If you have ever gone fishing in fresh water, you have probably caught a bluegill, since they are one of the most common game fish in both Ohio and the United States. Male bluegills make nests for the young. Usually, a male makes his nest within a colony of nests of about 20 to 50 other male bluegills. The bluegill brushes away gravel and sand to make an indentation about 8 to 12 inches wide. A female bluegill can lay up to 50,000 eggs—now you know why you can find bluegill just about everywhere!

A female will lay eggs in more than one nest, and most of the males’ nests have eggs from more than one female. The male cares for the eggs until they hatch, protecting them from predators. The eggs take about a week to hatch and the young bluegills stay in the nest for about another week before swimming away. Bluegill tend to live in schools of 10 to 20 fish. They are active in the morning, stay hidden in some kind of cover during the day and move to shallow water for the night.