Fly Fishing for Bluegill

[Ryan Patterson]

Hello all,

I signed up for this site a while back, then had a kid (well, my wife did), so I've not been out fishing much since (not complaining at all though!). I'm taking my kayak out tomorrow and plan to do some bluegill fishing on my 3 wt. I'm in South Carolina, and the lake I plan on fishing is probably somewhere in the mid 80 range in terms of temperature.

Anyone else fly fishing for bluegills right now? Any tips on depth, types of flies, etc. I plan on going out pretty early (I probably should have posted this yesterday) so I can maybe catch them a bit closer to the shore.

Thanks for any input and I look forward to contributing some to this site!

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

WELCOME TO THE SITE RYAN, I'D suggest real early and last two hours before dark . Take a nap mid day .......

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

OH BY THE WAY CONGRATS AND THE BABY !!!!!!!! LOTS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FISHING .........

[JBplusThuy]

I'll be fly fishing for bluegill in a couple weeks, here in San Diego. I know exactly what you mean about time to fish when you have kids :-) I have three, the oldest going into 7th grade in the fall, and I haven't been fishing in a year :p They all went to Vietnam for the summer with my wife, to visit her family, and in about 2 weeks I figure I'll be caught up enough on things to go fishing at last, woohoo!

[Ryan Patterson]

I did manage to get out for a few hours. Caught about 30 or 40 I'd guess. All were around 6 or 7 inches. Had a great time.

[Nathan]

Bluegills around my area will pretty much hit anything. Depending on what type of water I am fishing dicatates what type of flies I am using. I really like to use bluegill bullies but only for bigger gills and clear water where I can see my fly. For bank fishing I love to fish caddis or other bug immitations that lay just under the surface, I strip them in quickly in sets of 2-6 and then let sit which in a pond with a lot of bluegill produces just about every cast. Weather over here has been really weird though and it has thrown the fish off big time, my last trip only produced a few fish on poppers.

[Allen Morgan]

Bluegills will hit anything that looks like a bug.  The key to successful fly fishing is finding out what they are feeding on.

There is a Hex hatch coming off one of my home lakes.  Gills will take cripples and spinners, but the action is slow.  Now, throw something that looks like a Mosquito in there, and it gets slaughtered.  The reason is that there is a floating crappie dock here, that has a fluorescent light on 24/7.  Thousands of skeeters on the walls and ceiling.

If I go someplace more "natural", then whatever they are feeding on becomes more apparent.  I have luck with Deer Hair Caddis, Muddler Minnows, Purple and Starling soft hackles (no idea what that mimics, but it works), Gurgle Pops, etc. 

[Nathan]

Yup, matching the hatch is always good. Don't forget to un-match the hatch though sometimes. Just as an example lets say theres a big midge hatch and fish are actively feeding on it, well I'll throw a big ant or hopper, something that makes a bigger splash and gets their attention off the midges, usually produces some fish! :)

[Ryan Patterson]

Thanks for all the tips. Took my son out hiking today and saw a ton of beds with fish on them. I figured it was probably too hot for them to still be on the beds but then again I don't know a whole lot about bluegill (which is why I signed up for this forum!). I'm going out in my kayak tomorrow evening so hopefully I can get a few. 

[jim cosgrove]

they do spawn more than once some years ryan.full moon this weekend so right on schedule.i have caught a few monsters in july off beds even tho they had already spawned in june.dont get too close and if they spook give them some time they will return.have fun and take some pics

[Walt Foreman]

Bluegill spawn multiple times every year in the South.  The largest spawn usually happens in April or May, but there will be some percentage of the population of most water bodies spawning throughout the summer.

[Ryan Patterson]

That is good to know!

[Ryan Patterson]

Thanks for the info. Will definitely take some pictures (if I catch some good ones)