The Phenomenon of the color PINK in Brackish Waters for Sunfish......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

As an active member of Bigbluegill.com the last several years, I have learned a lot and shared many ideas that have proven successful for Sunfish in the waters I fish. Prior to becoming a member I had several secrets that remained in my pocket and only my closest fishing buddies had ever even shared in this success. This isn't to say others weren't fishing the same baits in a similar style and catching fish or using baits of their choice and finding similar success.  I was a young kid with numerous anglers in my extended family and I learned early from my grandpa Foster Abney, who always told me to listen when I got around fishermen and think about things that might help me or work where I was fishing.  I was fortunate to be pretty close with an Uncle on my mother's side of the family that lived one town over in Southeastern Louisiana. He grew up and lived near the banks of the Tcefuncte River in the small town of Madisonville, Louisiana and only fished two bodies of water during his eighty plus year life.  A fact that many folks close to him never knew is he fished live grass shrimp for some 60 to 70 years and I couldn't begin to tell you how many Bluegill, Shellcracker, Warmouth and Crappie that he caught over the years.   One Thanksgiving day in the early 1970s as our 100 member family assembled in Folsom, Louisiana for the best dinners we ever ate, Uncle Kenny walked out to an acre pond that was dug on the family farm to stock with fish for the 20 plus grandkids in the Sharp family.  I was there casting a beetle spin when he asked if I had a scoop net with me. I did and we went over to some grass beds near the shore and made a quick scoop and filled a bucket up with little crustaceans called Grass Shrimp. He said put a cork and a bream hook on there and let me show you something. I eagerly followed his instructions and a few moments later we were pulling out big bluegill one after another.  This went on for quite some time and my Uncle explained if you ever run out of Grass Shrimp "Jeffie" and can't find more, take a pink soft plastic jig and fish that in the same areas. He explained that I wouldn't be disappointed and don't be afraid to tip the hook with a worm, grasshopper or a cricket if you have some.  I went home armed with the advice and went through seven or eight tackle boxes my dad and I had but no pink in any of them. I couldn't believe it but surely I'll find some the next time at the bait shop.  A few short days later my dad and I visited the local bait shop and I rushed the fishing tackle, both shelves and found two packs of little curly tails that had a mix of white and pink, they were mine and I was excited to let Uncle Kenny know I had found some and was eager to try them as soon as I could. His only clue was Pink was the best match for live grass shrimp in our brackish waters. He explained saltwater anglers have realized it for some time but freshwater fishermen have failed to make the correlation and they are truly missing out. In the weeks ahead I will go into detail how I fish these jigs and hopefull answer many of the questions I have received about the mystery of pink.

[Jim Gronaw]

Tony's right...there is no 'perfect' bait, lure or color for bluegill and close kin. My pink things just don't score in the clearer water,,,and I don't know why. On the other hand, the olive to chartreuse jigs seem to work equally well in both stained and clearer environs. And on yet another day, it seems that plain old garden worms on a # 8 Aberdeen hook is the simple ticket.

I do believe that as the water temps drop, tipping jig options with bait will trigger otherwise neutral fish. Worms, maggots, waxies or the Gulp products can be needed for a 'cold' bite.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I agree guys....the only sure bet is you won't catch anything sitting on the couch, so the most important element to take away from this thread is you have to go fishing and learn all you can about your water. But every angler has a favorite bait or two and one of mine just so happens to be pink jigs, this is derived from years of learning and employing them in different manners.  I know other things work and I fish many of them, but if I'm fishing brackish water from Virginia to Texas, give me a few pink jigs and I feel I have a real good shot even if I've never been there.  I will continue to fish with the knowledge that grass shrimp and mimics will produce and often times when other baits don't in the rivers I fish most often.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Well not long after Memorial Day weekend is celebrated,  the calendars are once again ready to be advanced and that just means JUNE is here, the second best month of the year in the brackish waters of Northeast N.C. Air temperatures are averaging in the high 80s and bumping 90 from time to time and then there's that "H" word humidity.  Fishing is awesome early and late with trips to the water cooler much more frequent in the noon day sun.  Fish are solidly in place in their bedding grounds and the sights and sounds of the early a.m. include active gills screaming in and around their nests chasing off anything close and red winged blackbirds in mating chorus whistling through the swamp.  I've located dozens of fish ready zones and we check several out each day, catching fish on a variety of baits ranging from live crickets fished alone and yes, I'm still pounding some trophy gills on pink.......This year during the first week of June, a great member of BBG.com is watching and suggests he has some hand tied jigs that might work well in my tanic waters.  A familiar face and top contributor Jim Gronaw offers some of his grass shrimp mimics in several colors including pink so naturally I'm excited and check the mail twice a day until they arrive.

I really appreciate the opportunity to fish Jim's baits and my family and I are having a wonderful fishing vacation in June 2012.......We're having 100 fish days and having a blast. We are also enjoying fried bluegill and sweet tea, often reflecting on our fishing experiences with lots of vigor and anticipation for the next outing......

So we continue to enjoy our time together and my nephew and I are getting accused of wearing my father out.....but fishing is so good he hangs in there for morning trips before the heat sets in and we keep changing rivers with the same results....I'm up around 200 gills on Jim's jigs just a few days after receiving them!

June is just getting started and fish are being caught at 1 to 2 feet deep in rapid succession......Everything in the water column is crushing Jim's jigs and my nephew and dad are starting to look a little harder at what I'm fishing with.......I'm now getting requests from my partners to tie one of Jim's baits on! More to follow soon and June is just the second best month of the year in my region! Enjoy!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I insist on finding fish in multiple locations during the spawn because I never want to deplete gills entirely from any one colony......This is one of the worst things that can happen to a region or an area where you want to sustain quality fish.......My advice is to take a few and move on and you'll be better served in the future in your quest to get a big gill....It takes discipline, but I actually skip areas for an entire season in an effort to allow them to thrive, this doesn't ensure anything but it works for me.....I realize some folks don't have the luxury or perhaps the ability to get to many places so use your own discretion........June can be uplifting to a bluegill angler no matter what he/she throws.....There's many theories on beds and what gills like.....In my region they will be in sandy areas, around man made structures and some might be relatively small and some may be 50 yards wide......The biggest bed I ever saw had more than 500 individual nests in it....It was close to the size of a Football field and was exposed during a Louisiana Drought.....the irony was my dad and I never took a fish off it because we didn't realize it was there, in our backyard on Toledo Bend Reservoir.......It was an incredible sight.......

So with June underway the Bluegill Spawn is in full swing and this will mean fish are packing in tight in the shallows and nests are built and the males are guarding them with loyalty to the colony.......This is a time when you will catch gills 6 to 12 inches under a float dpending on water depth on the beds..........I have scores of Bluegill nesting zones marked in my region covering twelve different rivers and probably fifty feeder creeks........On several occasions this season during low water conditions I snapped some cool shots of bluegill beds...these guys are amazing little engineers.....Many species wait for the gills to do the work and then deposit their eggs in the high security zone......Take a peak....None of these beds are on the same river but look how similar they all look..... 

[Leo Nguyen]

That's some freaking awesome photos of the spawning grounds. Great to have excellent visual vantage point when hunting the grounds.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Thanks Leo.....it's exciting to see active bluegill beds when you're out fishing!

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

Some great looking spawn beds Jeffrey and would love to get at em with the old fly rod for sure!!!!!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

No problem....I stayed in a Holiday Inn last night sir!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

So we have established that it's bedding season and now we should concentrate on how to pick some of the larger fish off the beds in our search for the big bluegill......Grass Shrimp are everywhere in these waters now.....passing through these bedding zones in large clutches and tempting the males as the shrimp draw many other species into the bluegill's home.......I now start to work the edges and drop offs in these bedding areas hunting the biggest fish......I throw pink crank baits and continue to drift my jigs through these areas, trying to cast adjacent and letting the wind or water current if available bring my bait quietly in.  Fish are spooky when they are shallow like this so approach and boat position are key....Sometimes you find yourself right on top of the bed with your boat as fish flash in every direction......Stealth is the key right now and remember to let these areas rest, don't harass the gills.....

Another great thing about brackish water is the variety of Sunfish species......I catch World Class Fliers, Coppernose Bluegills, Shellcrackers, Warmouth and Pumpkinseeds to name a few.......Water temperatures are now stable in the low to mid 80s so fish will tend to be more active early and late which will also be the most comfortable time to fish in June........This can be a wonderful time to throw your flyrod or a slow falling bait also.....I really get a rise out of watching these fish hit this time of year.....

So we're approaching the third week of June and we are living the dream once again during our family vacation.....We've caught a little over 800 fish since my family arrived and many of them are big solid Coppernose, but we have all three caught our largest Flier. I'm chunking the Gronaw Grass Shrimp variety consistently and being rewarded with many great fish....

So ten more days in June and I can't sleep at night!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

So as sad as it is to look past June, we already know that time waits on no man including us bluegill anglers.....Our family vacation is winding down in traditional fashion as we have caught piles of big jumbo blue crabs for a tasty feast as well.....The first day of Summer is here and the only good news is July is better than June in a normal season and that turned out to be the case in 2012 as well....But we still had time for several more trips before June was gone and we planned to send it out in style....My nephew is a very competitive young man and has become a very solid angler but you have to punish these kids on the water every so often to keep them grounded....LOL... Here's a few more shots of a wonderful month of gilling.......

An added bonus in this region is all the beautiful locations to get to catch a gill....If you notice in the scenery pictures you can see all the flooded grasses on the shorelines and these places are filled with grass shrimp and this transfers over to the success of the pink jigs and other baits.......

So thanks again to my dad and my nephew for another enjoyable month of June....We make memories every year and throw in a little sweet corn, some fresh grilled Ribeyes, homemade Seafood Gumbo and Boiled Crawfish and its a recipe for some great times....It's hard to believe the fishing can be better, after all,  we topped 1000 gills for the month of June but there is a month that's better....I'll start discussing July later this weekend.....Thanks for all the input to this discussion folks....really enjoy it! I added the picture of the battered jig.....this is one of Jim Gronaw's Grass Shrimp that was battered after several hundred big gills and predators attacked during the month of June.....What a great time June 2012 was!

 

[Jim Gronaw]

Here are two options I hope to try next week...

1/32nd above and 1/64th oz below...

Tipping will be optional, but I will have some kind of bait ready for the tempting!

[Mark Sleeper]

Hi great story, and some great tips,sounds like quality time with the family.some thing that every family needs today.something you never forget the rest of you life,Thanks for the post. Sleepy