Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Do you love big bluegill?

Late Fall - Early Winter Dock fishing

Hi Everyone,
Took the boat out last week to do some fishing. Came across a pattern for catching Crappie several years ago which seems to be reliable, as it occurs every year around this time in midwestern Illinois.

The Crappie start moving shallow once the water temperature starts to drop into the lower 50's to mid 40 degree range. I target the ends of boat docks in the marinas. Many of the docks have two poles at the sides of each boat slip, which the dock floors slide up and down on with the waves. The poles are set in the bottom of the lake, and most have a horizontal crossbar which connects and supports the two poles. The poles get covered with algae, which attracts insects, minnows, and game fish which stay suspended around the cover.

I started out fishing with jigs & minnows, and a slip-cork. Caught several Crappie, but they were just shy of the 10" length limit on Crappie at this lake. So I switched to my jigging pole which had a 1/20th ounce Yellow Chartreuse jig head with red soft plastic bait.

Vertically jigging slowly up and down...around the docks, it didn't take long to get bit. And the first fish was a keeper. Water temps were in the mid to upper 40's, but the fish were hitting the bait hard.

Caught a number of nice Crappie & landed a very nice Largemouth Bass, which was a surprise! I released the Bass after a quick picture.

Hoping to get out a few more times, but Ol' man winter is approaching fast. Won't be long till we are ice fishing!

Till next time....tight lines!

Greg

Views: 477

Comment

You need to be a member of Bluegill - Big Bluegill to add comments!

Join Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Comment by Jim Gronaw on December 2, 2010 at 8:24pm
Chubber largemouth!

Latest Activity

Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
3 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
4 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
4 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
4 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
4 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Winds were building at first light but I was able to squeeze in a couple great hours on Bagley’s swamp….mixed 42 crackers, coppernose & bass"
4 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Troy Dorman's photo
Thumbnail

1000003891

"Pretty Northern strain bluegill Troy!"
yesterday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Troy Dorman's photo
Thumbnail

1000003887

"Great fish….this is the right kind!"
yesterday
Troy Dorman posted photos
Thursday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

Picked up Several Nice Yellow Perch Shallow…..4/29/2025

"Thanks John….never get tired of quality perch bites…"
Wednesday
John Sheehan posted photos
Wednesday
John Sheehan commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Wednesday
John Sheehan commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

493726391_10238746707466370_4942384414329687790_n

"Good job ,Jeff! The ones I caught were probably in 5-6 ' but long cast from shore. These…"
Wednesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

Picked up Several Nice Yellow Perch Shallow…..4/29/2025

Also caught two nice white perch shallow also…
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

Dock Crappie…..4/29/2025

We had blue skies with 81 degrees…strong southwest wind but our water was still blown out from the…
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"It was still windy but a friend and I splashed this afternoon, nice mixed bag ….low water at 70 degree surface temperatures…good times…"
Tuesday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

493726391_10238746707466370_4942384414329687790_n

"Nice John….I caught several white perch this afternoon very shallow…"
Tuesday

© 2025   Created by Bluegill.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service