Laboratory experiments were performed to determine habitat preferences of juvenile bluegill sunfish given paired choices in partitioned aquaria. The fish preferred calm water, subsurface vegetation (Spirogyra, Myriophyllum) providing lateral concealment, dark tank sides and bottom simulating shade, and fine-grained substrates. Attraction to plastic plants suggests that visual rather than chemical cues are involved in attraction to plant cover. Turbulence was strongly avoided as were larger conspecifics. The young-of-the-year bluegill equally preferred deep water (providing vertical escape to darker, deeper water) and vegetated shallow water providing lateral concealment). These laboratory preferences, which correlate well with field data on natural distributions, suggest that active behavioral responses are involved in habitat distributions of these fish in nature.