Do other bream bed in the same manner and at the same times, and same locations as bluegill? If the sparns are at different times, is there any that spawn way earlier or later than bluegill?

 

The public lake I fish has a lot of green sunfish, which I sometimes catch as bycatch since they have large mouths.

 

Do bass eat other bream just as often as they do bluegill? You hear about bass running through bluegill beds, but I assume they run through green sunfish beds the say way.

 

I could be wrong, but I don't think bass prefer one type of bream over another. They are opportunistic feeders and will eat whatever is available that requires the least amount of effort to capture and swallow.

They like the 3-5” sunfish mainly because they can fit it down their throat.  I would look for sunfish schools where the majority of the fish in the school are 4” or less, and also find smaller sun fish on beds.

 

My experience is that with a thin rayed fish present, like golden shiners, or mosquito fish or shad or whatever, bass will not eat sunfish very often. 
 

I also find that bass will eat crappie a lot more often if that option is available.

 

For what it’s worth, in North Carolina, where there are lots of different sunfish species, my observation has been that the shellcracker or redear sunfish is the preference of the largemouth bass above other sunfish species followed by the bluegill.

The redear or shellcrackers spawn in early May here and I don't see them again. They're obvious because they do it in the same gravelly spot every year. Bluegill here spawn several times a summer in sandy areas, usually around the full moon. I don't think the other bream spawn in the same manner. There are a couple of spots on the lake I fish most often that have bluegill beds all summer. There's a decent chance there's a big bass or two hanging around them at any time.

Depends what you call a Bream? Bluegill are bream in most bass fisheries!

Crappie spawn before LMB bass and nearly the same as Smallmouth bass start about 58 degrees.

Most sunfish except bass spawn above 70 degrees or near the end of bass spawn.

Tom

Thanks all, that's helpful information.

Just now, WRB-2.0 said:

Depends what you call a Bream? Bluegill are bream in most bass fisheries!

Crappie spawn before LMB bass and nearly the same as Small outs bass about 58 degrees.

Most sunfish except bass spawn above 70 degrees.

Tom

My understanding is that all sunfish that are the size and shape of bluegill are bream; Bluegill, longear, pumkinseed, green sunfish, and warmouth.

 

Black bass, rock bass, and crappie aren't included when one says "brim" normally around here. 

Im a northerner so “bream” is not a colloquialism for us up here, but I’ve always taken “bream” to be any species belonging to the genus Lepomis. 

Ie; pan fish!

Tom

Bass are opportunistic and reaction eaters. They eat whatever they can whenever lol. I’ve never given it much thought. I’ve seen them swipe at baby ducks, frogs, in Florida even lizards or small fruit rats trying to run across lily pads. I’ve never given it much thought I guess lol. They just  eat whatever they see and think they can. Even other bass. 

4 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

Im a northerner so “bream” is not a colloquialism for us up here, but I’ve always taken “bream” to be any species belonging to the genus Lepomis. 

I'm from the south. Here "bream" refers to bluegill and all their kith and kin. It's a catchall for panfish that aren't crappie.

4 hours ago, Joedodge said:

Bass are opportunistic and reaction eaters. They eat whatever they can whenever lol. I’ve never given it much thought. I’ve seen them swipe at baby ducks, frogs, in Florida even lizards or small fruit rats trying to run across lily pads. I’ve never given it much thought I guess lol. They just  eat whatever they see and think they can. Even other bass. 

They do whatever that tiny brain stem tells them to at all times. If you could ask one "Why?" it wouldn't have an answer.

4 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

I'm from the south. Here "bream" refers to bluegill and all their kith and kin. It's a catchall for panfish that aren't crappie.

They do whatever that tiny brain stem tells them to at all times. If you could ask one "Why?" it wouldn't have an answer.

Very well said