Bluegill Fishing "Opening Day"

[Slip Sinker]

     Using the analogy that the sport of  Bluegill Fishing is similar to Baseball... we are in the off season and the ice will be off the lakes and opening day is coming up soon. you've probably made some adjustments to your tackle... traded some stuff and added some improvements. Maybe...possibly hitting the lake first and doing some scouting...surely something as important as this you must have a solid game plan. whats your opening day of BlueGill season going to be like?

Im first:

During the off season ive upgraded my drop shot and jigging rigs spinning reels from Lews to Shimanos…. I’ve had the Lew’s now for over three years and the bail springs fail continuously for me. Hopefully the Shimano s will prove more durable. Ive also made some improvement in my live well by increasing its capacity to hold true trophy fish and keep them alive and healthy.

I plan on hitting a trophy lake just north of me. The initial look at the mapping available ive selected large expanses of reedy sandy flats that I know should be very good for possible spring spawning sites. The plan includes an initial scouting trip as soon as the ice clears to check out the breaks along this flat and develop a detailed map with my sonar. Hopefully I’ll be able to spot some schools of fish which would probably be crappie as well as gills. I’ll have my dropshot rig as well as a jigging rod to test and identify these fish.

At this point I’ll be marking these fish on the sonar and developing a pattern of waypoints recorded on the sonar and mark them as gills or crappie etc. I will then take this data home, develop the map through Insight Genesis study it and set a fishing date with a good forecast of weather on a warming trend.at that time the water warms pretty quickly into the mid 50's.

On this trip I’ll be taking some ultra light jigging rods as well as a slip bobber rig and some drop shot rigs with different weight setups. Bait will include night crawlers, waxies and gulp products highlighting Pink Gulp Maggots. Starting the trip early hopefully ill be able to last till dusk.

[Slip Sinker]

i now own (3) fly rods... a 3,4 and 5wt... i got hooked real quick when i got that ten inch class gill on the first outing.i wanted to catch everything on a  flyrod.

and my wife caught on to me backing up to the garage door to unload my car lol.

[Nathan]

Maurice, 6wt is a bass rod. ;) Go down to 1,2,3 wt and you will really start having fun with big bluegill!

[Mo Fish]

Nathan, I like my 5wt a lot. I have not even used my 6wt yet. I bought it for trout fishing on the Little Red River but it has yet to see any action. I am not above catching a bass or two on it but I can' t pick it up when the bream are slamming my 5wt. I am definitely in the market for a 3wt though. I heard it is a blast.

[Mo Fish]

I am scared to buy a 3wt. My buddy said if you catch one bream you will be ruined. He said heroin is easier to kick. He also said that I would break my other rods and use them for kindling. Dang it, now I am gonna have to buy one. I could probably stick that little thing down my pants leg. I hope so. What the heck, I am in the dog house anyway. One more week won' t matter!!!

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

THE QUEST GOES ON FOR YOU GUYS !!!!! WHEN ya start talking bout upgrading gear and such ,it gets really expensive in a hurry !!!!!!! Yup 3 wt's are nice but if ya already have a say 4 wt. do ya really need a 3 ? Oh well I'M THE LAST GUY ON HERE that should be talking bout replacing gear !!!!! However the lure of the new rod or something to add to a collection keeps us all scratching for more dough to buy something we can't live with out ! Case in point , right now I'm dealing on a 6'6" Wonderod of Purist persuasion and . The only one of that color that I need to complete this collection of Purist wraps . I have a 7', 7'9", and the illusive 8' now , only need the 6'6" to complete the set. Will I ever use the short one , probably not . It will go in the tube after I take some pics and be added to the pile I guess.
  THE SEARCH GOES ON ........

[Mo Fish]

Sweet! We all have to be addicted something I guess. I just know that I save a lot of money when I stay off eBay. THE QUEST CONTINUES.....

[Slip Sinker]

Tooty ... you still didnt describe your planned perfect Opening Day

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

WELL IT WOULD BE WITH MY SON out at great pond on a windless day. Probably the first thing tied on would be a #10 blue and white silent or a yellow and red silent.

[Slip Sinker]

ya know i really like catching the gill on the 3wt but i find it is tougher to cast... more effort to get the line out... so more fatigue in the arm and shoulder. im thinking on trying the 4wt line on the 3wt setup. what do you think? will that help?

[jim cosgrove]

overlining can work SS.but a 50ft cast on a 3wt is a lot.cast with your arm and not your shoulder.a longer faster rod will give more distance.i but some used flyrods and know right away whether they suit me or not.no matter what they say very few flyrods are designed for panfish.where a hard landing fly may spook trout it will usually attract bluegills.

[Nathan]

Most of the set ups are not made to cast very far, I tried that once, it was a 4/5wt fiberglass rod that felt more like a 2/3wt, the line I think was a 5 or 6 and yes the heavier line was much easier to cast, but it also ended up breaking my rod when I made a crappy cast on a crappy day.

[Mo Fish]

I have had great success with several of the Bass Pro brand rods and reels. I just wish they would go back to the old Microlite rods. I sold one years ago and I still regret it. The new ones are cool and I am about to snag a 7ft med/lite but I prefer the handles on the old ones.