Greg Wade's Posts - Bluegill - Big Bluegill2024-03-28T16:57:46ZGreg Wadehttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/GregWadehttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2192391311?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://bigbluegill.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=26szj732ac87x&xn_auth=noShellcracker Fishing and New Lake Record......High Water Levels That Is!tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2011-05-11:2036984:BlogPost:1505822011-05-11T15:03:01.000ZGreg Wadehttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/GregWade
<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>Just got back from a one day trip to Lake Barkley in Kentucky (5/10/2011). Despite record high water levels, the fishing was great. Both Kentucky and Barkley lakes are dropping pretty fast, so things should improve even more once levels begin to stabilize. And water clarity in the bays are currently very good, which always helps.</p>
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<p>My son Tyler and I spent the day with Jim Doom from "Between The Rivers Guide Service". Jim is a very good guide and an…</p>
<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>Just got back from a one day trip to Lake Barkley in Kentucky (5/10/2011). Despite record high water levels, the fishing was great. Both Kentucky and Barkley lakes are dropping pretty fast, so things should improve even more once levels begin to stabilize. And water clarity in the bays are currently very good, which always helps.</p>
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<p>My son Tyler and I spent the day with Jim Doom from "Between The Rivers Guide Service". Jim is a very good guide and an all-around great guy. I would highly recommend him! If you want to get in on some great Shellcracker and Bluegill action contact jim at the following: e-mail - <a href="http://email00.secureserver.net/webmail.php?login=1#" class="nounderline">jdoom26@yahoo.com</a> or by phone: 270-703-7337 or 270-508-1251. </p>
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<p>Below are some Shellcracker pics from the trip. Tyler caught his personal best with a large 13 inch male. We did not weigh it, but as you will see in the pics it was a FATTY. We also caught a bunch of nice Bluegills on the trip.</p>
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<p>Tight Lines,</p>
<p>Greg</p>
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<p><a href="http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac359/Wadeblade_bucket/DSCN2170_R.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac359/Wadeblade_bucket/DSCN2170_R.jpg?width=1024" width="1024" class="align-center"/></a><a href="http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac359/Wadeblade_bucket/DSCN2157_R.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac359/Wadeblade_bucket/DSCN2157_R.jpg" class="align-full"/></a><a href="http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac359/Wadeblade_bucket/DSCN2155_R.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac359/Wadeblade_bucket/DSCN2155_R.jpg" class="align-full"/></a><a href="http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac359/Wadeblade_bucket/IMG_0201_R.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac359/Wadeblade_bucket/IMG_0201_R.jpg" class="align-full"/></a></p>Spring Break 80 Degree Ice Fishing......well not quitetag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2011-03-23:2036984:BlogPost:1337982011-03-23T03:54:43.000ZGreg Wadehttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/GregWade
<p>Hey Everyone!</p>
<p>Just got back from a 2 day trip to Lake of The Ozarks here in Missouri. Took My son Tyler out for a short "Spring Break" fishing trip.</p>
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<p>Started out yesterday afternoon fishing below the dam using my jig and float technique, in an effort to catch some White Bass, but they have not showed up yet! Only managed one. But TY and I caught a couple nice Bass.</p>
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<p>Spent the night at the cabin and fished the boat docks for Crappie. Water was pretty…</p>
<p>Hey Everyone!</p>
<p>Just got back from a 2 day trip to Lake of The Ozarks here in Missouri. Took My son Tyler out for a short "Spring Break" fishing trip.</p>
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<p>Started out yesterday afternoon fishing below the dam using my jig and float technique, in an effort to catch some White Bass, but they have not showed up yet! Only managed one. But TY and I caught a couple nice Bass.</p>
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<p>Spent the night at the cabin and fished the boat docks for Crappie. Water was pretty stained, but the bite was "on"! My son actually suggested that we take the ice fishing rods with us! At first I thought he was crazy, but the more I thought about it ...it made sense!</p>
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<p>A lot of people sink brush and other fish attractors directly below the docks. The short 24" rods with spring bobbers were great for fishing those "tight" places around the docks. The spring bobbers allowed us to drop my jigs down pretty deep and detected the slightest nibble. Once we saw the minnow getting nervous, it was just a matter of seconds before the rods had a deep bend in them, with a fish on the line.</p>
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<p>They are also more sensitive when fishing with horizontal jigs, which also worked well. We are probably the only people to ever use ice rods on this massive 55,000 acre lake.</p>
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<p>Taking the family to the lake? Want to fish but have no room for rods and tackle? Sure you can't fit a couple 24" rods somewhere? Might be onto something? </p>
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<p>Lesson here: Don't put your ice fishing tackle & equipment away after the ice melts. You might have your best spring ever using the lures and baits you already have!</p>
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<p>Till next time.....Tight Lines,</p>
<p>Greg</p>
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<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2117238961?profile=original"><img class="align-full" width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2117238961?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></p>Late Fall - Early Winter Dock fishingtag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2010-12-01:2036984:BlogPost:1119822010-12-01T07:13:34.000ZGreg Wadehttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/GregWade
Hi Everyone,<div>Took the boat out last week to do some fishing. Came across a pattern for catching Crappie several years ago which seems to be reliable, as it occurs every year around this time in midwestern Illinois.</div>
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<div>The Crappie start moving shallow once the water temperature starts to drop into the lower 50's to mid 40 degree range. I target the ends of boat docks in the marinas. Many of the docks have two poles at the sides of each boat slip, which the dock…</div>
Hi Everyone,<div>Took the boat out last week to do some fishing. Came across a pattern for catching Crappie several years ago which seems to be reliable, as it occurs every year around this time in midwestern Illinois.</div>
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<div>The Crappie start moving shallow once the water temperature starts to drop into the lower 50's to mid 40 degree range. I target the ends of boat docks in the marinas. Many of the docks have two poles at the sides of each boat slip, which the dock floors slide up and down on with the waves. The poles are set in the bottom of the lake, and most have a horizontal crossbar which connects and supports the two poles. The poles get covered with algae, which attracts insects, minnows, and game fish which stay suspended around the cover.</div>
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<div>I started out fishing with jigs & minnows, and a slip-cork. Caught several Crappie, but they were just shy of the 10" length limit on Crappie at this lake. So I switched to my jigging pole which had a 1/20th ounce Yellow Chartreuse jig head with red soft plastic bait.</div>
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<div>Vertically jigging slowly up and down...around the docks, it didn't take long to get bit. And the first fish was a keeper. Water temps were in the mid to upper 40's, but the fish were hitting the bait hard.</div>
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<div>Caught a number of nice Crappie & landed a very nice Largemouth Bass, which was a surprise! I released the Bass after a quick picture.</div>
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<div>Hoping to get out a few more times, but Ol' man winter is approaching fast. Won't be long till we are ice fishing!</div>
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<div>Till next time....tight lines!</div>
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<div>Greg</div>
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</div>Hot Crappie! July 16, 2010tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2010-07-16:2036984:BlogPost:922512010-07-16T22:07:39.000ZGreg Wadehttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/GregWade
Hi Everyone,<div>Despite the 100 + degree heat index in the St. Louis area, Ty & I went fishing for a few hours this morning & tried out some of the new "Wiggla" jigs I've started making. We were fishing with 20th oz. Yellow Chart. jigs and White plastics.</div>
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<div>It didn't take long for us to get into the fish, but we were surprised at the quality and quantity of Crappie caught. If it's this good when it's hot, can't wait to see what fishing will be like in the…</div>
Hi Everyone,<div>Despite the 100 + degree heat index in the St. Louis area, Ty & I went fishing for a few hours this morning & tried out some of the new "Wiggla" jigs I've started making. We were fishing with 20th oz. Yellow Chart. jigs and White plastics.</div>
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<div>It didn't take long for us to get into the fish, but we were surprised at the quality and quantity of Crappie caught. If it's this good when it's hot, can't wait to see what fishing will be like in the fall.</div>
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<div>Below are a few pics I took. We only measured one fish and it was 15". Should have checked some others, but wanted to get them back in the water after a quick photograph. All the fish were released unharmed, with the hope of catching them again at a later date.</div>
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<div>Till Next Time......</div>
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<div>Tight Lines,</div>
<div>Greg</div>
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</div>Stars and Stripes.....Hybridstag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2010-06-28:2036984:BlogPost:895902010-06-28T04:00:00.000ZGreg Wadehttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/GregWade
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Hi everyone,<div>Just got home from a belated Father's Day trip at Lake of The Ozarks, here in Missouri. Spent the last three days with family and snuck out early (4:30 am.!) each morning to do some fishing. Nothing like motoring to your favorite fishing spot under the cover of darkness and a full moon!</div>
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<div>Ty and I fished for Hybrids early in the morning, using 5" swimbaits, in a shad…</div>
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Hi everyone,<div>Just got home from a belated Father's Day trip at Lake of The Ozarks, here in Missouri. Spent the last three days with family and snuck out early (4:30 am.!) each morning to do some fishing. Nothing like motoring to your favorite fishing spot under the cover of darkness and a full moon!</div>
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<div>Ty and I fished for Hybrids early in the morning, using 5" swimbaits, in a shad color pattern. Each morning we arrived at our spot a little early, but knew when 5:30am came around the fish would show up, and they did.</div>
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<div>Is was so exciting seeing a school of Hybrids chase a lone shad to the surface. Then watch the shad walk on water with just the tip of his tail, in an effort to try and avoid being eaten, as the water boiled beneath him. A fresh live shad is to freshwater, same as a shrimp is to the ocean. Everything wants to eat them.</div>
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<div>While we were using artificial baits that simulate a real shad, there's nothing like the real thing. Problem is that they are scattered right now and hard to locate. However this morning, a boat pulled up as I was reeling in a hybrid which I had just caught. These guys were in a nice Skeeter saltwater Bay boat, which happened to have a shad tank on board. They had just come back from getting shad, and after a brief conversation with them, they offered to give me a few. I couldn't resist.</div>
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<div>I already had two 7' spinning rods with braided line and Owner Mutu circle hooks on them. I filled my front livewell with water and placed the shad inside. I took one of the shad out and carefully placed a hook thru the top of its back, halfway between the top and back fins, so it could swim around looking natural. No weight....just a live shad on a hook. Carefully pitched the bait in the water, opened the bail and let out approximately 20 feet of line, then closed the bail shut. Wasn't long before my rod was bent in half, by the weight of a good fish. He took off like a freight train, with several long bursts that sent my drag screaming. Got him in and it was one of the biggest fish of the trip!</div>
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<div>I always keep a casting net stored inside my boat, so that if I see shad, I can get them. But I have to confess: I need practice throwing the net, so if anyone has some good tips for me I'd welcome them!</div>
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<div>Ty even caught a nice largemouth on topwater and a Channel Catfish off the deck at the condo using a Wade's Blade and waxworm!</div>
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<div>Till next time......</div>
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<div>Tight Lines,</div>
<p style="text-align: left;">Greg</p>
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<div><br/></div>Seeing RED! - June 7, 2010tag:bigbluegill.ning.com,2010-06-08:2036984:BlogPost:865762010-06-08T14:55:24.000ZGreg Wadehttps://bigbluegill.ning.com/profile/GregWade
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hi Everyone!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ty & I visited a State Park in Central Illinois and fished for Bluegills. We were using the same set-up as our previous visit (Black and Pumpkin #8 Wade's Blades & waxworms).</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Things started off slow, as the fish had spawned and were scattered. So there were lots of "fan casting" and moving slowly along the shoreline to locate fish.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We ended up finding a few spots with males still hovering around the beds. Once you found them the action was pretty fast and furious!</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The last place we fished was a shallow flat that held quite a few fish. That's when we hooked into these nice <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Red</span>ear. These fish are incredibly strong and put up a tremendous fight using Ultra-lite tackle.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you have a lake or pond with Bluegills and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Red</span>ear near you, get ya some Wade's Blades & waxworms, and get bit!</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tight Lines,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Greg</span></div>
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