Find and Catch Spawning Sunnies

One of the fascinating things about fly fishing is learning about our quarry. I have the greatest affection for the sunfishes, Everyone's Fish. What I've learned about their lifestyles and habits over the years has just increased my fondness and respect for them. And, of course, enhanced my ability to catch them. The best time to go for them, especially for surface fishing, is spawning season.

Comparatively young by evolutionary standards, sunfish have an advanced family structure compared to older species. The 'spawn and swim away' method of procreation is common to most fish, but not sunnies. Like many other species, the male sunny prepares the nest, a meticulously clean dinner-plate shaped depression, in a sand or gravel bottom in one to eight feet of water. Sunnies build veritable cities of nests, or 'redds', neighborhoods of craters resembling the moon's surface. Each redd will have its builder, in spawning colors, vigilantly guarding his own home. The female is a brief visitor, not lingering long after the spawning act. Sometimes the pair will stay in the nest area as much as a day or two before the female wanders off.

The male, though, stays, zealously defending his eggs against all comers. This includes fish many times his own size, and bottom-dwelling egg eaters including aquatic worms, crustaceans, and insects. Fins flaring, he attacks interlopers courageously; Smaller invaders get sucked up and transported out of the redd in his mouth. During this time the sunfish is the most vulnerable to the fly fisher. When a popper or streamer does not draw his attention, a wet fly dropped or drifted into the redd will be vacuumed up for removal by the housecleaning sunny. This diligence on the part of Papa Sunfish continues even after the eggs hatch, until the yolk sacs are absorbed and the fry have shown the sense to find hiding places in rock crevices and vegetation. Sadly, although smarter than the average fish, the sunny is unable to distinguish his own fry from the rest once they have left the protection of the redd, so at that point cannibalism can occur.

Sunfish spawn enthusiastically and often, from May through September in this climate. Pre-spawning restlessness brings them out of deep water and into potential nesting shallows as early as March. Because of the close proximity of sunfish nests, they hybridize readily, and it's interesting to look at an individual and figure out just what species were involved in the orgy that produced it! Because of their reandiness and effective protection of their eggs, sunfish overpopulate quickly, especially in small ponds, and become stunted. This is how they got their reputation as 'children's fish'. In a properly balanced environment, sunnies can grow to a half, even three-quarters of a pound. A sunny this size is the fighting equal of any game fish I've ever caught.

Taking advantage of sunfish nesting behavior is simple: Find the nest cities. In lakes and ponds, look for gravel or sand bars, or gently sloping shallows. These are often found near points, where peninsulas trail off into the water; Or use the wisdom that, if the shore is level, the underwater terrain is likely to be the same. Even lakes with sharp drop-offs along the shoreline will have occasional ledges of sand, places where trails or drainage gullies deposit silt in the lake, and submerged structure. Look for clusters of light-colored circles; These are sunfish cities.

As a general rule, the larger fish nest in deeper water, but like all generalizations there are exceptions. The reason for this behavior is, in the event of invasion by a predator even feisty Papa Sunfish can't handle, he feels more secure if there is cover nearby he can duck into until the danger is past. Deep water is a favorite, but weed beds are even better, as they are a source of food as well as a hiding place. Other cover they favor includes downed timber, sharp drop-offs, and clusters of rocks. When I find a knee-deep gravel area by a steep shore surrounded by a weed bed, my fishing alert bells go off with a vengeance. In rivers, look for the same conditions, but out of the current. Eddies, indentations in the banks, the shallow side of the river, and downstream of islands will hold spawning sunnies if the right type of bottom is present

Flies? Almost anything will work during spawning season. This is when the sunnies are at their most aggressive, and I love the topwater sport they provide. Poppers and foam bugs in black, chartreuse, or yellow are my favorites. Larger fish can often be caught on wet flies, and I prefer something cheap and durable, black with possibly a hint of color, in a size 10 or 12. The Kuss Bug and the Montana Nymph are two that come to mind. Presentation: Dead slow. Remember that the fish's motivation is to get the object out of his nest. If the fly is moving rapidly, it passes through each nest too quickly to trigger his aggressive (or housecleaning) instincts. With a slow retrieve, the fly lingers in the redd, annoying Mr. Sunny into grabbing it to get rid of it. Be ready to strike quickly; Because he intends to carry it away, not eat it, the fish does not have that fly at all deeply or securely. He can, and will, spit it out in less than a second if there's something about it he doesn't like.

These are the secrets I've learned about my favorite fish over the years. My happiest memories involve a fly rod and spawning sunnies. Use these secrets, and make some memories of your own. The nice thing about sunnies: They'll cooperate.

--Rabbit Jensen--
Summer 2008 Issue