Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Do you love big bluegill?

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20170703----~~<")))))><(---* Summer Period*--74°

20170703-15%/76°~today’s fishing trip was about father and son… Kenny was pretty excited about getting out on a trip after hearing the success of the month of June for me. We decided to hit an “easy private lake” known for it’s numbers of panfish and an occasional lunker. Given it was a 15% poor solunar day we decided to fish the minor and major for the afternoon and early evening.

We set out from the launch in perfect summer weather… cloudless skies and calm seas.

We started out the day Long-Casting/Tiny Jigs… Kenny with his 1” Apex Minnow and I continued with the Lil Minnow and GULP Waxies on the .016oz jig heads. It’s been my mainstay method especially the past few weeks. We carried a couple slip-float rigs with us but they were barely touched thru the trip.

The fishing rate of activity seemed slow but at a steady pace… you could feel the intensity as we timed our way thru the periods. However we did manage three trophy P.Seeds during the trip at 9” or over. Kenny tagging two with an exceptionally colored Bull and I squeaked by with one trophy sized just hitting the nine inch mark.

While many fishermen take to the depths and deep weed lines after the spawn to look for the bluegill I start my trips in the shallows because I feel the majority of the big fish stay where the concentration of the forage base is located. Sunshine on the weeds and shallow substrate is the prolific kitchen for the upper ends of the food chain. Big Gills become trained in their ways.

What a great day for father and son out on the water. Some fantastic fishing including (3) trophy fish in one day for the boat!

...20170703-Kenny tags his first Master Angler sized P.Seed at 9.0”… what a specimen!! Long-Casting/1” Apex Minnow

...20170703- Had a great time tag teaming the Lepomis all afternoon with my son Kenny!

...20170703-I join in by tagging a 9.0” P.Seed with Master Angler proportions Long-Casting/.016oz Jig/Pink Waxie

...20170703- My Best B.Gill of the Day at mid 9’s … Long-Casting/Spring Cricket

...20170703- WOW!! Just an excellent day on the water Long-Casting/Micro Jigs with my son Kenny!

...

20170705----~~<")))))><(---*Summer Period*--81°

20170705-31%/81°~Earl and I decide to take his new girl and her son on a trip on one of our hottest lakes. Brianna and her son have not fished in a couple years… the last time she fished were red and white bobbers in a canal floating bait with little success. Earl needed to get his woman hooked on the sport insure sometime in the future fishing the sport. Lol…

The water temps were in the low eighties on a calm sunny summer day with a 31% solunar rating for the day. Earl and I were confident we could hook them up with a good bite.

Brianna’s first cast resulted in a nice tag on a nice B.Crappie long-casting/Swim jig. After that initial fish the flood gates seemed to pour open with the fish action and we had our hands full unhooking fish.

Later in the afternoon Brianna tags a Lunker Y.Bullhead dragging the swim jig on the bottom in 15’ FOW… great catch!

Earl tags a Trophy P.Seed exceeding 9.25” Long-Casting the swim Jig mounted on a 1/320z head. Wow

My finest tag was a beautiful lunker P.Seed just nosing the 9” mark… a wall hanger in most circles. I kept the panfish busy chasing the ice jigs tipped with pink waxies most of the afternoon.

Soon after I tag a trophy LMB just missing the 22” mark vertical jigging some deep structure at near 30 FOW… what a sow!

Brianna ended up hooked purchasing her own long-casting set-up with 8# Gliss… mission accomplished Earl!

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20170707----~~<")))))><(---*Summer Period*--81°

20170707-84%/81°~ Just coming off a hot bite with Kenny tagging three trophy P.Seeds in one afternoon two days earlier… Earl and I felt the pull of the waxing gibbous… two days before the full moon. The draw of tagging some more certificate fish was overwhelming.

We decided to fish a hot little reservoir that Earl still had some mixed revues on. It took a little persuading but I convinced him to go. His dad was to meet us there later in a separate boat.

The panfish bite was hot on the long-cast/.016oz jig/pink waxie and out fished Earl’s swimbait nearly 2:1.

I tagged a nice trophy P.Seed at just over 9” that was a bulldog to reel in. two trophies in two days! This particular fish was certifiable because it was caught on this public lake. This is the second certificate P.Seed on this lake for me in just a few weeks.

The bite between the docks was huge… the shallow bite continues so we left the deeper water untouched for the afternoon.

At the end of the day the fish count was easily over 100 fish in the boat.

20170708----~~<")))))><(---*Summer Period*--81°

20170708-93%/81°~ the day of the full moon finds Kenny Dennis and I on one of my hottest lakes in the circuit. It’s a lake that never disappoints. A private little gem of a reservoir that is managed very well by its association of property owners.

Many P.Seeds, B.Gills, LMB and B.Crappies of trophy proportions have been tagged here on our long casters and slip/floats. If I want to get someone hooked on fishing or test a new idea or presentation I do it here.

I know the lake’s every sq yard of bottom contour and composition… because I mapped it on the Lowrance Elite 7 HDI. I have detailed positions of the weed beds and their outlines on the 1’ contour maps loaded on the sonar. Knowing the lake is my advantage. Ask the locals of the lakes features and depths… they don’t come close to it’s reality.

Today… we hit this lake hard and the fish responded well. Many, many quality fish were tagged photo’ed and released.

Kenny and Dennis both Long-Cast/.016oz Jig/Apex Minnow all day long and never switch out. i slip/float/pink waxie and Long-Cast/.016oz jig/pink waxie... we all scored big on quality and quantity of panfish. Many more B.Crappies were tagged on the swim jigs including the Lil Minnow and more B.Gills were tagged on the jig/waxie combo.

20170709----~~<")))))><(---*Summer Period*--81°

20170709-Lepomis and B.Crappies were the main target today using the Long-Casting/tiny-jigs technique. We had such a great time yesterday during the start of the 3-day period of the full moon we decided to try to replicate that success today!

Using the Solunar tables we would be on the water during a major and minor periods… the minor period would be in line with the sunset which is a bonus.

We only brought Long-Caster Ultra Lites set-up with us and left drop-shot and slip/float systems at home. We would be using the tiny 1” to 2” long swim baits mounted and glued on 1/64 to 1/32 oz jig heads. I also had a rig set-ip with a 1/64 oz jig and waxie with Lepomis as the target.

The Master Angler B.Crappie is now my immediate focus and today would have been a great day to fill that slot.

The bite in the warm 81 deg water didn’t disappoint. We caught many Lepomis, Crappie and LMB seemingly at will. Many crappie were tagged in the 10-12” range. The fish were positioned just off the first break at 10’ FOW.

What a pleasant surprise to tag so many LMB’s on the tiny baits. Put the bait in the fish zone and it appears to be inevitable.

 ...20170709-7 LMBs on Long-Casting/Micro-Jigs & .016 oz Jig/Pink Waxie combos… demons in the hot water.

...20170709-Put the bait in the zone!!!... Long-Casting/.016 oz Jig/Pink Waxie

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20170710----~~<")))))><(---*Summer Period*--79°

20170710-after checking Minute Cast and seeing no rain in the forecast for at least 2 hours Dennis and I decided to fish a private lake 10 miles north of us good with the B.Gill and B.Crappie bite. Stopped at the store on the way there for refreshments checked the Minute Cast again and saw a segment of showers lasting 10 mins a hour ahead of us we decide it would be ok to weather out…. I had rain gear Dennis would be without.

Got to the lake and it started raining checked the Minute Cast Again and it was lit up like a Christmas tree with t’storms for the next 2 hours… apparently just traveling 10 miles north put us on the southerly edge of a line of storms that popped up out of now where. Packed it in and went back home and put in at Wixom Lake where the forecast showed just spotty showers… packed up some rain gear for Dennis and headed out

Water temps were a little cooler 75 degs and calm seas with mostly cloudy skies.

Started working the bridge vertically jigging the columns and swim jigging the edges with Long-Casting set-ups. I hooked up immediately with a nice 90% plus Master Angler Rated B.Gill that in haled the Lil Minnow twitched in 5 FOW. Dennis continued with the 1” Apex Minnow finding no action. I followed with a few nice B.Crappie.

Tne next waypoint was a stretch of original lake channel that approached close to shore at 9’. Spotting several fish blips on the sonar I presumed they were B.Crappie then tagged a few. Dennis continued being blanked with the Apex Minnow.

The next spot Dennis switched to the Lil Minnow and tagged a few Y.Perch and B.Gill by casting to the bank letting rest on the bottom and twitching back in. one nice B.Gill took the bait at complete rest sitting on the hard bottom.

Heading in we stopped at one more of my popular B.Crappie spots. I tagged a couple nice B.Crappie straight away and Dennis missed a 16” plus with a bad hook set…. Heart breaking! With that we ended the trip and headed back.

...20170710-Nice B.Gill tagged Long-Casting the Lil Minnow

...20170710-short trip interrupted by weather forecast and t’storms… tagged some nice B.Crappie and 93% Master Angler hen

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