Hook'in up with Bluegills

[Baron]

I could use some advice......in many areas.... but lets stick to bluegills for now.
When I am Bluegill fishing and using Buggers and other things that I cast out and strip in I haven't any problem setting the hook; it just kind of happens. But when I switch to floating flies, be they flies or terrestrials, I have trouble hooking them. For instance today I was using an Elkhair Caddis and also a Chernobyl Ant. While I got lots of hits there were no hookup. I got the impression the fish were popping at it to scare it off rather than trying to eat the flies. I switched to a BH Prince and also a Zug bug and they provided solid hookups.
So what am I doing wrong with the floaters.

 

[RLeep2]

You're probably not doing anything "wrong". A lot of it is about timing only some of which you have any control over as an angler. Bluegills have small mouths and they employ suction when feeding. Unless they pull the fly far enough down in to ensure being hooked, they can sample and reject a fly in a blink. You'll eventually develop a reflex or "6th sense" that will increase your hooking percentage, but even at that, it isn't unusual to only about hook half of the bluegill that take a top water fly.

 

[Baron]

Thanks Leep! Like I said, I have no issues for sub surface but on the surface there is a pop and I lift the rod and they're gone. It seems like they never really had a hold on it. Beating this is important as it was the same issue I had earlier in the year with stockies in the local creek.

 

[JerryC]

I've missed my share of top water bluegills over the years. Probably because I tie my pan fish top waters on size 6 or 8 hooks. You'd be surprised at what bluegill can take. These guys were just blowing up the fly. There was no doubt they had taken it. The fly this one took, along with several others, is tied on a 2XL size 6. A better picture of the size of the fly

 

[Baron]

Jerry have you tried Tying them On smaller hooks? DaveW does. I’ve heard that sometimes it helps to have the bigger hook to eliminate smaller fish. But I don’t no how one could prove this.

 

[afishinado]

Baron wrote:
Jerry have you tried Tying them On smaller hooks? DaveW does. I’ve heard that sometimes it helps to have the bigger hook to eliminate smaller fish. But I don’t no how one could prove this.

Some days there are small bluegills/sunnies hit your fly. Using a larger hook often eliminates catching those fish. If you have a lot of misses and no longer catch small sunnies....that is likely the "proof" you seek.

 

[JerryC]

Baron wrote:
Jerry have you tried Tying them On smaller hooks? DaveW does. I’ve heard that sometimes it helps to have the bigger hook to eliminate smaller fish. But I don’t no how one could prove this.

I don't usually take pictures of smaller sunfish, 4 or 5 inches, but I have had them take that fly. They don't inhale it but take enough to get a piece of the hook. I do tie them on the larger hook to eliminate the smaller fish. Plus, a lot of places I fish have smallmouth or largemouth bass and some have chain pickerel. I caught this bass not long after I caught the sunfish.

 

[Baron]

Jerry here are a couple I had on pink woolybugger over at Gouldsboro. While, as shown, I'm not hurting for nice catches I do want to improve the hook set on the surface hits. Its allot like the weak nymphing hits I miss when fishing in springtime for trout. I'm winning but I can get better. I find Bluegill fishing very relaxing.

 

[donhopkins]

heck if I can get into bluegill like that on a regular basis I don't feel the need to fish for anything else.lol

 

[Baron]

That is how I got hooked as well, carefully. You may get the bug.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

Met a friend at my local lake to help him get pics for a project he was doing for veterans at the local V.A. I got there a little early and had already landed a nice perch and a few medium gills when he arrived around 7:30.

He was initially missing more fish than me, but then hit a honey hole; which I had fished through previously. He pulled out about three nice (8") gills on a few casts and urged me to try. I turned 180 degrees and cast towards him and bingo! They went on a tear and for about an hour or so there was a hit almost every cast. All released and we got some pics for his article. We hiked out before dark having caught a mess of gills.

Yesterday I finally got a day off due to morning rain and went back for more. I fished the front of the lake but it was really slow so I hiked back to my favorite spot. Got into steady action on gills so I called my friend and he met me about an hour later. Meanwhile I landed about a 15" bass and managed to take two pics that didn't show up on my phone cam.

Unfortunately the sun had now come out and the wind died and for awhile it was slow with a few dinks. (around 2:30) Then it clouded up and the wind returned and like magic we started catching nice fish again. We got into another nice bite just adjacent to the spot they were the last trip. We caught a bunch of nice gills before the sun came out again and the wind died down.

No monsters but all in all some of the best Bluegill fishing I've had on the fly rod. Always nice when you take someone to one of your pet spots and the fishing is great.

 

[Baron]

I was on a spinning reel boat tonight and we caught 1-15" bass and allot of nice pans and perch. It was wonderful.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

Back at my not so secret spot on a heavily fished public lake tonight. Started a little past 7:30 after a 1/4 mi. walk. Immediately stated getting hits on a flashy crappie fly that has been a steady producer. Missed about 6 before I landed a nice 8in. gill. Hooked and lost way more fish than usual (did land 6 or so) before switching to a medium sized popper.

Best top water action I have seen at this lake. Missed some but my hook up ratio was way better. No lunkers but a goodly no. of solid fish; some went 8". They were still rising when it was too dark to see my popper but I couldn't seem to keep any on so I hiked out well after 9pm. Love me some gills!

 

[sgrim]

@Van_Cleaver, pretty sure I know which not so secret public lake you're fishing... I have had terrible luck there this year. A handful of dinks on each trip but nothing noteworthy in size or numbers.
Is my timing off or are you seeing the same pattern?

 

[Van_Cleaver]

I'll shoot you a pm but it's all about timing. I've had days when the conditions looked perfect and the fish weren't willing. I'm shore bound but often I've gotten in my truck and made a move to a completely different area and found fish. That said, this has been a sporadic year with the weather plus a big algae bloom that has lasted a long time. My plan is to go often enough to catch it on a good day or night.

 

[Baron]

This is my first year (in 61 yrs) that Panfish in general have been my main target. I find Bluegills to be very specifically intriguing and rewarding.... I had never paid much attention to the life cycles of these species and I'm now finding it fun learn about them.
I've also begun catching smaller and smaller BG in the last 2 weeks. Am I to understand that for the most part the spawns over and that all the bigger fish I've been catching are now dispersed throughout the lakes and stream and are no longer the primary fish present? How does this work?

 

[RLeep2]

It somewhat depends on the nature of the lake or stream you're fishing, but for the most past, the time of year when the bigger panfish are reliably shallow has come and gone.

They're still around somewhere, though. Where also depends on the nature and characteristics of the lake you are fishing.

 

[Baron]

The two lake I fish are very different. Mauch chunk has deep water available and is clear to 6' at least. I'sure the sun goes a long way down. The other lake is Gouldsboro and it is a whole different story. When drowning in this lake the lifeguard will tell you to "stand up". It is big and shallow with tremendous weed challenges. You can feel the life around you when rowing around. Sometimes I feel like they're looking at me from cover. Magical I think. Leave everywhere and very defiant at that. I suspect that the big Gills just disperse here while at Mauch Chunk the big ones will suspend in deeper water. The Irony when I caught a Black Crappy the other day in 3' of bathwater. I thought that they would also have been deeper.
I'd sure like to hear more.

 

[Dave_W]

RLeep2 wrote:
It somewhat depends on the nature of the lake or stream you're fishing, but for the most past, the time of year when the bigger panfish are reliably shallow has come and gone.

They're still around somewhere, though. Where also depends on the nature and characteristics of the lake you are fishing.

Agree.

This is why - as a FFer _ I mostly target lakes in the springtime.

Big sunnies and crappies are all over the place in the period May and early June but usually around this time of year the shorelines transition from having big fish to just hordes of little ones. The bigger bluegills often move out to deeper weed lines or structure or suspend out in open water. For these reasons they get harder to target with FF gear. If you have a boat with a fish finder, you can still pursue them, but it is often a deep water game.

Don't give up on sunnies yet. There's often something of a second spawning phase and sunnies can still be found on beds in June if you do some exploring. Also, the best season on WW creeks is just starting and I think finding big sunnies and rock bass (not so much crappies) in streams is actually easiest in the period from now through September.

 

[Baron]

Dave_W wrote:

RLeep2 wrote:
It somewhat depends on the nature of the lake or stream you're fishing, but for the most past, the time of year when the bigger panfish are reliably shallow has come and gone.

They're still around somewhere, though. Where also depends on the nature and characteristics of the lake you are fishing.

Agree.

This is why - as a FFer _ I mostly target lakes in the springtime.

Big sunnies and crappies are all over the place in the period May and early June but usually around this time of year the shorelines transition from having big fish to just hordes of little ones. The bigger bluegills often move out to deeper weed lines or structure or suspend out in open water. For these reasons they get harder to target with FF gear. If you have a boat with a fish finder, you can still pursue them, but it is often a deep water game.

Don't give up on sunnies yet. There's often something of a second spawning phase and sunnies can still be found on beds in June if you do some exploring. Also, the best season on WW creeks is just starting and I think finding big sunnies and rock bass (not so much crappies) in streams is actually easiest in the period from now through September.

On Friday when we were at the lake we caught almost 30 fish but for the first time this year we caught both large and small BG instead of just big ones. I can hardly wait to do some WW panfishing. hopefully later in July.
One of the things I enjoy about stream fishing for Pans is that you can often see them. I find it amusing to see the BG race each other to the hook.