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]

Ron ... heard so much about a black ant pattern... i need to give that a try... right now all i have is an orange body spider with white legs... they hit it so much i went back to the outfitters and bought the whole card of them. that's the only thing i use my fly tying vise on is orange spider repair

[Steve Wilson]

         Slip......  Seems like there was a discussion on here some time ago, that the # numbers didn't always match up good and that a size # bigger line would help.

[jim cosgrove]

some of the older rods cast better 1 weight under.lots of info online.if the line or fly is too heavy you lose energy by over flexing the rod.think of using a too heavy arrow for a bow.practice on the water if you can.yard casting is fine but you can tell how well your rig works by how it picks up off the water,or how well it roll casts.

[Slip Sinker]

thanks Steve... i'll look it up... i guess ill just swap out the reels and see if it makes a difference... practice on the lawn...once i see grass again...LOL

[Mo Fish]

I used my fly rod from late winter all the way through summer last year. I was new to fly fishing and I did not know any better but I caught fish all year. Tiny beadhead nymphs under an indicator worked wonders when the water was still cold. This year I also plan on using some of those beautiful jigs that Jim is sending me along with my fly rod. I think they will work just as well if not better. There is a lot to be said for catching them on a nice ultra light outfit also.

[carl hendrix]

slip stinker--  what is un-coventioanal?  its what you really get use to that counts!!  why cast-- so far- you need a different zip code??  casting far away-- slows down your hook setting time!! like Jim Cosgrove says also;; some rods are a fast action type;; others are slow action. my preference is a fast action;; long rod;; around a 9 footer.  it allows me to roll cast better;; and with a quill float!!   i roll cast well over 90 percent of the time;;; very rarely do a back type cast.  and;; if your using a carbon type rod-- you get better line distance by going up 1 in line weight. but!! if you use a fiberglass rod;; stay with the line weight of the rod!  fly line comes in so many different styles;; weights;; and PRICES!!  and a cheap line;; is just that-- CHEAP!!   i like a good;; floating line;;for my 3 wts; i use a 4 wt. floating line!! another thing to consider;; is line drag!!  to reduce it;; clean your fly line fairely regulary;;add some protective; and clean the rod guide eyes!  i sometimes use-- armour all to the rod guide eyes;;makes the line shoot like a rocket if simple rules are followed!!

[Slip Sinker]

unconventional flyfishing ... its not a slam its just using the equipment for which it was not designed or intended. steelheaders do it all the time.i fished carp with mine with corn and split shot as well as dropshotting in 15ft of water. now could i have used spinning gear to do the same job ... of course. but i elected not to i was creative enough to rig so i could experience the fish on the fly rod... which i believe there is no better way to fight a fish... hands down period.  i will continue dropshotting with it because it was a blast... but in this case spinning would have been more efficient no doubt.

[Tony Livingston]

Opening day for bluegill fishing??? I wasn't aware that the season ever closed! ;)

[Slip Sinker]

more pronounced here up north... lol

[Nathan]

This thread is great, it's getting me pumped!!

[Tony Livingston]

What is the advantage gained when choosing a flyrod over a spinning combo for casting a weighted presentation? Such as the float/live bait combination? I would think casting distance would be no better than a spinning setup, when configured this way.

[Slip Sinker]

there is only one reason fun factor...  now ive only drop shotted a few times with a fly rod... of course spinning is the way to go. its just a flip off the side of the boat.