Targeting Trophy Sunfish

Feature Story by PAUL FUZINKSI

LISTEN: (5 minutes, 51 seconds)

 

JUST LIKE WITH ANY SPECIES of fish, targeting the spectacularly large ones takes more time, skill and patience than reeling in the more naive and less experienced ones. This applies to bass, trout and yes, even sunfish. These trophy sized fish tend to be smarter in that they’ve seen just about every lure, live bait and cheap fishing line known to man and have started to figure out that when they bite it, it doesn’t end well. So how do you go about targeting the biggest, baddest sunfish in your body of water? 

Firstly, the larger sunfish tend to be loners. Whereas smaller specimens of the species tend to gather in large schools near shelter such as docks, weeds and shallower water, the big ones tend to group up in smaller schools, stay in deeper water and often take more time to look at a bait before deciding to bite it. Larger sunfish are also less inquisitive than the smaller ones and tend to back away from anything looking suspicious. 

Sunfish tend to feed at all levels of the water column. They find food in aquatic vegetation, eat insects off the surface and scavenge the bottom of a lake for sunken food. This can make it tricky to find them at any given moment! For larger fish, search some of the deeper weed beds, timber, stump fields and brush piles in your favorite fishing lake or reservoir.

As we all likely know, sunfish tend to be most active early in the morning and late in the afternoon, but as we have all likely found, they can be active at any given moment of a day as well! While it can be frustrating, you’ll need to search the lake for structure and fish in the prime time as well as throughout the day to see when and where they are biting. As with all fish, sometimes they just aren’t feeding, which is a frustrating feeling. 

One of the better strategies to reel in larger sunfish is to size down. Lighter hooks and lighter line tend to catch the bigger fish in most scenarios. An average six pound line will do fine all around but the clearer the water, the lighter you may want to go. As fluorocarbon line is practically invisible underwater, it is never a bad option. 

As far as hook size goes, we are all aware the mouth of a sunfish is not very large. Try #8 or #10 hooks but you may be able to go as large as #6 for larger sunfish. Small jigs or even ice fishing jigs with tiny soft plastics may also entice larger fish. I have found that the smaller the hook, the more likely they are to swallow it if you aren’t able to set the hook quickly enough. 

As sunfish rely heavily on scent to find their food, it never hurts to use live bait, or scented soft plastics. These fish seem to prefer bait that wiggles and squirms, in turn enticing them to bite. You can never go wrong with the classics of worms, crickets or tiny jigs. If the classics aren’t working, you can always try maggots, mealworms, hellgrammites and sometimes even small minnows!

In recent years, specific soft plastics for sunfish have come a long way from the standard stuff you’ll find in the large sportsman stores. Websites like panfishplastics.com have a wonderful assortment of soft plastics specifically for sunfish that can help land you some big suckers in your boat.

As far as rods go, light is the name of the game. Ultra-light rods not only make it easy to detect a bite, but also won’t wear you out while fishing long days out on the water. You can use a short 4½ ft up to a longer 6 ft ultra-light rod depending on the application and your personal preference. You’ll also want a lighter and smaller reel for these fish. I like the 500 size spinning reel on my rods but you can play around and use what suits your fishing style best. 

If you’ve never tried fly fishing for bluegill, you’re missing out on one of the greatest joys of life. Not only do many flies imitate bugs that bluegill naturally eat in the water, but they also are very aggressive and make the fight exciting. I personally love my Purple Perch Plucker 3wt fly rod built by Captain Steve “Scooby” Stubbe of Mudfish Adventures, made right in Hemphill, TX. If you want one for yourself or want to get out on the water to get some monster bluegill, Captain Scooby is your man!

Sinking fly line with an ultra-light leader is a method used for bluegill fishing that has mostly been lost to time. Before all our fancy, high end, top of the line, space age technology existed, many anglers used fly rods to fish for sunfish and crappie because these rods are generally longer and more sensitive than the traditional rods used to be. I’ve experimented with it myself and it’s quite fun. 

Sunfish aren’t just for kids. Trophy sized ones can be just as challenging to target as 10 lb largemouth. It’s all a matter of how far you want to take the sport. At the end of the day, sunfish fight hard, taste great and are a wonderful and iconic fish that can be found pretty much everywhere in North America. Personally, they are one of my favorites to catch. It’s fun to travel the country reeling in sharks, amberjack, jack crevalle, goliath grouper, trout, bass, pike and anything else that will bite a hook, but I always enjoy returning home, filling a bucket with bluegill and throwing them in the deep fryer. There is just something nostalgic and fun about the sunfish that cannot be beat. Whether you’re a seasoned angler or just getting started, don’t pass up one of the best fish this country has to offer! The lowly sunfish. 

—story by PAUL FUZINSKI

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