Top 5 Bluegill Flies

[UncleShorty]

I'm gettin' ready to tie a bunch of bluegill flies for the fall PA Yuengling gulp, cheese steak soiree and Fishin' Lie Fest.

It's WAY too hot to fish in TX, 108 heat index yesterday. Plus, it's so flat in this part of the state you MUST have a boat. You can wade 100 yds out into the lake and only be in water up to your waist. That, and the fact that the water is 85-90 deg. pretty much puts the kibosh on angling.

So what are your favorites?

 

[JerryC]

I use various top waters. Top 5
All tied on size 6 or size 8 hooks
soft foam body poppers- White, Fl Yellow, Fire Tiger
Home grown poppers. The heads are made from circles or hearts punched out of craft foam.
AB Spider. I use the large soft foam spider body as a template and cut bodies from craft foam. Fat end is tied in at the hook eye, marabou tail, legs tied in the back. White or yellow seem to work best
Los Alamos Ant- White or yellow
Gurglers w/legs- White or yellow

Sometimes I fish a dropper usually a size 14 or 16 bead head woolly bugger variations The White River Demon, Chili Pepper and the Catskill Killer

 

[Dave_W]

You can use anything you like as long as it is small.

My prefernece for bluegills is a bright colored, slender nymph tied on a tiny, long shank hook - think size #16 with a shank about an inch long. This style hook makes it easier to unhook 'gills which have tiny mouths and tend to take flies deep. Unhooking the fish is the most important consideration.

 

[JerryC]

That's probably why I don't use small flies. My woolly bugger droppers are tied on size 14 4xl hooks. All my top waters are tied on size 6 or 8.
I think folks tend to underestimate the size of fly a bluegill can get its mouth around.

These were either caught on the BA spider or the popper made out a heart shaped piece of craft foam.

 

[steveo27]

Anything thats foam and floats works great. Elk hair caddis work well too. So do stimulators. Basically anything buggy works for me.

 

[UncleShorty]

Thanks to all. I've got enough info to keep me busy for awhile.

 

[dc410]

JerryC wrote:
That's probably why I don't use small flies. My woolly bugger droppers are tied on size 14 4xl hooks. All my top waters are tied on size 6 or 8.
I think folks tend to underestimate the size of fly a bluegill can get its mouth around.

These were either caught on the BA spider or the popper made out a heart shaped piece of craft foam.

These are Redbreast Sunfish. They have a much larger mouth than a Bluegill. They are pretty aggressive and will attack fairly large flies. I've caught quite a few of them on size 4 Clousers while fishing for Smallies. They are very beautiful fish and a whole lot of fun on the fly rod. Nice fish!

 

[afishinado]

:-o