beginner question! dont laugh

[busler15]

Ive never tried bluegill before. Just a couple stupid questions.

1. What is the difference between a bluegill and a sunfish and a pumpkin seed?
2. Are they all good eating?
3. Are they good in summer too?

Thanks guys

[bwalleye]

Sunfish is the family of fish.  Bluegill and Pumpkinseed are species
See http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/fishspecs/sunfitxt.html

Yes, they are VERY good eating....even in summer.

Largemouth and smallmouth bass are actually sunfish, not a true bass.  White bass and white perch (who knew) are true basses.

This is not a stupid question. 

[Reel Wet Ride]

Bluegills, sunfish, & pumpkin seeds are all members of the sunfishes family.
I'm no icthyologist but.....

Bluegill: Have dark bluish taps on their gill covers and sometime vertical stripes down their bodies. Males tend to have a darker breast area while females tend to be lighter in color. Gills also tend to be the "cleanest" of the three your asking about. By clean, I mean free of grubs, worms, ect. Spend most of their time on drop-offs & weed edges but also school in deeper water and cruise like crappie. Best winter bite is for a short time in the morning at daybreak and for 25 min each side of sunset.

Sunfish: Big, bright, by far the biggest of the three. Really really pronounced oranges and reds during the spawn, a bigger mouth than a gill' and far more aggressive. Some have really elongated tabs on their gill covers, from reds to blues to black. Some say they have a sweeter meat than gills' but I don't really think thats true. Not in a huge abundence in most water systems, scattered in shallower water especially moderately weeded flats 3-5' deep. Best bite in winter......couldn't tell ya...midday?

Pumpkin seeds: The smallest, might only get 6-7 inches max, most are 4-5". Greenish to gold body color, brighter or darker yellow breast, small mouth. Typically have a small tab on their gill cover that is red or red/white, but can also be black or blue. Tail and other fins genereally look bright blue or green in the water. By far more worms and grubs than gills, they tend to live in the weeds as opposed to around them. Shallow water, or IN deeper water structure, but hardly ever in empty deep water. Same as gills for the most part, but they tend to have "little fish" tendencies so they will bite all day long if you stick it in front of their face.

[Reel Wet Ride]

As table fare, they're all pretty good, but I usually avoid eating bluegills and other panfish during the spawn even though thats when they're easist to catch, I just think they get a .....taste to them...that I just kinda don't like. But mid summer, mid winter, spring, fall.....great!

[bwalleye]

Pumpkin seeds: The smallest, might only get 6-7 inches max, most are 4-5". Greenish to gold body color, brighter or darker yellow breast, small mouth. Typically have a small tab on their gill cover that is red or red/white, but can also be black or blue. Tail and other fins genereally look bright blue or green in the water. By far more worms and grubs than gills, they tend to live in the weeds as opposed to around them. Shallow water, or IN deeper water structure, but hardly ever in empty deep water. Same as gills for the most part, but they tend to have "little fish" tendencies so they will bite all day long if you stick it in front of their face.

I defer

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f30/bwalleye/Punkinseed_1.jpg[/img]]

[hali-man]

They are my favorite eating fish through the ice!
That's right- even better than walleye IMO.

[JiggerMan]

here are some pics of some of these fish.

Here is a bluegill and a yellow perch.


here are a bluegill, pumkinseed, and a black crappie.


they were all good eating  and generally sunfish are excellent table fair. 

[busler15]

The pumpkin seed looks kind of more like a rock bass than a sunfish. Ill keep this in mind. Thanks guys

[Reel Wet Ride]

Bwalleye- No doubt that is a nice fish, but I would have my doubts as to it being a 'pure' pumpkinseed. Gills, sunfish, and Seeds can all mingle and do their thing and produce who-knows-what for a fish.  But your pic sparked my curiosity enough to look around and I found this site that does a real good job of explaining the differences.
http://www.dgif.state.va.us/fishing/virginia_fishes/sunfish.html
now if only I could get some ice to catch some of these things......