Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Do you love big bluegill?

  Today I convinced myself to go fish for some panfish at my neighbor's pond. It was 27 degrees out, and raining/sleeting/snowing on and off. I suited up in chest waders and a gore tex jacket, on top of many layers of warm clothes, and headed out. My weapon of choice was a 1" gulp minnow rigged on a trout magnet jighead under a float. I caught a small crappie withing minutes of starting fishing, and then landed 2 nice bull gills around 7-8". I had to break the ice off my guides between casts, but luckily I was fishing slow enough that it took 5 minutes or more to retrieve a cast, moving my float 6-12" every 15 seconds or so. The takes weren't consistent at all, I had some fish lightly peck at it and swim off without pulling the float under, but a few fish dunked the bobber like they would in the summer! I ended up landing 3 crappies, 7 gills, and a trout (we caught some in a creek and re-stocked them in the pond). I did land one of the biggest gills I have ever caught in that pond, what I believe to be a hen (hard to tell when they come out of cold, muddy water) @9.5". Hopefully I can stay on them until everything freezes over

Views: 198

Comment

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

Join Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Comment by Lord of the Fly , Rods on December 9, 2013 at 5:44pm

Kudo's for facing the cold, after 4 days of my frozen incarsoration I finally ventured out on the streets and picked up some more supplies for the house, main roads are ok but back roads and parking lots are a sheet of ice, I'm susposed to chase deer this weekend but the roads need to clear before I can get to the Crappy Cabin, I can put up with the cold but all this ice needs to go away.   LOFR

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on December 9, 2013 at 9:09am
Love the brave effort.
Comment by John Sheehan on December 9, 2013 at 7:07am

Nice work Nolan! Yup gotta do the float trick in cold water like that .I got 6 perch in a small area by a dam yesterday ,on a plain white Bucktail Jig with a red thread collar.When they didn't bite I popped the float like I was a little mad and then they started biting again !

Comment by Jim Gronaw on December 8, 2013 at 5:34pm

Great cold water effort!

Comment by james bluto gillette on December 8, 2013 at 5:01pm

nice gill

Comment by Tony Livingston on December 8, 2013 at 4:56pm

Way to go Nolan!! That's how it's done....... Another cold water convert in the making!

Latest Activity

Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
10 minutes ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
15 minutes ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
18 minutes ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
21 minutes ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
27 minutes 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"
42 minutes 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