Sunfish Fishing in Kentucky for Bluegills, Green Sunfish, Longear Sunfish, Redbreast Sunfish, Redear Sunfish, Rock Bass, Warmouth, White Bass, Yellow Bass, Yellow Perch and Other KY Panfish.

One or more species of sunfish populate virtually all warm water streams, ponds and lakes throughout Kentucky and around the world for that matter. They can survive in waters that provide their natural food source of minnows, crustaceans, insects and worms. Their competitive nature amongst themselves for food, makes them relatively easy to catch.

Lakes In Kentucky For Quality Sunfish

It might be difficult to find a lake in KY that doesn't have panfish of one kind or another. Healthy populations of panfish can be found in major impoundments including Barren River Lake, Cave Run Lake, Dale Hollow Lake, Green River Lake, Herrington Lake, Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, Lake Cumberland, Laurel River Lake, Nolin River Lake, Rough River Lake, Taylorsville Lake and Yatesville Lake. Private ponds are notorious for serving up nice sunfish and bluegills. Small lakes, ponds, rivers and streams also have populations of panfish.

The Kentucky state record bluegill was caught out of a strip mine lake. The state record green sunfish, warmouth and redear sunfish all came from private ponds. Marsh Creek yielded the state record redbreast sunfish and Kentucky Lake hoplds the state record for yellow perch.

Panfish are prolific spawners and repopulate the waters as fast as they are harvested. A common problem with panfish fishing is that the waters are under-fished causing panfish to overpopulate. As a result they tend to stay small in size due to lack of food source.

The list of panfish is comprised of many fishes each called by a variety of names. The bluegill tops the list and is the most common.

Bluegill
Lepomis macrochirus

Check for Kentucky bluegill fishing articles in the articles section.

Crappie are also considered panfish. For details on crappie visit our crappie fishing section.

Green Sunfish
Lepomis cyanellus
World Record: 2.1 lbs.

Longear Sunfish
Lepomis megalotis
World Record: 1.75 lbs.
Anglers love the longear sunfish for several reasons. They feed on the surface making them vulnerable to fly fishermen, they are easy for kids to catch on worms or cut baits and they make great bait for larger predator fish. The longear sunfis prefers water temperatures from 75 to 80 degreesand is sometimes called red-belly bream, red perch, blackear and red bream. Use ultralight tackle, they'll eat just about anything edible.

Redbreast Sunfish
Lepomis auritus
World Record: 1.7 lbs.
The males are quite colorful with red, orange or yellow breasts with dark green upper bodies. Females are colored the same but in drab shades of the same colors. They prefers water temperatures ranging from 76 to 84 degrees. Redear sunfish are also commonly called longear bream, redbreasted bream and yellowbreast bream. Worms, larve, crickets, insects, cut bait and prepared bait all work well on small hooks and light line.

Redear Sunfish
Lepomis microlophus
World Record: 5.4 lbs.

Rock Bass
Ambloplites rupestris
World Record: 3.0 lbs.

Warmouth
Lepomis gulosus
World Record: 2.4 lbs

White Bass
Morone chrysops
World Record: 6.8 lbs.

Yellow Bass
Morone mississippiensis
World Record: 4.2 lbs

Yellow Perch
Perca flavescens
USA Record: 3.75 lbs

For general information on local fishing visit the Kentucky Fishing home page.

KY Sunfish Fishing - All About Fishing for Bluegill & Other Panfish in Kentucky.

4 lbs - 12 oz

4 lbs - 3 oz

60 - 85 Degrees

Prefers slightly stained to murky water with little or no current. Survives in most warm bodies of water.