What are Brim Fish?

What are Brim exactly?  Brim are bluegill basically.  Bluegill are what most people are referring to when they are discussing this fish.  Sometimes people make the mistake and refer to all sunfish as brim.  The other fish that brim is mistaken for is crappie.  Here are some pictures to help distinguish the fish from each other.

Bluegill (Brim)

Bluegill tend to have an egg-shaped body with an extremely tiny mouth.  Bluegill have pointed pectoral fins.  The most common color that you will find is dark green with vertical bars on the fish usually between 6 to 8.

Sunfish

There are about 30 different members of the sunfish family with three major distinctions for the fish.  The three members of the group are Black Bass, Crappie and True Sunfish.  Bass are easy to distinguish from other sunfish as the shape of bass are very distinct from other members of the sunfish family. Having the above description of Bluegill will help you in determining what fish you have on the end of your line.

Crappie

There are a lot of names for this fish and they are on the larger side as well.  There are multiple members of the sunfish family that are considered crappie.  Depending on the region the fish might be referred to as Oswego bass, calico bass, crappie bass, white perch, speckled perch, specks or papermouths to give a few examples.

How to identify the fish. The above photo guide will help you identify the fish but if that doesn’t work Size of Fish

Bluegill tends to be on the larger size of the small fish you will see in a lake, pond, or stream.  These fish tend to range from approximately 3 inches in length to above 11.5 inches.  I’ve personally seen 14-inch bluegill, these are massive fish and extremely fun to catch for kids and adults alike.  Because of how sensitive bluegill are to their environment, coming up with an exact age by looking at the size is a guess that is usually way off.  Most of these fish live 8+ years out in the wild and can live up to 10 or more in captivity.

You will need a small hook size No. 8 or No. 10.  These species of fish have small mouths.  You’ll be using light gear, that is all that will be needed for this fish.  Light spinning tackle will work best.  You do not need a fancy rod either, the good old ugly stick works great.  If you want to try an old school method the cane and pole work as well.  Check out this article for more information.