Bluegill

[karen J]

I was finally able to get a pic of my little Bluegill. I think she's a sweetie. She hovers in the water, twirling her pectoral fins this way and that, yet seems motionless.
My son and I feed her worms, and I think she's beginning to like us. Edit: Sorry about all that floating debris, it's a breezy day here and there are dandelion seeds, pollen, petals, etc flying everywhere. It's like snow!



She's not colorful, and doesn't have interesting patterns like Koi and Goldfish, but she does have interesting markings when viewed from the side. My neighbor has an extremely large aquarium for turtles, and the Bluegills are beautiful.

You can eat 'em, too. 

[tweetybaby2005]

Ohhhh, she is so cute.  Is she just a baby?  It looks like something a friend of mine from KC brought me one time (2 of them) but I only had a 20 gallon fish tank in the house back then so I had to let them go into the bigger pond in our community.  I didn't know if it was illegal to let the fish into the pond or not back then.  I should have asked the HOA or extension office or something before I did it though.   

Kuan

[EagleEye]

Nice picture Karen

You promted me to add gills to my fountain pond. I have one at the moment, but the pond hasn't cleared up yet, so can't really see too much. i did put my small goldfish in this pond, so He'll probably eat some of them. Oh well, everyone has to eat something.  (even Charlie )
the first good rain, I'll go out and load up on nightcrawlers. they'll love that.
Steve

[karen J]

Kuan, I'm not sure how old she is. I've had her since last summer, and she's about 6" from tip to tail. My "Golden Guide" book on Pond Life says they get to about 8 to 12 inches and occasionally weigh up to a pound.

Steve, congrats on your new pets. They are fun little fishies. I'm a little worried about my worm supply, though. I had a dream that I woke up to a million holes all over he yard because my son was looking for worms.

[frogman3]

Bluegills are great in a pond but best viewed from the side since their colors really don't show from the top. I had one male pumkinseed which is a varity of bluegill that has brillant orange, yellow and green, in my pond for years. They will eat any bug you can find in the yard, they love the sod grubs. Be carefull not to stock both male and female or in no time they will take over a pond and eat all your goldfish or koi young.

FM3

[Ruthie]

Awww!     That's a really awesome photo, too.  My camera cannot manage a decent shot of our bluegill no matter what I do.  I love that silly fish.  You know, I was a little worried.  She was MIA for a few days and she NEVER misses the opportunity to eat earthworms or grubs.  I have been doing a little house keeping by the pond, thinning elodea and the other plants.  The elodea is FULL of ghost shrimp.  The parrot feathers are full of tadpoles and baby fish.  A couple of days ago, I spotted her...she was visible because she was hovering above a lily pot wtih white rocks.  She was stalking little fish in the "shallows" where the irises are.  No wonder she hasn't appeared for earthworms...she's full  

[tinkster]

okay I am gonna be the bad guy here. I still have one frozen in my frig that I caught fishing many many years ago.. it was over a lb. but they are adorable.

tinkster

[karen J]

Tinkster, I ate the Bluegill that Steve gave me (yum). But they were fillets- I didn't kill, clean, etc myself. I think if they've been in your freezer for years, they probably aren't any good to eat.

Frogman3, I really want some of those Pumpkinseeds, they're adorable. We've got them here, I just need to get out there and catch some. Pumpkinseeds and Bluegills can mate and produce hybrids that are difficult to identify.

Ruthie, my little stalker is always at the ready.

How big of a goldfish do they eat? I'm wondering what the cut-off is, cuz most of my goldies are large, but I have a few babies from last summer that are only about an inch or two long. The Bluegill can eat all the eggs/babies she wants, but I do like my bigger ones.

[Sunbeam56]

They are better than mosquitoe dunks at ridding a pond of mosquito larvae (ducking). 

[Joyce]

 

[tinkster]

karen.. he is in the freezer just as he was caught since he was so big. .not to eat.. just to show people

course now he has accumulated so much ice and frost cant even tell what he is.. I just keep it to remember how excited I was when I caught him.

tinkster

[frogman3]

How big of a goldfish do they eat? I'm wondering what the cut-off is
[/quote]

Like most fresh water fish whatever fits in there mouth. Unless the fish is injured then they will peck at it till it dies and  then sometimes try to pull it apart. Since bluegills have small mouths nothing bigger than 1/4 to 3/8" around.

Fm3

[flyhawk]

i have a 2500 gallon pond with 2 bluegill and a young bass. they eat all the snails and tadpoles in our pond , and its funny cause they will get really fat, and chubby!!! the bass will also eat young goldfish, and i will find heads of baby goldfish in the pond