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Recreational Safety and Hunter Education
Learn about Michigan's diverse range of fish, plants, trees, reptiles, amphibians, insects and mammals. Click the box above to see all species, or click the species group below.
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Lepomis microlophus
Somewhat larger than the bluegill, faint vertical bars traveling downwards from its back, dark colored back and a yellow-green belly. The male has a cherry-red edge on its operculum (gill covering); females have orange coloration in this area. Adult fish range between 8 to 10 inches.
Illustration by Joseph R. Tomelleri © The favorite food of this species is snails. These fish meander along lakebeds, seeking and cracking open snails and other shelled creatures. Redears have thick pharyngeal teeth (hard, movable plates in its throat) which allow it to crunch exoskeletons and even small clams. In recent years, the stocking of redear has found new allies due to the fish's ability to eat quagga mussels, a prominent invasive species in many freshwater drainages.
They are often the first fish an angler catches in his career and some fishermen continue to target them throughout life. They offer year-round angling opportunities with liberal daily limits (25 in combination). They readily take all manner of live bait; although they have small mouths so smaller offerings — leaf worms, red worms, wax worms or crickets — are preferred. The most traditional way to fish for them is with live bait under a bobber, though they will take small artificial lures (spinners, jigs and spinner-jig combinations) and can be taken on both surface and subsurface flies.
Sunfish spawn in the spring and it is during the bedding season that they easily taken. Community nesters, most sunfish make their beds in the shallows and anglers offering any manner of bait in and around the beds are usually rewarded. Fly fishermen using popping bugs, rubber spiders or nymphs can be rewarded with fine sport. Anglers will sometimes catch a variety of species from the same spawning beds and the fish will sometime hybridize.
