I LOVE flyfishing for Bream!!!! lets go!!!!!!
Left to right, the first three are pure blue gills! the last three are true pumpkin seeds.
Some hints although bream hydridize quite frequently the following are tips in general for catching and identifying bream in NJ:
Blue gills: Deep bodies, palm size or larger redbrest, blue gill gills with small operculum and stipes (key small black round operculm-that little flap at top of gills and ventral stripes). small mouth Often 3/4 lb and up to 12"
Pumpkinseed: small mouth, deep body small operculum with red trim palm sized or smaller tiny mouth orange-red body with blue-green flecksRarely more than 1/2" or 6"
Redbrest (robin): Deep large body, green upper with bright red chest, elongated operculum medium sized mouth (some cheeck markings). often 3/4 +LB and up to 12"
Greenies: look like elongated robins with a LMB face and pumpkins seed cheek markings. The head/mouth is large in comparison to the body. rarely exceeding palm size. generally 4-6"
Streams with good current and rocks: Green sunfish, Redbreast and rockbass. Bluegills maybe be present in slack water ares and deep pools.
Ponds lakes: pumpkins seeds, bluegills in weedy seections. Large bull bluegills will not school and tend to hangout in deep pools within the "salad" or at the dropoff 4-10 feet down! Thye will often follow bass as they are no longer thhreatened! In some stream fed stillwater with rocky or gravely bottoms you can find greenies and redbreast or near creek mouths and channels.
On the fly: bluegills (small-mid sized) typcially hit poppers and size 10-12 terrestials. Larger bluegills will take larger sized BHnymphs 4-6 feet below a dropper or strike indicator in vegetation pools, around deep water structure or at drop offs (basically where you find LM Bass. Early morning the big boys will take large terrestial deep under over hanging shrubery/trees! Unless spawning the big boyz will not take poppers!!!!! These are like big browns WARY!
Robins: will occasionally take terrestials, almost never poppers. They will attack midsized to large wolly buggers, size 4-6 clousers, crayfish and size 4-6 muddlers!
Greenies: Anything in sight!
Rockbass: are like smallies and inhabit trout/smallies type areas in streams to sillty or warm for SMB or trout. Same as robins, but they will take a popper just outside the current. Want to have fun after a heavy mid summer rain, drift crayfish flies through an off color run!
Thats all I know!