Favorite technique for each Season of the year!

[Brandon Sigurdson]

Many of us spend our springs fishing the shallows with live bait, some spend our summers out in the middle of the lake in suspended water. During the winter some of you may be down almost to the bottom. I personally love vertical jigging in the winter and summer and live bait fishing in the spring and sometimes fall!

What are your guys favorite methods for each season????

I would love to hear! Im new and already love this site!

[Tony Livingston]

I usually experiment with various techniques from spring through fall. Crankbaits, spoons, spinners....but a jig of some sort is usually what I end up fishing most often. I do tend to tip it with live bait of some sort, mostly waxworms, although Jeffrey convinced me to give crickets a try and they worked pretty well also.

In the winter however, it's definitely a jig. If there's good ice, I'll jig vertically through the hole, but if conditions are like last year, (very little ice, period), then I'll hang the jig below a slip float and cast from shore....I start fishing near the bottom, but if I'm getting hits on the way down then I'll move up in the water column. Did pretty well like this last winter.

Oh...I prefer spikes to tip with during the colder months.....

[Brandon Sigurdson]

Nice Info! Ive never ice fished for gills, always wanted too though!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I'll answer as a river fisherman Brandon as I now do most of my fishing on black water rivers in North Carolina....Reservoir/Lake fishing was different as a result of size and water depth to name a few....

 

 I'll start with Spring because for me it's a return to steady gill fishing after the traditional winter lull that we experience in a region that doesn't ice over but does get water temperatures down into the mid to upper 30s which impacts Coppernose Bluegills.  In Spring I start in staging areas looking for gills transitioning to the shallows to build and ultimately bed. I always like some sort of live bait but often tip that on to my favorite color jig or wet fly. Then Memorial Day arrives and so has the Bluegill peak for the Summer....Jume, July and August run neck and neck in my region for superb gill fishing and you catch them shallow on a variety of baits both live and artificial. Like many other locations, gills are most vulnerable at this point and North Carolina is no different. Fall is a pleasant relief from the dog days and fish can be caught shallow scattered and I slide deeper as the fish do....I fish often enough and monitor water temperatures closely so I can usually stay ahead of the fish through Halloween. I have in recent years caught my largest Bluegill in August and September but I haven't nailed down why. Finally Winter arrives and the bite falls off tremendously on the 12 rivers I fish....I still pursue but experience hours and hours of inactivity using various methods and presentations near bottom....Still working to refine this season but the Science is already available that proves that Coppernose Bluegill just aren't active once the water drops to that magic number and I can't dispute it.  I spend that time admiring other folks ice fishing and lay out the plan for another 4,000 fish season marking the calendar down to Good Friday.......

[Brandon Sigurdson]

Never fished for bluegills in rivers! sounds fun. Are the bluegills stronger in rivers due to the current?

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Actually Coppernose Bluegill and most other species prefer slack water and although fish can be found in faster flowing rivers....it will more often be a Longear or a redbreast subspecies......The only variation I see in strength is when fish are guarding their nests...it seems to me that they fight harder then but that could be volume of fish also....

[Brandon Sigurdson]

Thats what I thought, either way sounds fun and in my opinion bluegill put up the best fight for there size.