Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Do you love big bluegill?

I got up early to day to try out a new spot. We had a lot of rain yesterday, and that tends to mess with my favorite spot, the river. So I went to a park the county maintains. This was my first visit to the site.

At the park is an old mill pond of about 30 acres. At the deepest it is probably not more than 15 feet, and the edges are thick with elodea and various shore growths. This make it pretty tough to access the water around most of the lake. But I soldiered ahead.

At the dam end is a small fishing platform, where I started tossing my patented dog food chum (all right it's not patented - I was joking. It's just moistened dog food).

Within ten minutes, I was pleased to have a surface feeding frenzy going, about 15 feet in front of me. I hadn't caught one at this point, but whatever they were - they were climbing over each other to get to my feed.

Once I figured out that slip floating and micro jigs wouldn't catch them, this is what they turned out to be:

 

 

Shiners, roach (Britain), chub...whatever you call them, musta' been a whole school of the things, I reckon. I've never seen them in any of the waters around here. They went 6"-10".

Plain #14 hook, 3 lb test line on Gulp! Natural Maggots, no weight. They would not take a worm or cricket.

 

I also caugth this guy:

A chunky bullhead. His pattern was reminiscent of the new digital camo seen on US military BDU's. Up close it was really interesting. He was caught on a gob of redworm, beneath one of my home made slip floats. It was in about 4 feet of water, #6 hook on 6  lb test line.

I was also chumming in this spot.

 

Along with these were some small basslings and bluegill, but nothing to speak of. As I was leaving, I noticed some disturbance in the water bear the dam. At my approach, I spotted two large 'somethings' lolling around in the water. When they saw me, they rolled in a flash of brown and disappeared. My guess is they were some decent sized carp. Time to break out the sweet corn!

 

Hope you hooked  a few!

Views: 2646

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Thanks john. This is pretty old, and popped up in a completely random web search for something else!
But the mention of Gulp maggots on a foam or chenille bug is a good one....
Sounds like a fun outing...reading about fishing helps a little with this cabin fever we are experiencing here in the north.

Like that bullhead

RSS

Latest Activity

Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

Sunrise Shellcracker…..7/23/2025

"I’m very fortunate that the fishing  in coastal North Carolina is so great and most…"
1 hour ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

JULYWP

"Summer colors on this white perch!"
1 hour ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

JULYP

"Nice Yellow John….good colors"
1 hour ago
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Often bass fisherman will catch Warmouth on 9” worms……..they. don’t fight…"
1 hour ago
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"This is a great comparison John…..I added another photo to give perspective….."
1 hour ago
John Sheehan posted photos
6 hours ago
Bruce Tomaselli commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

Sunrise Shellcracker…..7/23/2025

"I sure envy you, enjoy!"
8 hours ago
John Sheehan replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Hey Jeffrey! Does the Warmouth have about the same sized Mouth as a Black Crappie of equal size, or…"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Some quality Warmouth I caught in my early years on the Albemarle….."
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Thanks for sharing John……you have patterned your available species pretty good over…"
Wednesday
John Sheehan replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
"Only caught five of these Species up here in New Jersey. Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Red Breasted…"
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

Crackers Saved This Morning Behind A Cold Front…..7/23/2025

If I get out the remainder of July it will probably be a crappie stalk on the coastal marsh……
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Slow Moving Cold Front Went Through Overnight and Shifted the Wind to the North so our rivers were dumped, but we wanted to go anyway…."
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney replied to Jeffrey D. Abney's discussion Panfish Species of North America- Which Ones Have You Caught?
Tuesday

© 2025   Created by Bluegill.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service