Among our native fish species, two are standouts — bluegill, or bream, and redear sunfish, or shellcracker. Lake county anglers of all ages seek these panfish year-round. Bream are cooperative.

Like most fishermen, the first fish I caught was a bream – from Georgia’s Lake Sinclair at a family picnic in 1959. The bream I caught was a bluegill, but depending on where you grew up, your first ...