Eric, I see exactly where you are going. I won't mess up the question.
Bluegill are opportunistic omnivores. (That is my hint for Eric's question)
Some of the observations I have made about bluegill may make a difference to this discussion. Back in the late 80's, I put a few bluegill in a 100 gallon aquarium and started feeding them a floating pellet that I used in ponds. They would eat it as it floated and they would attack it as it sank. But, once the food hit the bottom, they wouldn't touch it. So, just to test my theory, I soaked some of the floating pellets, mashed the air out of them and put them in the aquarium. The hungry fish ate the pellets as they sank, but when the pellets hit the bottom, bluegill didn't touch them. I decided to watch for similar behavior in ponds. I saw it, but not quite as dramatic as the aquarium. Some, but only a few, bluegill would pick up feed off the bottom of the pond. If they didn't get it off the top or on the way down, most bluegill ignored the food on the bottom. They rose back to the top, looking for more offerings.
Ever since those earlier days, I have observed bluegill feeding in the top few feet of a pond, but not below...as a whole. A few fish hit the bottom, but not many.
Take it from here, boys.
