I admire the redbreast sunfish. You see, the redbreast is the STREAM sunfish, thus a superior fly rodding quarry.

The redbreast's popular cousin, the bluegill, is often lumped along with the largemouth bass and stillwater environments, and rightly so. The redbreast sunfish, in my opinion, falls on the side of the smallmouth bass and freestone streams.

True to its environment, this game panfish is sensitive to hatches of insects and will rise to the dry fly as readily as trout. Small streamers are great patterns, too.

One of the best ways for me to end a summer day is to drift an Adams, or an Elk Hair Caddis, or a Light Cahill along the surface of a small, warmwater, freestone stream. When that "SLUP" sound is heard, I know my rod is gonna bend from a redbreast! This fish fights very hard, and the larger ones of 8, 9, and 10 inches are like pulling in a living, zigzagging, Frisbee.

Redbreast Sunfish . . . my favorite!