In most cases this "sunny" is a common bluegill (or, as many locals call them a "brim"). If there is a second-place winner in this first-fish category it's probably a pumpkinseed sunfish (locally called a "robin"). Volumes have been written about fishing for bluegills, but the lowly little pumpkinseed gets little press from most publications.

While the bluegill is widely distributed all across the United States, the pumpkinseed steps out in front of the bream in terms of tolerance of salinities. This commonly called "robin" can live easily in water that's one-half the strength seawater and this opens up a lot of watery area to this fish that the brim can't tolerate. Even thought the pumpkinseed is technically classified as a freshwater fish, it can live alongside saltwater panfish such as spots and croakers. To many Down Easters, the robin represents the panfish of the brackish water world.

The pumpkinseed is a strikingly beautiful fish with its bright red black and white gill cover and body spotted with orange, blue and dull yellow.

Some compare it to the red ear sunfish (shellcracker) but the shellcracker can't compare to the little pumpkinseed when it comes to striking colors. The major difference between these two fishes is the maximum size they reach.

The North Carolina record for shellcrackers is a whopping four pounds, 15 ounces, while the record for pumpkinseeds is a mere pound and six ounces.

As kids, we used to get in an old wooden boat and paddle to concentrations of old pilings left over from docks that used to serve to load timber onto the sailing ships that conducted business in our coastal rivers and creeks.

Anywhere you'd find cover such as these pilings or the remains of old boats, you'd find concentrations of robins. A simple cane fishing pole and a can of lively fishing worms was all you need to catch enough robins for supper.

On coastal streams where the shoreline is composed of marsh grasses, the bank is often undercut. There are pockets of shaded water up under the edge of the marsh where the robins can hide from predators or the bright sunlight. By setting the depth of the baited hook just 8-10 inches below the float and dropping it inches from the edge of the marsh, you'll find not only pumpkinseeds but other panfish as well. This undercut marsh edge is often the only cover or hiding place around for several hundred yards.

It wasn't unusual to fish-out one of these honey holes by taking too many fish over a short period of time. If you took a dozen or two nice adult robins from one spot one day it was time to move to another spot to fish. Leave that original spot alone for a couple of days, and it would re-populate with adult robins.

The bait most anglers use for taking pumpkinseed is the worm but in coastal waters there's a better bait that's available at your feet. Take a small meshed dip net and run it through one of the aquatic grass beds you find in most streams. It doesn't take long to fill a small bucket with grass shrimp. Pumpkinseed love these little shrimp that make up the bulk of their everyday diets.

It takes a small, wire hook to impale several of these shrimp on. Use light monofilament line with just enough weight on the line to slowly sink the shrimp to the depth where the robins seem to be and use a tiny float that barely stays on top of the water's surface against the pull of the weight.

Like most small sunfish, the pumpkinseed has a tiny mouth, and by using small bait, a small hook on light line, the fish can get the baited hook into their mouth in one gulp. (Use a big hook and large pieces of bait and the fish will just nibble on the bait and often never really take the entire baited hook into their mouths). Combined with the relatively light line, weight and float that's easy to pull under and the fish can be easily fooled into thinking that there's not a fisherman attached to the other end of the line and they'll swallow the bait whole and retreat into their cover to digest the meal. That's when you set the hook and bring in the fish.

By using light tackle, you match the gear to the size of the fish you're trying to take, and by using readily available bait such as the target fish is feeding on, you should do well on pumpkinseed.

Pumpkinseed sunfish taken from the dark colored coastal streams are frequently brilliantly colored.

This is particularly true in the case of the male fish during their breeding season. Since the prolific pumpkinseed reaches sexual maturity at two years of age, some of these young male fish make wonderful native aquarium specimens.

We used to keep a 15-gallon estuarine aquarium in our house that contained not only fish but other brackish water organisms as well.

Small blue crabs, eels, pipefish, shrimp, and a bunch of juvenile fishes such as spots, small flounder and hogchokers, black drum, spadefish and a host of other organisms like oysters and Carolina clams made an interesting home exhibit.

The pumpkinseed sunfish in the tank was always the most brilliantly colored specimen and the most popular with visitors.