accurate, you might say that larger bluegills key on larger crustacean zooplankters. “.

Eating what’s nearby is one way to get big, since it takes less energy to get from one meal to the next. And, perhaps more importantly, it takes less time. There are so many zooplankters in many bodies of water that bluegills, perch, and crappies can drift and graze all winter long. Its like living in a zero-gravity chamber with thousands of M&Ms floating around.

But many bodies of water have far fewer zooplankters to graze upon in winter. Plankton populations drop over time in waters that don’t have stable plankton counts if there is too much predation or as snow cover and ice thickness rise. In those lakes, panfish forage on nematodes, blood worms, and other wormlike critters that live in soft bottoms. They might switch to small minnows, too, or a mixed diet of burrowing nymphs, worms, and grass shrimp.

Cladocerans — Also known as water fleas, Cladocerans include the genus known as Daphnia. These creatures move by waving their antennae, which are located on relatively strong appendages near the head. Daphnia move by a series of “hops” produced by short, rapid strokes of the antennae. Cladocerans from other genera, like Latona species, move quickly by flicking their tails one strong stroke at a time. All of the Cladocerans are capable of moving both vertically and horizontally.

Cladocerans reproduce in spring at water temperatures in the 40°F range. As the water warms, reproduction accelerates, then levels off. In ponds and hypereutrophic waters, populations wane to the point where few individuals can be found during summer. There may be a second “bloom” in the fall, but the numbers always drop off in the winter. A few hardy plants always make it through.

In large bodies of water, populations may peak in the spring and fall, but they stay much higher all summer and winter than in ponds and small lakes. Large specimens can be seen with the naked eye. They can be as short as 1 mm or as long as over 3 mm. Most Cladocerans are clear or see-through and don’t have much color, but some make shells that can be yellowish, reddish brown, gray, or black.

In his book Fresh-Water Invertebrates of The United States, Robert Pennak says, “Its useless to predict or form any preconceived notions about the seasonal abundance of Cladocerans in a particular lake or pond.” One species’ relative abundance and the exact dates of its highest and lowest populations can change a lot from one year to the next in the same lake. Predation pressure is being given importance in the seasonal abundance problem. “.

Most Cladocerans undergo daily vertical migrations, upward at night and downward with the rising sun. Water fleas like Daphnia rise and fall between 6 and 30 feet during most of these migrations. It depends on how clear and deep the water is. These migrations take place in winter as well as summer. When the bottom is above the thermocline, zooplankters rest on the substrate at the end of their journeys downward and are less active until the light starts to fade.

Once the ice forms, zooplankters move to the middle of bays and basins, where they stay under open water or thinner ice away from the shore. This is another reason why panfish often move to deep basins in the winter. Advertisement.

Copepods are another important class of invertebrates for panfish. Copepoda are found almost everywhere in freshwater habitats in North America, from shallow to deep water. Some species crawl or run along the bottom, but most swim by kicking their tails backwards. This causes a jerky stop-and-go motion through the water.

Copepods that swim slow this down by extending their antennae forward at the end of each stroke. That way, they never sink. These work like parachutes; just before the next stroke, they bend back into line with the body. Copepods are quicker and more elusive than Daphnia.

Copepods may exceed 3 mm in length, but typically max out just under 2 mm. It’s interesting that most copepods are dull gray or brown, but some are bright orange, purple, or red all over. Brightly colored versions tend to be heavily preyed on by panfish.

Panfish approach these two types of zooplankton differently. Panfish casually swim up to their prey, pause in front of it, and then suck it in. When panfish go after the more sneaky copepods, they carefully position themselves before swimming aggressively into their prey, trying to catch it and suck it in before it can get away. Success rates for panfish attempting to capture Daphnia are three or four times higher than with copepods.

Amphipods — These scuds and “freshwater shrimp” live in ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams. They are about 5 mm to 20 mm long and tend to stick to the bottom or weeds. Amphipods are most active at night, and they tend to thrive in cold, dark environments. Specimens have been found 300 meters down in Lake Superior. They tend to skitter on their sides, hence the nickname “sideswimmers. ” Advertisement.

They swim by flexing the body, much as true shrimp do, in an undulatory backward fashion. Locomotion occurs in a sort of dart-sink-dart or dart-dart-dart pattern. They can crawl on weed stems, swim freely, or burrow deep enough to hide themselves. Bluegills, and sunnies in particular, love them. One species, considered a zooplankter, roams open water. Amphipods are clear, translucent gray, cream colored, or white.

Have you ever wondered why our panfish ice boxes have so many different colors of jigs or why only a few colors seem to catch all the fish? If you look closely, you’ll find one for every color of the rainbow.

An aquatic biologist for the Minnesota DNR named Gary Montz says that daphnia are the main zooplankton that panfish in northern states eat. “Copepods are also very common, but they move much faster and are harder for panfish to catch in the winter,” he says. Grass shrimp, scuds, and other amphipods are mostly macroinvertebrates, though one species is considered a zooplankter.

“Some northern lakes support thick populations of amphipods, while others dont,” Montz says. “The main things panfish eat are probably amphipods, copepods, dragonfly nymphs, midges, mayflies, fish larvae, and nematodes and blood worms that live at the bottom of the water. But the list is long.” ” (And nobody has one. ).

Most of this information is of incidental value unless you know the biota of your lake. How do you evaluate the macroinvertebrate community for type and number? Who knows. State biologists almost never try to figure out how many of these tiny animals live at the bottom of the food chain. But they do come across them, and if you want to hear anecdotal evidence about them, the best place to start is by talking to a local biologist.

If Daphnia populations are strong, count on their being important to gills, crappies, and perch in winter. Because zooplankters can move up or down and move up when the light goes out and down when it comes back on, vertical jigging is a great way to catch them. Some of these little bugs can move several times their body length with one stroke or swimming motion. But that still isnt far by our standards. Bluegills may be attracted to a hop-pause-hop in the evening or a drop-pause-drop in the morning. But be careful, especially if you see a fish come close to your jig.

A short movement of the rod tip hops the jig several times its length. Bluegills, especially, are quite myopic, with good vision close up and poorer vision farther away. And they might think that the thing they’re going to touch will move like all the other things they’ve been going to touch all day. If you move the jig too quickly or too far away while a bluegill is looking closely, it could lose track of it and lose interest quickly, or it could even get scared. Move the rod tip in little 1/8- to 1/4-inch hops. Advertisement.

In-Fisherman has always said that jigging can be broken down into two types: attraction jigging, which is used to get the fish’s attention from far away, and enticement jigging, which is used to get them to strike. Even if you’re fishing for tiny bugs, use bigger jigging motions to get the fish’s attention. Lift the rod 1 to 3 feet and let the jig flutter and fall, flashing its little “cmere” beacon the whole way down. But once panfish appear on sonar or can be seen milling around under the hole, concentrate on enticement.

Daphnia, for instance, exhibit an almost constant fluttering motion. After trying to swim like them, the basic technique changes to jiggle-jiggle-jiggle-pause-repeat, moving the rod tip only 1/16 to 1/8 inch at a time. This is a very light motion. One soft tap on the rod blank or the line with one finger is the best way to do this. Some studies show that panfish rarely take dead Daphnia, so limit the pause and accentuate the jiggle.

Most of the time, bluegills and crappies only care about size up to a certain point. That point is when their prey can’t fit in their mouths anymore. If the jig is four times bigger than a real zooplankter, they dont really care. They only know that they’ve seen a lot of these clear-gray or cream-colored things hopping around, and they taste great. If tiny versions are good, then big versions are real good.

Panfish choose zooplankters based on their size, but only because they want (or can easily see) the biggest ones. Something that moves like zooplankton, especially if it has a tiny smoke, cream, pale yellow, or clear plastic grub on it, is probably enough to set off the alarm.

When bluegills, crappies, and perch get finnicky, scale down. Most fish on Earth are bigger than the 1/500-ounce Scampi from Turner Jones, which is the smallest jig we know of. When fishing for panfish that are weak or not moving, a lure that is close to the right size, like Thunderhawk Tackle’s tiny 1/250-ounce Talon Tears tipped with a single maggot, can make a bad day better. When things are really bad, go with a tiny single hook (#10 to #16) and a single maggot. Use light line (1- to 2-pound test) and . 2 gram to BB-size soft shot, such as Anchor, Dinsmore, or Thill. Advertisement.

For small teardrops, a quick 1/2-inch hop with the rod tip can turn the jig over to the side. Use this to your advantage by holding the rod still for a moment and letting the jig settle. It will flutter, hang, and turn side to side slightly, perhaps best imitating the motions of Daphnia.

Copepods move much more aggressively. Hops should be strong and big (up to 2 feet), and the pause should happen while the rod tip falls just a little (about 1/4 inch), because most copepods sink when they’re at rest. A basic copepod-imitating jig pattern is to hop, hold, descend, hop, hold, descend, with a pause of no more than two or three seconds in between each step. Dealpods are harder for panfish to catch, but if Daphnia have gone to the bottom, they might be the only thing left to catch at noon.

Dont worry about panfish not seeing the jig. Crappies can see zooplankters that are 1/32 inch long from five inches away and can see ones that are 1/16 inch long from ten inches away. Bluegills and sunfish do a little bit better. But in low-light periods, those distances dwindle. It can be helpful to use small baits that look like plankton, but you might want to switch to bigger baits as the sun goes down and before it rises in the morning, especially in lakes where visibility is low.

If the lake in question has lots of grass shrimp, use them for bait. Sometimes bluegills aggressively smack grass shrimp when they merely toy with other baits. More bait shops carry them today, but grass shrimp are still rare at most stores. Pet shops sometimes carry them as turtle or lizard food.

A lot of small plastic lures, like the Custom Jigs, work pretty well as copies of them. Plastic tails can sometimes be more effective without adding bait. Last season, when the bite was bad, I decided to try plastic. For an hour, I caught more crappies with it than two friends did with minnows. (As evening set in, however, minnows again began producing the most fish. ) Advertisement.

Like shrimp and crayfish, grass shrimp move by making a series of backwards waves that move them forward in a dart-dart-dart-pause pattern. Unfortunately, ice fishing limits us to vertical imitations of this movement, but its still effective. Raise the jig with three quick consecutive motions of 1 to 3 inches, then pause. Since most amphipods live in weeds, it’s probably best to imitate or use grass shrimp around deep weed edges. However, grass shrimp also catch bluegills and crappies pretty well in basin areas as well.

What exactly do they eat down there? Is it zooplankton? If so, what kinds? Or could it be grass shrimp? How would you know? Maybe by seeing what the panfish react to the most. These basic jigging moves and a few easy variations that you’ve learned by trial and error can help you decide.

There are a lot of jigs and plastics out there today that are about the right size for panfish to eat, which is good news. A little more than 10 years ago, that wasnt the case. Lures and paint jobs are more intricate than ever before. And guess what? Those little details on lures and plastics are more important for panfish than for any other fish, maybe except for stream trout.

Another good thing is that panfish usually eat zooplankters, which means they eat all day and don’t get full quickly. This is one reason why panfishing on ice is so fun.

Duplicating the movements of tiny critters panfish feed on can be important. Zooplankters like Daphnia , copepods, and amphipods all swim and act differently. Panfish can tell the differences and may be focusing on one animal. One of these three basic jigging presentations will let them know which animal it is.

Because daphnia flutter and bob all the time, panfish find them easy prey and probably prefer to eat them whenever they can. To catch zooplankters that look like Daphnia, start with a jig that has a small, clear plastic grub on the shank of the hook. Sweeten it with a single maggot. Place it in the hole six inches down and watch.

Tap the rod blank with one finger. The jig should move no more than 1/8 inch, so adjust force applied accordingly. Thats the best way to imitate the fluttering motion of Daphnia. A pause is required now and then to trigger and feel strikes. If no fish appear on sonar or are visible below the hole, add several 1-foot hops for attraction.

So the basic presentation is flutter, flutter, flutter, pause, flutter, flutter, flutter, pause, hop, hop, repeat. Graphically illustrated along a horizontal plane, the vertical jigging frequency looks like this: Advertisement.

Tinkering with the basic presentation often helps. Daphnia migrate vertically during the day, up at night, and back down at daybreak. Evening: Move the jig around and raise the rod tip by one to two inches. Pause and do it again. Panfish at times will follow this pres­entation up for several feet before inhaling the jig. In the morning, reverse the procedure. Start high and lower the jig while tapping the blank, or slowly lower it during the pause.

Copepods are harder for panfish to catch, but they are still eaten, especially during the day when Daphnia aren’t around. The basic copepod motion is a hop, hold, repeat. Graphically illustrated on a horizontal plane:

Copepods tend to sink when they’re at rest, so the holds should be strong and big, and the jig should slowly go down during the pause.

Grass shrimp tend to remain in vegetation. When fishing deep weedlines, be mindful that grass shrimp could be the preferred forage of bluegills there. Imitate amphipods with a scoot, scoot, scoot, pause, drift, repeat. Lift the tip of the rod about two inches to move the jig up. Hold the jig still during the pause, and then slowly lower it back to where it started:

Experiment with slight variations of these retrieves each day on the water to arrive at the best triger. Change the distance of the hops, the length of the pause, and the frequency of your finger tapping to make the jig flutter fast or slow. Keep working at it until the panfish tell you what rhythm works best.

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Life of the Bluegill and How to Fish for Bluegill

What do bluegill eat?

Bluegill is predominantly sight feeders who consume a wide range of foods throughout their lives. Cladocera and Copepods are tiny zooplankton that juvenile fish consume. If alternative foods become limited and shorten, Bluegill will feed on insect larvae, crustaceans such as grass shrimp, small baitfish, and even aquatic vegetation as they mature.

Is bluegill a healthy fish?

Low in Mercury: Bluegill is a small, freshwater fish that is low in mercury, making it a safe and healthy option for consumption. High in Protein: Bluegill is a rich source of protein, with a 3-ounce serving containing about 20 grams of protein. Low in Fat: Bluegill is a lean fish, with only about 2 grams of fat per 3-ounce serving.

Do bluegill eat baitfish?

Big bluegill, of course, can hunt, capture, and swallow baitfish and juvenile fish measuring an inch or more. In almost every body of freshwater, invertebrates like worn-borne worms and leeches exist. Many are so small they’re practically microscope, but these tiny critters fuel bluegill growth when the fish are very young.

Do bluegill eat fish eggs?

They are notorious egg raiders, sometimes attacking nests in a coordinated assault to distract the larger fish that could potentially eat them. Any fish eggs clinging to aquatic vegetation are also fair game. Bluegill are herbivores, and though it’s primarily young bluegills that dine on aquatic plants, adult bluegill do eat them as well.