Bluegill Fly Rodders

If you love to nail a big bluegill or shellcracker on a fly rod, this is your group.
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  • Tony Livingston

    Include me in with the skeptical crowd. I will search for studies later this evening. Lots of long time anglers nodding yes, but little in the way of actual proof that the moon phases are a controlling element.

  • David, aka, "McScruff"

  • David, aka, "McScruff"

  • David, aka, "McScruff"

  • jim cosgrove

    i believe in the moon phases,never did a scientific study but maybe it is the fact that they can see at night during the full moon.geese and ducks will fly at night during the full moon.geese even feed at night if there is moonlight..i have planned trips for crappies for a full moon and have found them right where they should be.shallow and on spawn beds.believe me or dont believe me.salt water fish know when the tides are gonna turn.what causes the tides?

  • David, aka, "McScruff"

    So far nothing that irrefutably ties the moon to spawning.
    I was probably thinking if something else.

    Gettin old sucks.
  • Joe Angelucci

    Dave 

    Here's one I never heard of, Moon Phase Fishing

    http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phase_fishing.phtml

  • David, aka, "McScruff"

    From Leo's article
    "As far as I can determine, there’s no scientific evidence that moon phases have any direct effect on freshwater fishing, for bream or any other fish. But after several years of unscientific testing, I’ve come to believe there is a definite correlation between moon phases and the number of bream I catch. Like my old bream-fishing buddy, I don’t know why it happens, just that it does."

    Nice thing about the confidence of faith - no science required.
  • Tony Livingston

    I also know of a great many anglers who swear by the moon phases for bedding gills. Marine fish? Absolutely. I will look and see if I can find anything, but the info I have right now all points to no connection.

  • Leo Nguyen

    David, can't say getting old sucks. Getting old indeed sucks, but it also has its golden highlight, or rather, silver lining. Wisdom and experience gained through the life-long journey. Good grief, I feel old now.

    Now, if the tidal aquaculture responses to moon phases, is it the light that causes the changes? Or the planetary orbital shifts? Muahahahahah..tossing more monkey wrenches into the clockwork cogs.

    We can't claim ignorance any more, especially there are so many factions of left, center, and right winged group. Each group also has its far left, up the ying-yang, far right, and way off-course factions. Ignorance is no longer valid. Everything is required clarity for understanding. Although, it would be nice just to shut everything off like a light bulb, and follow our gut instincts.

  • jim cosgrove

    i have a trip planned for late april.i will do a little research.the full moon will be april 4th.since we have had a very cold winter i know the crappies will be prespawn more than likely as the lake will not be warm enough.they will be on the first breakline deeper than their spawning areas,similar conditions to last year.didn't find any on the beds and gills were just waking up.pale and sluggish.the last time i went to reelfoot.planned the trip for the full moon in march.months ahead of time.guys were not catching in the basins.went to nearest north shoreline in very shallow water found spawning fish and caught the heck out of em.

  • Joe Angelucci

    ok let's try this one out

    * Full moon = more light

    * More light = more time on the water 

    * more time on the water = more fish 

    Could be that simple , full moon = extended fishing day 

  • Andy is OptiMystic

    Jim - I qualified my comments about freshwater fish. Inshore fishing is all about tides; reds and specs absolutely are affected; flounder less so and spots and croakers (saltwater bream?) not as much.

  • jim cosgrove

    you think animals outside of saltwater are not affected by moon cycles?all bodies of water are affected by the pull of the moon.not a rushing tide we can see but it is there.bass fishing can be quite slow during daylight during a full moon.nothing cooler than having a bass hit a big topwater lure in the dark.

  • Joe Angelucci

  • jim cosgrove

    i have at times tried to time my local after work or weekends with the lunar tables.if you notice when the fishing quits at times so does allot of the background activity of other creatures?birds are quieter,less activity in the woods.squirrels chipmunks.all that rustling in the underbrush seems to go quiet as well.you might even see fish cruising the shallows but not feeding.the small fish not really too concerned with being eaten,this would pretty much line up with the in between phases of ocean tides.i never really believed it but it has pretty much been accurate every time i have tried to time it

  • Andy is OptiMystic

    Jim - I personally haven't noticed a correlation in fresh water. When it starts cooking in a few weeks, on the better days it is non stop and on the slower days it is usually just a lower frequency, not big gaps of no activity. That's been my experience in the south anyway.

  • Andy is OptiMystic

    an added qualifier - on the better days means on some good water; on tough to fish water I find correlations difficult to notice for the opposite reason; fish are so few and far between that it is difficult to notice a pattern

  • jim cosgrove

    we have had some horrific winter kills up here last few winters.when you see the entire fish population of a body of water floating on the surface it is an unimaginable sight.a public place i fished a few times a year actually had a gill fishery that was rebounding.it was limestone quarry from the 1800s and no boats or wading of anykind,one of those places they stocked trout in the spring.a long walk to good fishing plus a good population of pike and largemouths put the sunfish back in balance and they were getting in the 8 -9 inch range in numbers.last year this lake suffered a 100% kill.there were carp in the 40lb range so this hadn't happened in very long time as we have a short growing season and the fish of a certain size would be much older than the south.most people wrote this place off except for the spring trout.the dead fish covered this lake.i was stunned and saddened.there were true trophy fish in here.bass bluegills crappies and pike.plus the carp bullheads and millions of minnows and tiny fish.like i have stated the fishing pressure in my area is hard to fathom.obviously by dying in mass these fish revealed their ability to not get caught or even detected.not sure how long it takes a bass to get to 7-8 pounds but am sure twice as long as say florida.i think that is why when i travel to places wher fish are more abundant and aggressive i have little trouble finding them.

  • Allen Morgan

    Man, y'all been busy today or what?????

  • Leo Nguyen

    Darn tootin' Allen. Tony came into the ring with a trident. B.W. dragged in his trusty 3 tons sledgehammer. Scruffy hauled his dual slingers. Andy got his sharpened axe. Jim C. tossed grenades while doing the "Dancing like the Butterfly" moves. Jim G. pulled out unknown arsenal from his magical bag. I flung sharpened toothpicks using rubber bands. The battle of royale was quite epic.

  • Allen Morgan

    And here I thought you've been spending the off-season planning more kayaking trips for Stripers, Leo........

    Did I read that one post correctly?  You can't night-fish in California???

  • Leo Nguyen

    Kayaking trips for sure..but on the hunt for the elusive strippers now. Stripers are being concentrated and culled due to the rapid dropping water level. Strippers are still abundant all over the place.

  • Allen Morgan

    LOL.  What's the best bait?  $5's, $10's, or higher?  I'll bet the "fishing" gets better with the bigger "baits", LOL.

    And does Mrs. Leo know about this???

  • Leo Nguyen

    Start at $1. If there no nibble, $5, follow by $20. If that don't work, $50 or $100. If that don't work, best to move on.

    Mrs. Leo suggested using $100 of the bat. I don't think my fishing budget allow such expensive endeavour :-D

  • Slip Sinker

    I was wondering where everyone went…is this the new chat room…:)

    Solunar tables I love and I believe in them! As an avid fisherman starting at a very young age I remember having a copy of the latest in fisherman or fishing facts magazine in rolled in a back pocket or stuffed in a folder going thru high school and then college. It was always fishing on the weekends with family especially my father. Dad and I believed in timing our outing with the best periods and we did very well. I just wanted to share with you again one of the most treasured memory of fishing that just occurred recently over the summer fishing for gills… 5 gills between 9 and ten inches during a  solunar peek period. I didn’t realize this till I matched up the snaps and their times and found the gills were caught one after another within this period. These tables are worth watching and noting. Ive had many, many more experiences associated with fishing success and the Solunar tables. I currently subscribe to In-Fisherman Magazine on my tablet which goes with me on every trip

    Big fish of that day

    http://bigbluegill.com/photo/new-folder-15/prev?context=user

    collage of catches

    http://bigbluegill.com/photo/psx-20140811-174157/next?context=user

  • Steve Wilson

         Weren't the old Fishing Facts magazine great Ken ?.....New ones are about 30 pages of which 28 are ads and no neat stories .

  • Slip Sinker

    Yes they were Steve ...Buck Perry- Spoonpluggin and Charlie Brewer... i saved them magazines for years and then had to throw them out because of water damage.

  • Andy is OptiMystic

    A short bit of info on solunar theory:

    http://www.usprimetimes.com/theory.html

    I get the dawn/dusk part, though IME while fishing it is often more of an event more than a period and it is pretty much a Summer thing. Lots of articles and studies out there with larger sample sizes discount it though. It seems the larger your sample size the more random it seems to become. Also comfort comes into play; not many fish are caught in 100 degree heat or monsoon like rain storms. Trying to measure fish feeding activity by fishing reports is not really all that accurate; like looking at Leo's results and deciding they don't eat at night.

  • David, aka, "McScruff"

  • Andy is OptiMystic

    But if you really want to catch fish, pyramid power is where it's at...

  • jim cosgrove

    sorry andy but fish have to eat MORE in 100 degree heat.of course if the water is a 100 degrees as some of our nuke lakes do the only thing feeding is the gulls and pelicans on the dead fish.you are not gonna catch much on a 100 degree day but you sure will at dusk.cold blooded creatures metabolism rises with tempature.sinply they have to eat more.i caught and released the same 20 inch smallmouth bass 3 times in 15 minutes in a nuke lake.he would have been close to a state record but was so skinny because he was living in water way too hot for him.he was starving because he could not eat enough to maintain his body mass.the only time i have caught bluegill at night was thru the ice with a lantern on clear ice.bluegills do not have good eyesight.

  • Andy is OptiMystic

    My point was that using angler data would likely indicate that fish eat less in intense heat even though as you point out that is dead wrong. The reason angler data can be bad is that when it isn't comfortable to go fishing, less fish will be caught.

  • David, aka, "McScruff"

    Here's my rules, summarized:

    Go when you can.

    Watch the bugs and blooms.

    The two best times for fishing:
    When it isn't raining.
    When it is raining.
  • jim cosgrove

    i think we are missing the point.the moon cycles are nothing mystical.none of this.it is an opportunity thing.we dont have high and low tides here.lake michigan has tides but they are not really perceptible to us.we do have a few power plant lakes tho that are backup generators.they only run when electrical demand is high.this would be in the heat of summer,yeah it gets hot here too.you could fish this lake when the plant is not running and it fishes like a regular lake.in the late afternoon when 4million chicago households crank up their air conditioners the plant goes online and this lake turns into a river as the plant pumps water.imagine turning on a 2000 acre koi pond.the fish go crazy.the shad start moving the stripers and muskies go on a feeding binge.the gills and crappies feast on all the bugs and minnows dislodged from the rip rap by the current.the fish literally start biting at the flip of switch.they are exploiting their situation.if we can figure out when  and where something will trigger this activity we can exploit it ourselves.thats why maybe i butt heads with people as my view on fishing is not the newest and beast electronics or whether my rod is IM 6 or 8.how many ballbearings and gold trim is on my reel or 20 dollar crankbaits.guys that taught me to fish,really fish knew where the fish would be at any time of year and what they would be feeding on.whether it be 102 or thru the ice.

  • B. Waldman

    Steve/Slip Sinker - Great that you mentioned the old Fishing Facts/In' Fisherman stuff. I collect books and magazines form that time period and have almost every issue of Fishing News/Facts from when it was a 4 page newspaper started by Bill Binkelman in Dec. 1963 through about 1974. I think I'm only missing about a dozen specific dates to fill out the collection. I also have the first 4 years of original In' Fisherman magazines, the old orange ones. I also have most everything Buck Perry wrote or included (instructions) in his Spoonplugging venture, including his book 'Spoonplugging' and his home study series, not to mention about 100 of the baits themselves. They still catch fish! Then there are Bill Binkelman's "blue books" along with "Lunkers Love Nightcrawlers!" Have spent all winter rereading through a lot of the old material. 

  • carl hendrix

    ok-- lets have a little fun!!  question--  in what direction- do all of the rivers flow in the U.S.!!!!

  • Andy is OptiMystic

    Carl - downhill

  • carl hendrix

    hahahhaa  good answer Andy-- for a city guy!!

  • Andy is OptiMystic

    Carl - "City" guy? I guess Raleigh is where Barney goes to party (the deputy, not the dinosaur). Speaking of dinosaurs, how are you today?

    Jim - They won't let you in the true cooling lake of my nearby plant. They won't even let you go far into the inlet of the bigger lake just below it either. In large inland bodies of water, I can see the tiny tides having some effect. I just haven't seen any correlation where I fish inland.

  • Steve Wilson

        OH WOW  B.W.........sounds like a great way to spend the winter. Great collection of info.

  • Steve Wilson

      I think Andy may be onto something with the pyramid power

  • Steve Wilson

       I'm wondering now how the warm water discharges affect the spawn timing.....any studies anyone is aware of ?

  • jim cosgrove

    B dont know why any "old" bait would not catch fish.the fish haven't changed we have.i still catch fish even tho my boat is 25hp not 250.rapalas still catch fish,they now cost 9 bucks for the original floater/diver but the same lure.i had field and stream and sports a field back to the early 1900s.an old neighbor died and his wife gave them to me.all boxed and in perfect shape.my moms basement flooded and they are all gone.whats cool about the old mags is every thing old is new again.look at the popularity of glass rods these days.i still have a few from the 40s.one is about gorilla hunting if you can believe it.

  • jim cosgrove

    not a a small tide when the plant goes on andy.dead calm to a rip current.

  • Ray Ditzenberger

    As far as temp is concerned I do believe that the fish eat more as the temp rises but there has to be a point of no return. At some temp the fish must slow down and if the temp continues to rise the fish will actually be cooked. No clue what those temps are but I am willing to bet that 120 degrees will totally turn off even a carp and probably kill it.

  • David, aka, "McScruff"

    jim cosgrove -
    dont know why any "old" bait would not catch fish.the fish haven't changed we have.i still catch fish even tho my boat is 25hp not 250.rapalas still catch fish,they now cost 9 bucks for the original floater/diver but the same lure.i had field and stream and sports a field back to the early 1900s.an old neighbor died and his wife gave them to me.all boxed and in perfect shape.my moms basement flooded and they are all gone.whats cool about the old mags is every thing old is new again.look at the popularity of glass rods these days.i still have a few from the 40s.one is about gorilla hunting if you can believe it.

    X 100

    We might also add that the FISH may not have seen some of the things for a very long time... If ever. They may actually prove to be an edge.

    PS Pennsylvania has their fishing/boating magazine articles archived back to the early 1930's....
    http://fishandboat.com/PaAnglerLegacyIssues.htm
  • Ray Ditzenberger

    Speaking of Charlie Brewer.....I still have his book on Slider Fishing.....The store is still in operation in Lawenceburg TN and they still sell the ole Sliders. I still fish the Sliders too.

  • David, aka, "McScruff"

    Sliders? Great bait.

    Tie you some Bead Eye Wooly Buggers and do as well.
  • jim cosgrove

    steve it screws ever  ything up as far as spawning etc.fish can just move from 1 part of the lake to another and stay in their preferred temp zone.but they do stay active.nothing stranger than fishing in 20 degree air  and 70 degree water and hearing a bass boat bearing down on you in the fog.