Page 22 - Outdoor Oklahoma - May/June 2021 Issue

In my family, fishing for bedding bluegills is a much-antic- every pond, lake, river and stream in the state has a resi-
ipated event. During April, while I’m chasing turkeys all over dent bluegill population. Also, their firm, white meat makes
the state, my wife patiently awaits the warm, sunny days of for excellent eating. Grilled, breaded and fried, or baked, the
May. She anticipates our first bluegill trip of the year like a result is a sweet-tasting meal.
youngster awaiting Christmas Day. From Broken Bow to Black Mesa and everywhere in-be-
So, what’s the big deal about fishin’ for sunfish? I can sum it tween, sunfish begin their move to shallow-water spawning
up in six words: action, action, action, and eatin’, eatin’, eatin’. areas between early May and early June. Like most spawn-
Tie into 50 bull (male) bluegills in an afternoon and just try to ing activity, the actual timing is determined by a combination
convince me you didn’t have a blast. of day length and water temperature. Sunfish use their tails
Pound-for-pound, sunfish (bluegills, longears, greens to fan out spawning nests, called beds, in relatively shallow
and hybrids) are some of the scrappiest fighters that swim water, sometimes as shallow as a foot or two but rarely deeper
Oklahoma waters. No, they’re not as glamorous as striped than five. Most beds will be in two or three feet of water.
bass, walleye or smallmouths, but they fight like they’ve got a Bedding sites can be found in and around cover, or along
huge chip on their shoulder about their lesser status. relatively open banks. In clearer water, you can usually see
Fighting ability aside, bluegills also have several other the dish-shaped nests with the aid of polarized sunglasses.
qualities that make them worthy of any angler’s attention. For To locate beds in murkier water, you may need to simply fish
one, they’re found just about anywhere you find water. Almost along the bank until you start catching sunfish. Once you

WHITNEY JENkINs/ODWC

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