Like the largemouth bass, bluegill relate to cover. They do best in weedy-pond type environments. Bluegill love to spawn, hide and feed in cattails and other similar shoreline and pond-bottom weeds. They find plenty of food there and, if left unchecked, will quickly overpopulate and stunt or stay on the small side. Largemouth bass love baby bluegill and the combination of the two fish makes for some great fishing. In Utah, most of the fisheries that have bluegill also have largemouth bass. They include Huntington, Hyrum, Lake Powell, Newton, Mantua, Pineview, Quail Creek, Red Fleet reservoirs and Pelican Lake. Bluegill can also be found to lesser degrees in Utah Lake, Gunnison, Dmad, Wide Hollow and most of Utah's community fisheries.

Bait/lures

Most bluegill fishing occurs in the spring when bluegill move to the weedy shallows to make nests. At this time they are accessible both by wading and from boats. The traditional method to catch them is to cast a small black jig baited with a piece of worm into pockets of open water. Using a bobber as a strike indicator makes bites easier to detect. Other good baits include crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms. Fly fisherman especially look forward to this time when they can wade the shallows and cast poppers or sponge bugs that draw nonstop action from baiting bluegill. Best colors are black or chartreuse. Flies such as the Prince nymph, damselfly, olive or black Mohair leech and Crystal Killers are also effective when cast to open pockets in the weeds and allowed to slowly sink. After the spawn is over, bluegill move to deeper water and stay there most of the year. A boat or personal craft such as the Outcast Fat Cat allows easy access to the fish. Bait and lure anglers can continue to use the same techniques, but fish over deeper water and move around until they find the fish. Fly anglers will need to go to sinking fly lines and allow time for the flies to sink to just above the weeds. Big bluegill come to the surface to feed in the evenings and at night all summer long and great dry fly fishing is available to those who remember insect repellent. Bluegill remain active all winter and ice fishing is a fun way to harvest some good eating. Use small ice flies in black, chartreuse or purple tipped with a wax worm and fish just above the weeds or on the deep-water edges of flooded vegetation.

Note: Because bluegill school and feed year-round, they can make for a fun family outing in the winter on ice-covered water.

Byron Gunderson, Fish Tech Outfitters, contributed to this story.