All Blog Posts (1,103)

  New to fishing for blue gills. What are the habits of the blue gill? Anyother info on  blue gill fishing would be appreciated. We fish for crappies in the pad and deep water on a lake here in florida. What type of bait do you use?  Thanks for any info.....Gary

Please take a moment to explore the website of outdoor television and radio personality Alan Warren.  His campaign to educate America's young people on the outdoors is called "I Support Outdoor Education".

Here's his website.

http://alanwarrenoutdoors.com/

...and here's the link to www.isupportoutdoored.com

 …

An example of horrible performing bite indicators that America manufactures - mass quantity refuse - the live bait angler's enemy to catching fish (cheaply made bobbers)

Cheap, Clunky & Bad - American Live Bait Tackle Companies- Shame on…

Okay, so you remember that truck of mine. Well, the weld made on the clutch arm broke this morning on the way to work. It was a crappy weld, anyway.

Make a mental note, folks - crappy welds do not hold up.

Not a block from my house, I depressed the clutch and it went, "POP. That sickening pedal-to-the-floor thump came next and there I was, no shift - no nuttin'. Dang!

Luckily, I got the thing back in gear using the synchro and was able to putt-putt it back to the house…

My other thing next to fishing is cycling. Well, to be honest - I've been cycling in recent years more than fishing.

I ride about 20 miles per day to and from work, except in the coldest part of the winter. I'm late getting back in the saddle this season though, and today was my first run of the Spring. I "aired" up the tires, lubed the chain and got everything tuned - and I was off!

In short, things went well and I didn't end up in some ditch gasping out my last…

I got the clutch actuator arm welded back together today and she's been test driven - all's well.

Welding skills are alright, but the little Lincoln buzz-box I had was a little slack. If she's still in good shape next weekend, I'll finally make it out to wet some bait.

I gots me a mess of Berkley Gulp! and Powerbait goodies, too - Fish Fry, Maggots, worms and wigglies... so we'll see how those stack up.

I also whipped up a batch of my first ever, panfish Dry Chum Mix.…

Okay, I dont have to work tomorrow (FRIDAY) except to make a few client calls. "Heck, I can do that from the river bank," Im thinking "...so Im going fishing!"

So what happens? I get in the truck this morning, press in the clutch pedal and SNAP! It lets go with a sickening feel and goes right to the floorboard. The damn actuator arm broke clean off.

First thing out of my mouth - "Summbitch - there goes Friday's fishing!!"

The truck can be fixed, but I cant get a…

Hey y'all, I don't know how many have seen it yet, but the latest In Fisherman magazine ( May 2011) has an outstanding feature article by our own Bill Modica on the pleasures and pursuits of using spoons for big gills! This is exciting stuff, as bill has long been advocating the use of these techniques on this site. Detailed rigs and tactics are again focused, as are many of his tutorial videos found on this site.

Like many of you, I was somewhat skeptical when I first read and heard…

i would like to find out what flies work well for bluegills

i have been fly fishing for 60yrs but am still looking for a great fly

thanks

gerryg

I've dedicated the entire front page of BigBluegill to our very kind, generous and talented friend, Tim Overbaugh.

Big Bluegill is blessed to have a number of very talented taxidermists that frequent the site.  There are also dozens of folks who are extremely talented in creating videos, catching fish, taking photos, etc.

But Tim Overbaugh's work is unparalleled. 

Tim Overbaugh has made the very generous offer that if members of Big Bluegill…

Porcupine Floats?!

Since the trade routes into Africa brought products from around the globe, old-time tackle companies in the 1700s or 1800s fashioned some bite indicators out of everything that wasn't tied down. A popular imported material for companies making floats was the porcupine quill out of Africa. 

These…

Well Ive finally done it- Ive scouted out a handful of fishing spots and have amassed enough  panfish tackle that even a packrat like me can feel comfortable. I catch myself wringing my hands and cackling over the pile my goodies like some overgrown leprechaun. So the game is on.

I look around at all my junk... er, treasures... and it dawns on me that I need to dump a lot of this stuff. It started last year when we moved to this house and I had to actually TAKE all my crap…

Hey Everyone!

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.

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.

Spent the night at the cabin and fished the boat docks for Crappie. Water was pretty…

 Ok guys (and girls) need a little input. My new lake house has a nice big deck on the back of the house.

I’m going to redo the steel with metal studs so I can add paneling. Build brick flower bed and repaint support. My question is the deck it self. I need to stain it, seal it or something.

What can I put down that will look good and last a long time. Remember…

I have placed my first Spring bait order so it is OFFICIAL. Fishing is right around the corner. To prepare, I will take out my smaller tying bag with lines and small hooks and start tying some leaders.

Storing a small wallet of fine leaders in the fishing bag saves hours on the bank. Since I can't get what I want - I make my own snells and store them in a hook wallet (picture rubber pads for the hooks and some plastic bumps to put the snell loops on in a thin, plastic…