Do you love big bluegill?

Jim Gronaw's Blog (36)

THE HEAT IS ON!

I must say. it is terribly hot in the Mid-Atlantic and many of our waters are suffering from low levels and oxyegen depletion. A few ponds have suffered fish kills and the one pictured above, a favored bass pond, is getting dangerously close to such conditions. Despite it all, we have still managed to catch a few fish here and there.

We piked up a bunch of dimunitive redears on Ledheds 64 th oz… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on July 7, 2010 at 4:46pm — 3 Comments

Doin' that Delaware Thing!

Had a good couple of days fishing in Sussex County, Delaware this week. Me and my buddy Charlie were fishing primarily for hickory shad, but we ran into a lot of other species to include redbreast and redear sunfish, white perch, yellow perch, bluegills, herring, bonus slab crappie and some surprise white shad up in the down-state tributaries and tidal creeks. For some reason, people don't bother too much with panfish… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on April 15, 2010 at 4:03pm — 11 Comments

One of My Best Bluegill Fishing Days...Ever!

Wow! I just got back from fishing and as I speak we have a 'cool' front roaring through that is dropping temps from the upper 80's down to the low 50's tonight. But just a few hours ago it was warm and sunny and the previous 2 days had been record high low 90's. This pushed fish shallow and pre-spawn gills were just a cast away, staging out away from bedding sites. But they were quick to hit crystal braid jigs and hair jigs. Great, non-stop action for… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on April 8, 2010 at 4:03pm — 5 Comments

Hair Jigs for Gills and Slabs

Been having a ball lately with 8 to 10 inch gills and 12 to 14 inch crappies on Pink Things and the newer chartreuse braids I tie. Both at 1/64 th oz, but some thread - bodied 1/100 th oz jigs fishes below a sensitive Thill Stealth float and wind drifted at the local pond.

Nice, pre-spawn gills are giving me action. But today I concentrated on crappie, just to… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on April 1, 2010 at 7:55pm — 4 Comments

First Good Panfish Trip of the Year!

Okay, after a string of 65 degree days I thought it was about time to head out and see if the gills were biting in one of my local ponds, Heck, the ice was just off only 8 days ago, but the following weather has been way above normal. Could they be biting? Yesssss!

I started off with a 1/100 th oz thread-bodied hairjig, like Ledhead and Jim Simkins use for those bruiser California gills. Floated it on a… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on March 18, 2010 at 7:35pm — 4 Comments

Deep Creek Lake Jumbos

Well, I finally got to do a little ice fishing for some big yellow perch out in western Maryland at Deep Creek Lake. I stayed with my friend Ron and we fished 2 1/2 days on the lake and were joined the last half-day with our buddy Dan. I wish I could tell you that we murdered them, but the truth is that we worked very hard for a total of 58 yellow perch and one walleye during that time frame.

As of Jan 1, 2010, the Maryland DNR has imposed a 10 perch daily limit… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on January 17, 2010 at 7:14pm — 6 Comments

Fishing the Hot Water

Hey y'all, got to fish the warmwater discharge at Brunner Island today on the Susquehanna River in PA. Good wading conditions, low water, clear, but tough fishing. Cold this early AM- 12 F with some wind.

Ran into one guy who got 6 smallmouths from 13 to 17 inches on 1/8 th oz jigs. I got my first fish of the year...a 18 inch channel cat on a Zoom Fat Albert on a 3/16 th oz jig. Also got yet another cat on the jig and a nice 16 inch smallie on the same. Missed about 6 or 8 strikes.… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on January 5, 2010 at 1:35pm — 8 Comments

Hairjig Options for Cold-Water Panfish

Hey gang, I know that it's warm in the south and starting to freeze -up in the north, but I just thought I'd pass along some tactics that have worked for me the past many years once the water temperatures drop below 50 F down even to as low as 38 F in 'open-water' scenarios in the Mid-Atlantic.

I utilize hairjigs that I tie in several options and sizes. This is not a blog designed to advertise my product, but rather to help winter time panfishermen use what I believe to be a deadly… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on December 1, 2009 at 5:46pm — 7 Comments

Don't Stop Fishin Yet !!!

Hey y'all, I just got back from a very brief outing at my favorite local bass pond and I must say that the bluegill fishing was 'on' this evening! Nothin tough, just used the same 1/32 nd oz jighead tipped with a chunk of nightcrawler that we used on the Richmond Mills fish. Only this time I suspended the bait about 2 ft below a small bobber.

The result...21 gills in a bout 35 minutes on the water. Could have kept a dozen eaters, but I just wanted to have fun. Must say that I was… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on November 2, 2009 at 4:32pm — 3 Comments

Fished A New Pond on Friday

Hey guys and gals, I got to fish yet another new pond this past Friday. Actually the pond was drained about 6 years ago and dug out and restocked with bass, gills, channel cats and some hybrid stripers. I had fished the same pond back in the early 1990's and it was fabulous at that time, producing several 7 to 9 pound bass and my personal best bluegill of 11 3/4 inches.

My buddy Loren and I fished it and he got some nice eater-sized channel cats to 20 inches and we caught bass to 18… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on September 27, 2009 at 6:06pm — No Comments

Slip-Sinker Rigs for Retreating Spawners

Sometimes we are faced with some situations where shallow, spawning gills are done and heading for deeper water to regroup. In some lakes I fish shoreline fishing is all that is permitted or else access is limited. Such is the case on two of my favorite bluegill lakes and now the shallow fish are moving away from the bank. How to stay on 'em?

Try this...put a bullet -style worm sinker on your line and pinch a BB sized spilshot about 24 inches up from the end of the line. Then tie a… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on June 22, 2009 at 2:26pm — 6 Comments

Tail Gunner Tactics For Gills

Hey guys and gals... I know this tactic is nothing new, but I think it deserves review.The 'tailgunner' rig for shallow bedding or feeding gills is simply the use of a small, floating crankbait with a short dropper tied to it with a dry or wet fly attached.

We used this simple rig today for over 70 gills over a windy, shallow spawning area and could easily have caught more. We like the small floating Rapalas or the Yo Zuri Tad Fry and a six to 10 inch dropper of 6 lb test lo-vis mono… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on May 31, 2009 at 8:41pm — 11 Comments

Overlooked Bluegill Hotspots

Hey guys and gals, I've been thinking. I know that most of the big gills we see on this site come from smaller, private waters. But I can't help but think that there are overlooked public opportunities for the vast majority of us right under our noses.

Within 1 hour of my house are several small, public lakes that are either county or local park owned lakes that get very little fishing pressure and have a good population of medium to even trophy sized bluegills.

Some lakes… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on May 28, 2009 at 7:03pm — 6 Comments

Earliest Bluegill Spawn Ever! Anybody else?

Well, if you don't already know, the East Coast and Mid Atlantic states have had record high temperatures the past 4 days with many areas seeing hot, low 90's F which has shot the water temps well into the low 70's. As a result, in many small ponds and lakes the bluegills have actually gone on bed and the fishing has been big time!

I have kept records over the years and in most seasons, Mason Dixon area lakes will see gills spawn some where around the last week of May to the first… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on April 27, 2009 at 2:54pm — 13 Comments

Hybrid sunfish in Ponds

Its only been a few years that I have caught hybrid sunfish to speak of. We found some in a local pond and discovered that they were the green sunfish/bluegill cross that are produced for fast growing and quick fishing opportunities.

Some pond owners and anglers do not like these fish, claiming that they can cause problems with spawning purebred bluegills and become overly aggressive and all. My brief experience with them has been pleasant and with big fish to boot.

The… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on January 22, 2009 at 7:41pm — 10 Comments

Ice Fishing Deep Creek Lake

Deep Creek Lake is a 3,900 acre manmade lake in the extreme western Panhandle of Maryland and is quietly one of the top ice fishing locations for big bluegills and yellow perch. I first fished it back in January of 2005 and, as luck would have it, had my personal best day on the water the very first time on the ice. Good friend Ron Munshower and I fished the McHenry arm in about 20 to 25 ft of water not far from dying weed edges.

My first fish was memorable. We drilled a bunch of… Continue

Added by Jim Gronaw on January 21, 2009 at 7:30pm — 8 Comments