BBFRO

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Comment by Bruce Condello on February 3, 2012 at 8:40pm

I'd love to see the group avatar reloaded.  A bluegill with it's head cut off doesn't "represent" the way we want it to. :-)

Comment by Dwayne Denison on February 3, 2012 at 8:26pm

Great info so far. Leo, Open up anything you want, that is what this group is for. Patrick, The bullhead theory, makes a lot of sense.

Comment by Leo Nguyen on February 3, 2012 at 8:20pm

Tony, you're actually jumping in the shallow end, as Patrick is slowly wading into the deep end. Tony is smacked on. Temperature dictates the species spawning-feeding modes. Temperature triggers the fish responses to feed in preparing for the spawning season, follow by the spawning season, and the need for feed again for possible early cold season. For waters that are warm throughout the year, feeding continues in similar cycles. But, if you haven't notice, as the seasons gear towards winter, spawning and feeding cycle periods become shorter..and shorter.

Be on the look out for apex predator as well. Ask as many locals as you can about the species in the waters you're heading towards, or visiting. Research if you must way ahead of time. On top of that, be on the look out for the local amphibians, insects that crawl and fly, as well as the grass types. This will dictate the potential growth of the fish species, as well as the concentration of population. We can go in really specific details, but man, we need to open up discussion on each topic.

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on February 3, 2012 at 8:00pm

Like a Tachometer warning to a NASCAR driver, 66 degree water temperature is what I'm on the alert for....exactly what Tony mentioned........my game face emerges whenever this milestone is reached......I'm already counting down to April 6th because Good Friday is historically our day in the Carolinas! This year that may come sooner with the mild winter....Call me crazy, I have a 30,000 gallon in ground swimming pool and I check the temperature every day looking for trends associated with temperature....With a nine foot deep end it's like a mini bedding/staging scenario and it works for me as silly as it may sound.....it's a CLUE.......I leave the house with an idea...

Comment by Patrick "Bullworm" Olson on February 3, 2012 at 7:59pm

This is what I look for in my waters up here, and it my hold true in your  water as well. 

When researching lakes, usually through my states Department of Natural Resources website, I look for lakes that have a lot of bullheads and a high apex predator count. The bullhead theory... a lake with a high bullhead count tells me that the lajke has a soft bottom. Big gills love soft bottom lakes! The soft bottom holds a lot of micro organisms for them to munch on! The apex predator theory... an apex predator is the top dog predator in the lake. this could be bass, catfish, pike, trout, any fish that can and does eat bluegill. With a high predator count in a potential lake, I like the thought that these predators feed on the weak and inferior gills, leaving the smart and geneticly superior gills to live and breed and pass long those genes! With a high predator count you do have the problem of finding fish easily but, in my eyes the reward is huge!!!

Thats all for now everyone. I will get back on location tips soon!

ps I love the group picture ;) Thanks!

Comment by Dwayne Denison on February 3, 2012 at 7:55pm

Tony, since we are almost in the same neck of woods. I follow almost the things as you. On prespawn, I fish sunken points, with great luck

Comment by Dwayne Denison on February 3, 2012 at 7:52pm

Thank you for joining to the new members, feel free to jump in. Jeff thanks for stating things off.

Bullworm, hope you dont care I used your pic

Comment by Tony Livingston on February 3, 2012 at 7:51pm

Okay, I'll jump off the deep end. if I'm fishing an unfamiliar BOW, say not even in my own familiar geographic location, I'm going to start my search by checking water temps. I think a lot of anglers use the spawn as the "pivot" for their year round hunt for big BG's.

In my neck of the woods, the BG will start to spawn when the water hits 67-69 degrees or so. If the water temp is at or above this mark, then I'm heading for shallow water, looking for spawning activity. If it's a few degrees below that, I will look for likely spawning areas, and fish the slightly deeper water adjacent to these areas, as Bluegill will possibly stage there.  If it's much colder ,in the high 50 to low 60 degree range, I'm going to look for shallow flats, or coves, especially areas where there is abundant overhead vegetation, or tree branches. I've found big Gills in these areas for years, putting on the feedbag getting ready for the spawn.

I'll stop there, who's next?

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on February 3, 2012 at 7:49pm

I'll start by listing some personal preferences that I look for in a potential location....I've shown a couple photos of a location that I have fished since 1983 in South Carolina with sustained performance catching gills over a pound......I'm a firm believer in the "make-up of the bottom" being crucial for locating the big gills. Many of the Southern swamps have areas I call "bogs" and gills don't like to set up in this silty environment. Give me a SAND and/or CLAY mix and I'll show you big gill holding patterns....A good clue here can be detected while anchoring, clean anchor is a good spot and a muddied anchor indicates the unsettled bottom and less likely in my opinion to produce the quality gills. I'm also particularly fond of deep adjacent waters...This allows for staging and escape for the fish if needed.......Heavy Cat Tails and Reeds will instantly draw an extra look from me because these plants grow in a sandy base and attract insect life close to the water......Our populated freshwater reservoirs and lakes hold gills but I prefer to get off the well traveled path....I immediately look for exits off the main river or lake as appropriate......I don't like areas that are subject to continued boat wakes or prevailing Spring/Summer winds causing wave action to wash a shore line.....I also like some aquatic vegetation but choked areas are less productive for me......Downed trees and cover are good, the older the better, fresh green debris will rob oxygen and therefore not sustain fish during the decay process....These are just things I consider to start fishing...I'll talk more about BRACKISH waters in the days to come as I fish them 80% of the time. More to come soon....

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on February 3, 2012 at 7:27pm

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