Bluegills!!!

[sniperfreak223]

Well, with all the trout streams up here blown out from the just under 5" of rain, I decided to go to a local lake and try some bluegills...well, they're on the beds and all the big boys are within 10' of the shore, so needless to say, it was quite a day! I don't care if they're not a "glamor" fish, they're fun! And heck, a few of the big boys nearly pulled the rod out of my hand. And to top it all off, I pulled out a couple golden shiners bigger than the average stocked trout...so I guess I'm over my blues over blown out trout streams...so if you're tired of waiting for the streams to come down, grab your 4-weight and head to the local ponds...there's no better time to get into some slabs than now.

 

[Fishidiot]

Good stuff!
Folks need to "think outside the trout box" once in awhile.

 

[GRP]

Nothing like the pull of a big bluegill on a light weight rod. Intense fighters who don't quit.

 

[boychick]

What flies would you use for bluegills and how would you fish them? I'm still trying to figure out how to fish a pond with a fly rod.

 

[sniperfreak223]

boychick wrote:
What flies would you use for bluegills and how would you fish them? I'm still trying to figure out how to fish a pond with a fly rod.

Don't really need anything special...the day I posted about here I was using nothing more than an olive beadhead Hare's Ear nymph with a Wiggle Dub thorax.

 

[boychick]

Sniperfreak,

Thank you for answering my question.

Do you fish nymphs under an indicator, twitch it, or just cast and let it sink? I tried fishing for bluegills last summer. I used a nymph under and indicator and cast it to where I knew the gills would be and caught a couple, but for the most part they ignored it. Then I started retrieving it slowly and a bass attaced the indicator. After that I switched to a popper and fished for bass.

 

[afishinado]

Try rigging a popper/dropper. Tie 2 -3' of tippet on the hook bend of the popper and tie a nymph on the point. Let the fish decide!

 

[Acristickid]

Caught this while fishing for Bigmouth bass. Is this a bluegill?

 

[pete41]

Never saw one that color before-

 

[pete41]

http://www3.cesa10.k12.wi.us/ecosystems/wetlands/animals/bluegill/bluegill.jpg

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear acristic,

It sure looks like a female bluegill that is getting full of eggs to me. The females are always darker and less colorful than the males. The ear is kind of long which may mean it is crossbred with some other sunfish but it definitely has bluegill in it.

Bluegills are the only sunfish in PA that don't have red, yellow, or white edging on their ears. Technically it isn't it's ear, it's the flap at the end of it's gill plate but lots of folks call them "ears."

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[sniperfreak223]

TimMurphy wrote:
Dear acristic,

It sure looks like a female bluegill that is getting full of eggs to me. The females are always darker and less colorful than the males. The ear is kind of long which may mean it is crossbred with some other sunfish but it definitely has bluegill in it.

Bluegills are the only sunfish in PA that don't have red, yellow, or white edging on their ears. Technically it isn't it's ear, it's the flap at the end of it's gill plate but lots of folks call them "ears."

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Definitely could be a crossbreed...up my way, I'm sure most of our bluegills have some pumpkinseed in them, as most of them have faint blue and green vermiculations like those you see on pumpkinseeds, that and I caught these two off the same bed (and yes, released them both immediately).


Also, as a side note, I also think that the pumpkinseed is one of PA's most beautiful fish species, right up there with the brook trout. (yeah, getting ready for the hate mail from all the brookie fans and trout snobs...)

 

[PSUFishMenace]

It's a Coppernose Bluegill.

http://lakework.com/site/coppernose-bluegill.php