Redbreast Sunfish

Live bait is most effective, particularly small red worms and earthworms over nightcrawlers, crickets, grasshoppers, and small leeches under 1 inch. For artificials, use small naturally colored tubes, curly tail grubs, or swimbaits on 1/32 to 1/16 ounce jigheads, small spinners, jigs that imitate invertebrates.

Late spring through early fall, with peak action from April through October. During spawning periods (May through August), avoid targeting them to protect reproduction.

Redbreast Sunfish rarely hit moving lures - use a slow retrieve with pauses, jigging the lure then letting it sit still to trigger strikes. Focus efforts in 6 inches to 6 feet of water where you can vary rod position effectively.

They have the most varied diet of all sunfish species, feeding as opportunistic invertivores on aquatic insects (particularly dipterans, ephemeropterans, and trichopterans), terrestrial insects, snails, crayfish, small fish, and mollusks.

Unlike other sunfish species, Redbreast Sunfish prefer moving water environments and are primarily found in streams, rivers, and flowing sections of reservoirs rather than still ponds.