Bluegill spawning

Hey guys the gill are on the beds so you had better get em will its hot ! Went Sunday with my daughter , caught 18 in 2 hours - went by myself Monday caught 15 nice ones { 10" - 12" bulls } , could have caught a lot more but it is a private lake and I didnt want to PO anybody . It was full moon Monday so they will be on the beds for most of the week . I plan on going Wed. also . I was cleaning the gill we caught Sunday and the meat had black specks in it - some kind of parasite so I pitched them and wont be fishing that lake any time soon . All were caught on tube jigs or chucks of worm fished on a small lead head jig around the bedding area . Tried to keep just the male and put the females back to lay thier eggs . Good luck !

Are you from the northern, middle, or southern part of the state?

Im in southern IN - the moon is the same everywhere so they should be in some phase of the spawn statewide . The bass seemed to have finished but some may still be bedding .

It's good to know that the Sunfish (bluegills are only one species of the sunfish family) are spawning now in Southern IN lakes.

I love to fish for bluegill with my fly rod at this time of the year.



These fish spawn when the water temperature is just right. Those fish that live in southern waters will spawn earlier than those that live up North.

Every hundred miles further North you travel means that the sunlight is hitting the earth at a different angles.

Are you guys aware of the In-Fisherman Calendar? Check it out as it helps one to understand how the angle of the sun vs the latitude on the earth determines when the water warms up.

Bluegills or crappie may spawn in Louisiana in March while not spawning in Ontario until June or even July.

The In-Fisherman Calendar is divided up into ten periods. They are based on the weather not the calendar. The cold water period may last 8 months up in Canada but only 2 months in Florida. While the Hot Summer Period may last 10 months in Florida and only 2 months in Canada.

The lakes latitude makes the difference in how fast and how much the water warms up in the summer and how long it takes to cool down in the winter.

Check out the new In-Fisherman Critical Concept books to learn more.


[quote=bassmanic1;327600]Im in southern IN - the moon is the same everywhere so they should be in some phase of the spawn statewide . The bass seemed to have finished but some may still be bedding .[/quote]

I agree with moose1am,I have been fishing Hardy Lake for the past 3weeks and water temps have been mid to upper 60s.The redear females just moved to the beds this week.The lake came up about a foot from last weekends rains and the big bluegill where up around the bank.Had 55 bluegill and redear,5 crappie,fromMonday and Tuesday.Most bluegill were males,all were caught on nightcrawlers.Caught alot of bass also 6 over 14" all return to lake.

I fished a clear stripper pit in Warrick County yesterday afternoon. I was bass fishing, but checked several spots that bluegill always spawn. One of the spots had fish around it cleaning the beds off. None of the spots had fish on the beds, but you can still catch them close.

They are on the beds here at my pond in Morgan Co. Just started seeing them a couple days ago.