Do you love big bluegill?

October 2008 Blog Posts (13)

Warning...not big bluegills...but giant perch!

As this isn't about bluegills or sunfish...but about another of those colorful "panfish", I apologize ahead of time if this isn't entirely appropriate. Don't read further if you'll be offended.

These are of the European Yellow Perch which is a closely related but separate species (depending on the source) to the yellow perch found in North America. But these things can grow large. One record I saw said the fish was 23.6"!! I don't recall the weight, but apparently up to and possibly… Continue

Added by David Merical on October 30, 2008 at 11:32am — 10 Comments

Why did I put off the chores so long?

Week 2 - I've almost resorted to fishing in the aquarium........again.

Everytime I walk through the door at BigBluegill.com, I'm reminded why I'm getting so grouchy.

There are only two things I can hope for right now, and my actions seem to control either direction that is taken:

1) I can finish painting the window trim on the second floor, and still have a few weeks to float the boat before the water starts doing that hardness thing, or

2) I can dig out the ice… Continue

Added by Zig on October 28, 2008 at 10:08am — 1 Comment

Big Bluegill pride.

I just spent an hour or so reading and re-reading some of the comments and observations made by members of Big Bluegill over the last few days.

VERY impressive.

What started as a fun way to post some pictures of my favorite fish, has turned into a fantastic clearinghouse for bluegill information. That's not even mentioning some pretty good fellowship and friendly banter.

Nice job, people. I thank every one of you.

I think there are thousands of other… Continue

Added by Bruce Condello on October 22, 2008 at 1:39pm — 12 Comments

Deep water spoon presentation and rigging

Deep water spoon presentation........Using light braided line ( 2-3lb dia./ 6lb test) and Fluorocarbon leaders.... a small barrel swivel to make leader connection and a small snap at the spoon end....DO NOT attach a split ring to the lead end of the spoon....use a small quality snap instead.

I like to make long downwind casts and let the spoon fall on a taught line to detect bites on the fall.....once on bottom, I snap the spoon up a few feet and begin a very slow retrieve with an… Continue

Added by Bill "Musky" Modica on October 21, 2008 at 7:30pm — 26 Comments

A fly fisherman is born......

Back when I was a kid, I traveled a bit during summer vacations to mainly the upper midwest, from Wisconsin to Washington and many of the states in between. That was where I first saw anyone fly fishing. When I got back to Nebraksa I looked around and realized that there just wasn't much availble for anyone to get into fly fishing in the area, this was all before the internet, big sporting good stores, before the Mothership landed close to home (I've got a Cabela's 10 minutes from my house… Continue

Added by Alex G. on October 19, 2008 at 5:26pm — 14 Comments

Product Corner: Bruce goes back to back big shellcracker and big bluegill!!

I'm not a critic.

So this feature isn't about being some "expert" who can tell you what's great and what isn't.

It's about fun, and it all starts with the first new product I've decided to try out. I took myself out of my comfort zone tonight. Generally this time of year I'm soakin' real crawlers trying to get a bluegill in it's cold water lethargy to pay me a quick visit at the end of my line.

But tonight I was using one of Zig's Jigs. It was a calf tail hair… Continue

Added by Bruce Condello on October 18, 2008 at 8:30pm — 4 Comments

Google Analytics and Big Bluegill

I checked Google Analytics today and it informed me that this site has had visits from the following countries.

United States, Canada, Jordan, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Mexico, India, Malaysia, Australia, Bulgaria, Italy, Thailand, Indonesia, France, Hungary, Romania, Belgium, South Korea, Norway, Brazil, Turkey, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, South Africa, Slovakia, Spain, Austria.

Big Bluegill has been visited by all 50 states, Puerto Rico and… Continue

Added by Bruce Condello on October 14, 2008 at 9:11pm — 3 Comments

The chores can wait

My home is in shambles. There are window frames in various stages of paint, vehicles that are in desperate need of a wash and polish, and I believe I overheard my wife talking to the local farmer about renting sheep. I can only presume that means she thinks the grass is too high……..again.

Anyone with any lick of common sense would start working to alleviate this list of priorities. I decided to go fishing.

Who wouldn’t rather spend an hour by the water with a fishing rod in hand… Continue

Added by Zig on October 14, 2008 at 7:22pm — 4 Comments

Iowa Bluegills – Spring ‘08

(I'd written this earlier this year and had it published on the Fly Anglers Online website.)

An unusually long and frosty winter made the ice stick around on the lakes and ponds here in central Iowa much longer than normal. Still, by April 1, the bluegills were starting to hit flies in the newly-thawed water.

I had tied up some “FishnDave’s Flashback” flies. I like this simple pattern for early season stained waters, but have found they work all season long, even in clear… Continue

Added by David Merical on October 13, 2008 at 1:36pm — 7 Comments

Doozie or Woozie I'm not sure which

This entry is merely an outlet for my excitement.

While only fishing for 1 hr. each day, this past Friday and Saturday evening are going very deep into the memorable fishing trip vault.

I need to get some photos hosted, then put my weekend into words...................if I can find the right ones.

(My personal journal reached six(6) pages - from a measly two(2) hours of fishing.)

Teaser: What does one get when you mix flat water, a child, a flyrod, and an educationally… Continue

Added by Zig on October 13, 2008 at 6:00am — No Comments

Big Bluegill definitions and trash talk.

The following words are used to describe a bluegill.

Scientific name: Lepomis macrochirus

'Gill

Bream

Brim

BG

Perch

The following words describe a redear sunfish.

Scientific name: Lepomis microlophus

Shellcracker

'Cracker

Government brim

RES

Chinquapin

Stumpknocker (thanks for the reminder, Theo)

The following words are descriptive for largemouth… Continue

Added by Bruce Condello on October 12, 2008 at 6:30pm — 4 Comments

The beat goes on.

It's getting dark here much earlier now. I continue to hang onto the thought that I have until 9:00pm to get some form of time into a fishing trip........................the honeymoon is obviously over.

I also seem to have contracted a new disease - AllIseearefeedingbluegillitis. It's an extremely horrid infestation. The only relief seems to come when I stand beside the water with an ultralight in hand.

So, seeing as how my fever spiked last evening (measured by the knee-jerk… Continue

Added by Zig on October 9, 2008 at 6:00am — 2 Comments

Here today, better tonight

The USPS has it made. 1.5hrs. for lunch.................do you have any idea how much fishing I could get done in that time?

Probably 1hr. worth.

And I did - by proxy.

I had a few shipments to go out a few days ago, and was greeted with the "We'll be back at 12:30pm" sign on the door. It was 11:20am.

I had ZZ (my oldest) along and asked him if he wanted to get some fresh fish for lunch.

He needed some persuasion, but finally gave in. I grabbed a rod,… Continue

Added by Zig on October 6, 2008 at 7:10pm — 2 Comments