Redbreast Sunfish

Small spinners, jigs, poppers, and lures that imitate invertebrates. Live baits are highly effective: crickets, grasshoppers, earthworms (particularly smaller redworms over nightcrawlers), grubs, and small leeches under 1 inch.

Use small patterns (size 12-14) including narrow-profile nymphs tied in bright colors on longer shank hooks for easier removal from their small mouths.

Fish slowly using slip bobbers, sponge bobbers, or spring bobbers. When using jigs or live bait, fish them slowly under bobbers over weeds or under overhanging limbs. Move flies minimally - just enough to make rubber legs wiggle.

Their diet is more varied than other sunfish, consisting primarily of aquatic insects (particularly Coleoptera, Odonata, and Ephemeroptera), along with bottom-dwelling organisms like snails, insect larvae, clams, small fish, crayfish, small minnows, crawdads, and mollusks.

They primarily inhabit clear, slower-moving streams with sandy and rocky bottoms, preferring areas with limestone outcroppings, logs, aquatic vegetation, and undercut tree roots. While they can be found in lakes and ponds, redbreasts mostly live in moving water environments.