Bluegill (and other types of bream) are the most widespread and common type of sunfish. They can be found throughout the United States and these are the fish that most young anglers will target when they are learning how to fish.
Best Baits
| Worms
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Leeches
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Small pieces of worms work great for bluegill & other sunfish. The thicker nightcrawlers tend to catch bigger sunfish, but the red worms work well too.
Some anglers use small pieces of leeches and they can be effective. Bigger bluegill usually prefer a lively leech though, so you may be better off fishing with a smaller, lively leech.| Corn
Corn is actually a very good sunfish bait. Just rig a couple of kernels on a single hook weightless and cast it out near your favorite sunfish spot and hang on. |
Bread
Bread is a very good bait for sunfish, however, it’s hard to keep it on the hook. Most anglers will use bread to chum, but it can be effective if you can keep it on the hook long enough. |
Spikes & Wax Worms 
Spikes & Wax Worms are the perfect size for bluegill & other sunfish. They work great. Just make sure to pair them with a smaller hook.
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Soft Plastics
There are a variety of small soft plastics that are made specifically for targeting sunfish.
These baits work great. Just fish them on a smaller hook or jighead. |
Best Rigs
| Bobber
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Drop Shot Rig
The drop shot rig will work shallow and deep. When you need to get down to the bottom, this is a great rig for sunfish. |
A simple bobber, split shot weight and a small hook is all you need when sunfish are in the shallows feeding.
Catch Bigger Sunfish
It’s All About the Destination
Sunfish can be found pretty much everywhere throughout the United States, but big sunfish are much harder to come by. If you are looking for a good destination to target big sunfish, you need to look at bigger bodies of water and down south. There are plenty of big fish destinations up north, however, down south, the fish grow so much faster and there are plenty of bodies of water where anglers aren’t targeting these fish as much as they are targeting bass and crappie, so you may be able to find some big fish.
Upsize Just a Little Bit
You can’t upsize too much because their mouths are only so big, however, upsizing a little bit will usually work to catch bigger sunfish. A half nightcrawler works great for bigger fish. Bigger hair jigs, spoons and soft plastics also work well to bring the bigger fish in for a closer look, then if you use a piece of live bait to tip your bigger baits, you will often draw more strikes from much bigger sunfish.
Fish Deeper
You can usually find bigger sunfish by staying a little bit deeper than where the majority of the fish are being found. In the spring, the fish may be in 2 to 6 feet of water, however, the bigger fish will usually be found in the deeper part of that range. Same thing for the summer and fall when these fish may be anywhere from 6 to 20 feet deep. The bigger fish will most likely be found in the deeper part of that range as well.
Don’t Miss the Spawn
The spawn provides some awesome fishing for good numbers of sunfish and big fish when they come in shallow. This is one of the easiest times of the year to target big sunfish.
