What I Like Best About Bluegills !

[steve b]

They are accomodating little fellers ! If it'll fit in their mouths, you're likely to catch one. Don't have to "match the hatch". It doesn't have to be a size xx in firetiger. You don't have to make a 60ft cast in 20mph wind on an outgoing tide, etc.. Head to head, fish to fish, Bluegills gotta be responsible for more smiles than any other fish ! What do you like best about 'Gills ? steve b

[Ray Danders]

This is a topic I could write reams about, but I am going to use restraint. Bluegills are very accommodating to be sure, but as has been noted here bluegills 10" and above can almost be classified as another species.

While most bluegills die long before they reach 10 inches and catching one 12 inches is very rare even if we often hear stories of them being caught. It ranks right up there with catching a 30 stream brown trout or an 18" crappie or 18" yellow perch.

Some days the commotion caused by fighting one bluegill will get the rest of the school excited and some days a little jig tipped with a piece of crawler will scatter them as if someone yelled grenade.

Fortunately for us, bluegills are less spooky than most fish and you will remember it even if it only happens once in a lifetime if you hit a school of big bull gills that can’t get enough of your magic.

Someday we might figure out what causes this rare suicide behavior but I hope we never do. It would take the mystery and challenge out of it at least for me and then I would only fish for them when I was hungry for a bluegill dinner.

I always look a little quizzically at people who think bluegills are fun little fish, because I think of them as game fish, sport fish if you will that test your metal as much as any trout or bass that swims.

[Kiana Fitzpatrick]

I love the fight...get a good bigun' and your pole bends ... you see em jump, splash, and make such a commotion....LOVE EM!!!

[PaPa Cheese-O]

AMEN

[Dean]

The way Steve puts it is funny and spot on - "you don't have to..." And you don't have to go far to at least try. For some of you it's literally in your back yard. They're great because you can have some success with the kids or even salvage an otherwise fishless day with a couple little gills. When you're ready to try for a real trophy, most of us have options pretty close to home. But as pointed out, that doesn't mean it's going to be easy. I've happened on nice other fish by chance - goes along with what Mike F. said. I haven't happened on a 1# gill though. Takes thinking, planning, adapting, fine tuning - what a challenge. Reminds me of a couple golfer friends of mine (I'm not a golfer) - one was telling how his ball wasn't doing what he wanted it to do. The other guy put his hands together as if on the club and then apparently moved them and said just do that and it'll make a difference. I couldn't even tell he moved them. Same with gills - at least I think so from reading the great stuff on this site. To the non-fisherman or folks like me who've fished for 50 years but never really got to that next level, gills can be the same. Just throw a bobber in the water with a nightcrawler and a #2 Eagle Claw, OR...get the right float and terminal tackle and watch for the most subtle movement or recognize 1/16 ounce, or less, can make a big difference in what you catch. Learn that 6 inches below the float can be a huge difference from 12 or 18 inches. Things a lot of fishermen wouldn't know - like me before. There's so much room to have fun with gills - whether a novice or a veteran, a twice a summer fisherperson or twice a week. Gills are there for you, close by (hopefully) and ready to challenge you whatever you want to get out of fishing.

[Eric White]

haha if you don't learn something everytime you go fishing you aren't paying attention, i have learned the more you dont pay attention the more bites you get, I think they know:) really nice gills are tough to catch but if you put in the effort they are great fun and put up the fight that makes you sit back and think wow this one is a dandy.