Maumee River Report – June 1st 2017

Fast Current and a strong  afternoon wind yesterday made the

Bluegill fishing may be the purest form of angling. Sunfish can be the easiest fish to catch or the most challenging. For many anglers, bluegills were our first fishing experience. Many anglers soon “graduate” from catching bluegills to the adult pursuit of largemouth bass, walleye or other bigger game fish species.

Yet there is nothing juvenile about catching hand-sized bull bluegills. Battling a 10-inch bluegill on light test monofilament with an ultralight spinning rig is easily equivalent to landing an 18-inch largemouth bass on 8-pound-test and baitcasting equipment.

Bluegills will spawn from late May into August when water temperatures range from 65 to 80 degrees. But the sunny, warm days of June, with water temperatures in the 70- to 75-degree range, are the prime time to pursue  sunfish.

During this time, male bluegills will build and defend plate-shaped nests, typically 1 to 2 feet in diameter. The females lay eggs in these nests and the males fertilize the eggs, guard them from predators and keep them silt-free by fanning over the eggs with their tails.

Soon a new generation of fast-growing and maturing bluegills is swimming about. If there isn’t a thinning of the population by anglers, too many bluegills in specific waters, say a pond or lake,  quickly become a problem. Bluegills become stunted at about 4 inches in length and never reach the desired size for anglers – 8 inches or longer.

Go to and click on the ” blog ” section on our main webpage for tips  to catch quality-size bluegills: