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]

your welcome Bill ... they're a great group of guys and gals and what ive seen scanning the group some very experienced users. some rigging also... good luck!

[carl hendrix]

Bill Dungan;; if this is your first year to go for blue gills- with a fly rod-- your going to have some great fun buddy!!  tons of great information on this site for the fly fishermen!!

[Slip Sinker]

Dont forget to post pictures to this discussion showing your successes and posting your working strategy for the day!

Good Luck to All!!! its just around the corner for many

Good fishing and tight lines!!

Slip ------<")))))><(

[wag]

                                                                                          

   yea --- it's warming up ----- getting close to that time of year    

                            

   ---------->  SPRING  is just around the corner  <-----------       

                                                    

                                        

     

[Slip Sinker]

i dont see the image

[carl hendrix]

Bill  Duncan-- that popper looks good buddy;;  i am just learning to make some to!  Mark Stine sent me a few to work with;; check out Mark;s pix pages-- he has some real beautiful poppers!!

[Slip Sinker]

with a snow and rain mix in the forecast for most of the week and ice out just being realized on a couple of my favorite lakes... i'm postponing my opening day for nicer weather.

[Slip Sinker]

i had a great opening day! Many small fish but a few nice ones too!