Mixed in a few Fliers in today's mess from the Pasquotank River........I had two world Class Fliers today ....Both over a pound and both over 9.5 inches....Neat thing about this pair was I caught them on baits that other BBG members made and sent me to try out....Jim Gronaw with the grass shrimp and Tooty with a micro bait that I have renamed the Silent Stinger....this one was Chartreuse in color.....Water temperatures were in the low 80s and the fish were caught at 30 inches under a float.......Fun time in Carolina!

Found a couple Fliers over this past weekend on the Little River......Good looking fish posed for a picture and then released......

Mixed in some nice Fliers today on the Pasquotank.....Caught them all on the Pink Gronaw Grass Shrimp under a float still somewhat shallow with 83 degree water temperatures.....Biggest today was a little over 9 inches and all were released to get a little bigger before the next time they engage with an angler......

Fished this Labor Day in off and on down pours....Caught some really fine Fliers on the Pasquotank and all but one came on the jig pictured here tipped with a live cricket....I call it the Bleeding Grass Shrimp by JIm Gronaw.......Big fish was a little over 9 inches.......

A chunky little Flier....

Pink Grass Shrimp Delivers

Big Flier of the day....9/9/2012

Fliers can still provide great entertainment and tablefare for the Southeastern anglers....As the water cools and other Sunfish species begin to slow in our region one sunfish remains active and can still be found in groups for the taking.....This fish is the Flier....Not an extreme hard hitter but they will take minnows, jigs, crickets and worms to name a few....95% of the time I catch one I throw right back in and find another....For example, yesterday in coastal Virginia with water temperatures in the upper 60s behind a cold front...most species were inactive but we located a Flier hole and took over twenty from it in less than 30 minutes.......Many fish are smaller than their Bluegill cousins but remember these guys when it appears that things have shut down....you just may be pleasantly surprised....It's an added bonus to have these fish available in the Carolinas where I fish most often....I venture to say I'm the rare angler that actually targets Fliers as the calendar leaps into Fall......These guys are often overlooked in their range and that is unfortunate for people that otherwise enjoy fishing because they can provide a good time......I love to see my float slowly disappear into the dark swampy waters I fish when I know Mr. Flier has come to join the party....Three cheers to one of the most overlooked species of Sunfish in America.....

My friend Eric shows off a world class Flier caught in the Northwest River in coastal Virginia.....

Fliers start earlier than bluegill and continue to bite later as the water cools....still possible to find them in a bunch like we did on Columbus Day....Good times!

Two great Fall Fliers from the Northwest River....Virginia side.....water temperatures in the mid 60s today.....

The dismal swamp of Virginia and North Carolina is full of the Flier Species.....Low oxygen and tanic water is just right for these guys to live free of many big predators.....This holds down the overall size in some areas but like today I caught more than 40 and most were between 6 and 8 inches.....Good Tablefare......Fliers provide fun beginning in late winter and riding all the way through late Fall......

WISH we had those here Jeffrey cause I'd be a chasin em!

These fish have huge eyes which aids them in their pursuit of prey items in the dark tanic waters they call home......Their bite can also be tricky....in the Fall as the water cools you just get a slow drift on your float, sometimes down and sometimes just a slide on the surface.....They'll hit minnows, jigs, crickets and worms all day long.....Look for several in the same location, I normally catch them in bunches and yesterday was no different......

Here's the scaled ones from Saturday's catch...they will hit the spot.....a tasty specimen....

This weeks best.  I've found a spot, I can consistent find 1 or 2 10 inchers.  How long was the record?

Thanks for joining Tim and I look forward to your input.....Great fish and although the only number given on the world record is the weight of 1 pound 5 ounces....it appears that the fish was around 12 inches from a review of the picture.......I have a fish a tick over 10 inches at the taxidermy shop just three ounces from the record....Caught it this past May.....

Bluegill have slowed way down in recent weeks with the in flux of colder air temperatures and falling water temperatures but our Friends the Fliers, have continued to bite and were pretty active this weekend on the black water rivers of Northeast N.C and Southeastern Virginia....Caught 32 today on Veteran's Day on the Northwest River....near bottom and very light bites on minnows and grass shrimp.....Water temperatures on the surface were 47 at first light and had risen to 53 by midday.......

Smaller the bait the better with these colder temperatures.....

Fliers will begin to push shallow next month in the tidal waters of North Carolina and Virginia.......They traditionally arrive ahead of the bluegills in this region and are often caught right in the middle of a big Coppernose bed come late Spring and early Summer........

I guess this is why I never see them. Seem to be distributed around the coastal plains more than toward the mountains. I'll find them some day!!

http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/fish/bream/flier/

Welcome Jason.....I've never heard of Fliers coming west of the coastal plains in North Carolina......I feel very lucky to have such a heavy concentration of this sunfish species around the Albemarle/Pamlico Sound Estuary......

Put it on your bucket list and if you make it over to the eastern part of the state I'll put you on a few......

Starting to see a few Fliers now....getting pumped up as May approaches, the month that I traditionally catch the largest Fliers of the year...

There is only ONE place i've seen Fliers down in our river in south Georgia. They only bite the small red wigglers , think I'll start going after them. what's the record size???

Welcome to the group James.....1 pound 5 ounces shared by an angler in Lowndes County Georgia and a pond angler in North Carolina.........cool species of sunfish...

Welcome Robbie....I hope you can share some of the images of those Richmond Mill Giants......Big Fliers that is......I've seen some great pictures that indicate the Fliers are taking advantage of the healthy waters in Richmond Mill....look forward to your input.....

Flier - probably the most neglected of all Sunfish! Native range Southeastern Va, Eastern NC, Eastern SC, Southeast GA, Northern Florida, Southern Alabama, Mississippi (entire state), Northern Louisiana, Western Tennessee, and very small portions of the Midwest.

Dark turquoise/silver variation from the Suwannee River:

 25 Flier today, had some the other day 10 1/2 inches long. Loaded with eggs.

Nice mess.....thanks for sharing.....I routinely have pretty good luck with fliers after the water temps have dropped off and other sunfish have begun to get lock jaw.....Do you see the same thing in your area Mark?......

I was absolutely delighted with my personal best flier last month while fishing with Jeff Abney in N Carolinas Little River. Fish was just shy of 10 inches and likely went 12-13 ozs. Got her on a 1/64th oz shad dart tipped with a cricket below a bobber on my 13 ft pole. Cool!

A trophy Flier from the Albemarle region of coastal North Carolina.....Custom cast creation accomplished by featured member Tim Overbaugh..........

It was exciting on yesterday's trip to see some nice Fliers waking up.....this is traditionally a good sign and much more reliable than the groundhog.....LOL

This one took a almost pink ball jig as some early morning Crappie best this one up...

This nice one took a 1/64th ounce pink powder jig fixed with a plastic teaser and tipped with a live cricket......this is trophy class for Fliers....just a little under 10"

Here's two nice ones before we released all of the fish from Sunday morning....

Another close up of the nice fliers.....2014 is another chance to chase a record!

Here's a citation for one of the many trophy class Fliers I have landed over the years.....I usually try to get my guests on the Fliers because most places don't have them and they can be a fun member of the sunfish family.......

Check this group out when you get a chance Sean.....

My grandsons and I caught some pretty Fliers today.....

A pretty specimen......

My grandson Cody admires his trophy Flier catch this afternoon......

Fliers waking up on the Albemarle.......

I experienced the best October trip for fliers yesterday catching 112 and more than two dozen of those were over 10 inches,,,,,,,what a thrill to locate and catch these aggressive fish which yesterday was like fishing a big bluegill bed in June.......fish after fish in a small creek channel with just a two to three foot drop off but it was packed with a ton of big fliers and also tidal crappie..........

Big Flier of the day was just under 11 inches......a beautiful fish....

Here;s a solid double from the trip prior to release......

What a beautiful species of sunfish.....

Lots of good looking specimens.......

A perfect specimen.....

Astonishing catch, Jeffrey! I can't imagine all those great fish in a single afternoon! Congrats!

It was very interesting to say the least.........quickly found some willing black crappie at sunrise and observed a similar frenzy to a pond feeder near the mouth of a tidal creek in water I knew was three to four feet at the most but I quickly put out a marker on the crappie and shifted the boat in position to offer a live minnow in the frenzy and immediately the float plunged at the reaction of  a solid flier.........this continued for well over an hour and included a break to return to the crappie marker with good success but the fliers boiling on the surface continued to be a distraction so I returned to the mouth and caught another 40 fliers before departing as planned before the trip at 11:00 am........I've caught over a hundred several times in the Spring but until Saturday I had never seen this in October for Fliers..........I'll never forget the trip but truly wonder if it was a once in a lifetime experience...........I fish often year round and still Mother Nature can surprise and reward the dedicated angler........There are bigger fish and more well known but I'm thankful for this rare but relentless sunfish species....

Ms. Twia Gates took these two world class fliers earlier this year in a cypress pond in JAckson County, Florida,,,,,,The fish in her right hand has also been certified as tie for the IGFA World Record.......She states she has fished since she was a little girl and on this occasion she was fishing with her son and his friend so she was so excited to find out it was actually a record...........

Had another great Flier trip this morning on Tulls Bay North Carolina.......

Been a great year for fliers both numbers and quality.......

Welcome Matt.....you just happen to live pretty close to the location that the world record flier was caught last year.........Have you ever caught a Flier?

Like these?

this was 2 hrs fishing on worms in the swamp this afternoon...

Welcome to the group Bill.......I remember seeing some fine fliers you posted from Richmond Mill............what do you think about the species?

I wish you luck Bill.........take a few pics and share when you return........that would be great! Should be an enjoyable time!

I hear you Bill.......I'm just 3.5 hours from there.....I'm looking at getting a day with Robbie Everett...........they have done great things with that body of water and kept it like it was........

It has bobby.........welcome back!  That was a nice Flier in the picture.......need to add it to the group photos!