Friday, July 02, 2010
Summer sunnies
Abundant, fiesty and tasty sunfish are fun for anglers of all ages
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
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@roanoke.com
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Mark Taylor
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The Independence Day holiday weekend may be one of the busiest weekends of the season on the water as people head to lakes en masse for fun and to escape the heat.
Crowds may make the fishing a little tougher than normal for wary species such as bass and trout, but some fish will still be eager to play.
They are sunfish, the pint-sized battlers that probably don't get the respect they deserve considering they are so abundant, tasty and fun to catch for anglers of all ages and abilities.
What they are, and where they are
Sunfish can be found in just about every lake and pond in Virginia, as well as many rivers.
Although they are often called perch or sunperch, sunfish aren't perch. They are sunfish, members of a family that also includes largemouth and smallmouth bass.
The most ubiquitious sunfish in Virginia (and many other areas) is the bluegill. Although the fish may differ in color based on the color of their surroundings, the trait that doesn't change is the dark blue gill flap.
Less common is the redear sunfish, distinguished by the -- surprise! -- red edge on its gill flap. Redears are sometimes called shellcrackers because of their fondness for eating mullosks.
Redbreast sunfish are similar in appearance to bluegills, but the blue ear flap is longer. Redbreasts favor the cooler, running water of rivers.
Other sunfish in Virginia include green sunfish, which are quite numerous in Smith Mountain Lake, and pumpkinseeds, which aren't very common in this part of the state.
A hand-sized sunfish is usually considered a good one, with fish in the 12- to 1-pound range are really impressive.
While finding sunfish is no problem, finding those larger fish can be a challenge because the fish are so prolific they often become overpopulated and stunted.
Gatewood Reservoir outside Pulaski is known for its nice bluegills. Competition from illegally stocked yellow perch seems to have hurt the bluegills, but the lake still has quite a few hand-sized fish.
Holliday Lake near Appomattox also has some nice bluegills.
The region's larger reservoirs have some good sunfish, too, but finding them often requires catching lots of small fish first. Of larger lakes, the best may be Philpott Reservoir.
The Roanoke River has surprisingly good fishing for stout redbreast sunfish.
Fishermen should never be shy about sharing information about good sunfish spots. The more fish caught and removed, the better the fishing. That's why the heavily fished water supply reservoirs in Suffolk are Virginia's best spots for trophy bluegills and redear sunfish year after year.
Fishing techniques
Not only are sunfish abundant, they are typically pretty easy to catch.
Opportunistic eaters, they will hit a variety of bait, including pieces of nightcrawlers, red wigglers, crickets and small minnows.
Larger fish, especially, will readily hit small artificial lures, including tiny minnow lures, jigs, spinners and fly rod poppers.
For general fishing, it's hard to beat a piece of bait suspended under a float.
Most sunfish have small mouths so small hooks -- sizes 6 to 10 -- are helpful. Many sunfish veterans prefer long-shanked Aberdeen-style hooks because they can be easily removed.
Bobbers should be as small as possible, just large enough to suspend the bait and a small split shot.
In the spring and early summer, sunfish in lakes can be found in the shallows around brush and docks, but they tend to move into deeper water as summer progresses.
When they are deep, a slip bobber rig can be helpful in reaching them.
Another option is to fish without a float, slowly crawling or bouncing the bait along the bottom.
Artifical lures tend to be most effective early in the morning and in the evenings when the fish move into the shallows to feed.
That's also the best time for fly rodders to use small poppers, a great sport that's sure to put a smile on the face of even veteran anglers.
