I could sure use some Bluegill advise..

[John "Formerly Pig Man" Waldrop]

I have been fishing an abandoned company pond since last year, primarily I have been catching Bass, but I caught several monster Bluegill last year, one tipping the scale at just over 2 pounds..I caught those few on a Rapala minnow..I would love to get advise on a more reliable lure/bait. I'm fishing an 8 acre pond, with a center depth of about 45 feet. The water is fairly clear to very lightly stained, if that matters..Any help would be appreciated.

[John "Formerly Pig Man" Waldrop]

Sounds like great advise...I will follow it the best I can. Hopefully soon I will post some pics.

[Jim Gronaw]

John...Walt and Tony have given you great advise on how to maintain the exceptional bluegill size in your pond and they would be, along with Bruce, the 'go to' guys from the pond management standpoint.

As far as locating and catching some of those monsters, I would just suggest that you might want to try wind-drifting small jigs tipped with some kind of bait below bobbers at various depths throughout the month of April. I am assuming that you can not fish from a boat on this pond, so a shoreline approach, during the early spring, might look something like this...

LOCATION... I do not know the geographic alignment of your pond, but even on very small bodies of water, the warmest areas in April will usually be the northwest to the northeast shorelines of the pond due to the increased amount of sunlight in March/April and the consistency of southwest to southerly winds this time of year. In other words, areas that have windswept shorelines will have warmer surface water stacking up and creating a thermal bank that will likely draw all gamefish and baitfish during the progression of spring. And even if the wind direction changes, you want to be fishing with the wind, basically, blowing in your face.

PRESENTATION...You can use any bobber you like, but a sensitive float that will cast well into the wind would be a good option now. For starters, try a 1/64th oz. jig, or smaller, tipped with a piece of garden worm or waxworm or maggot, and attach your float 3 feet above it. Cast into the wind and let the wind do the work for you, bobbing and dancing the float back at you as you keep up with reeling in the line. Bobbers may go under slowly or just trail off in a direction different from the wind.  Set the hook when they go under or trail off. Often, early spring gills will not completely take the bobber under.

Don't be afraid to fish shallow, as shallow as 18 inches right up against a wind-blown bank. Spring gills will go where ever the wind blown insect hatches are, and sometimes that is very shallow. Also, look for roiled or muddied banks created by the wind and fish in and around the edges of the 'mudline'. Sometimes, early spring gills will ambush baits from the muddy-t0-clear water environment.

Lastly, if you haven't had a take or a strike in 20 minutes, change the depth of your jig to 4 feet, then maybe 5, and so on. I usually fish no deeper than 6 feet below a fixed bobber in the spring, but catch the majority of my fish at 4 to 5 up against wind blown banks. Again, sometimes they are as thin as 18 inches.

I hope this helps, and I wish you luck in capturing a new state record bluegill, or perhaps release it if you wish.

[Allen Morgan]

Yup.

[John "Formerly Pig Man" Waldrop]

My first two attempts at bugs are coming soon..#1 Micro Wasp..#2 Nantucket Yellow Jacket

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

That's 65 combined?

[Allen Morgan]

Wouldn't be the first time, Scruff.  At least it's not going to be 80 hours / week like the last time.  Closer to 65.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Two jobs, Allen? Crap!
I'll pray for young win the lottery.

[John "Formerly Pig Man" Waldrop]

No worries, its an open invitation.

[Allen Morgan]

Ok, well, I just got home from work, and bad news.  I've got to work on Monday.  As soon as I get out from there, I have to go do an interview to try and get my future night job rolling. 

[John "Formerly Pig Man" Waldrop]

I posted a few pics of the pond, for those who want to take a gander..I have caught a ton of Bass so far, but no Bluegill as of yet. As stated, the water is about 54 degrees as of Friday..I caugh a 2lb 4oz Bluegill last year on a Rapala minnow..and another right at 1 1/2 pounds with a black rubber lizard. I missed the state record by 3 ounces..