Mid summer bluegill?

[CURTIS CRUMP]

Needing advice... I've always done well on bluegill during the spawn, but never done well in mid to late summer.  I know the fish have moved deeper, but I'm not sure where to start?  I usually move on to other things (like shooting skeet) during the summer, but I'd really like to figure out how to catch the fish in the middle of summer.  Also, just got a newer, better sonar for my 16 foot Jon boat.  So. . . How deep? Edges of points? Drop offs? Drop hotting? Crickets on drop shot hooks?  I guess the first thing I need to know is how deep and what to look for on sonar?

[Slip Sinker]

been just recently hitting them with the drop shot in the deep weed edges and pockets 10-12' deep. last year i did really well fishing most of the warm water periods fishing the heavy shallow slop weeds with a slip/float. deep jigging the weedlines and drop offs also have worked. GULP Pink Waxies has been my bait of choice the past few years.

[CURTIS CRUMP]

When you say deep weed edges, do you mean the outside edges of weeds you can see, or weeds underwater that you see with your sonar?

I'm guessing you mean the lakeside edges of heavy weed cover that's visible - 10-12 feet deep.  Is that right?

[Slip Sinker]

yep... weed edges on our clear lake very rarely see past 10-12 ft deep... they mainly come close to the top. been having some luck dropping the drop shot just over the edge of the kayak right in the weeds themselves.

[carl hendrix]

CURTIA;; FOR WHAT ITS WORTH;; LEDHEAD FISHES LAKE PARRIS IN CALIF. AND FISHES; SOMETIMES; 60 FEET DEEP USING CRICKETS ON HIS AUTO JIGS; AND CATCHES 2 POUNDERS PRETTY FREQUENTLY

[Slip Sinker]

yep... but of course you have to watch the thermocline that forms over the summer periods...my home lake even though it reaches 45 ft deep will not support fish life below 17 ft during the summer. 99% of all lakes form a thermocline during the summer. this thermocline is easily picked up on any sonar. during the winter months many fishes will travel deep because the thermocline does not exist at this time.

here is a snap of a group of fish that when i was passing over with the boat stopped like they hit the floor at 17' where the thermocline was established.

[carl hendrix]

DONT FORGET TO TRY USING SMALL SPOONS; TIPPED WITH EITHER NITE CRAWLER OR CRICKETS IN DEEP WATER;; CAN BE EXTREMLY DEADLY !

[CURTIS CRUMP]

Thanks all.  I'll try the weed edges this week with a drop shot and then do some exploring of the deep part of the lake with sonar.  For the weed edges, I think I'll watch the sonar and make sure I' 10-12 feet.  We don't have really thick weeds right know at my lake, but I'll fish the thickest stuff I can find.

[Slip Sinker]

another tip is to vertically jig that drop shot on your submerged pocket of weeds that you find on your sonar....

what model sonar did you end up getting?

[CURTIS CRUMP]

Slip sinker, I got a hummingbird 195c.  Not the greatest, but the best I could afford right now.  It has good color contrast and two beams, 200khz and 455khz.  I think it will pick up the thermocline just fine, especially if I turn up the filter.  I wish I could have afforded Di and/GPS, but those aren't in the budget right now.  Here's a pic.

What's everyone's Favorite grub, tube, or jig for the drop shot rig?  Dark colors for dark water? Light colors for light water?  And finally, how far do you put your jig from the bottom weight? I'm guessing 12-18 inches?  Let me know.

[Slip Sinker]

solid unit right there... i had the grey scale version... then i upgraded to the Lowrance Elite 7 HDI... finds fish... if you need to mark way points you can use utilities on the smart phone like "fish hook" i used to see the thermocline just fine on that unit.

i use a plain hook with a tip like gulp waxies or crawler nuggets. i usually make short casts and have the hook about 18 to 24"... lately ive been using two hooks

http://bigbluegill.com/group/pattern-rigging-presentation-for-blueg...

[Slip Sinker]

yep... excellent call Carl... great technique

Bill Modica's  Spoon Chucker's group offers some great advice on his coined technique

http://bigbluegill.com/group/northamericanspoonchuckers?commentId=2...

[jim cosgrove]

really depends on your region and what type of water.if you have deep water does not mean they will be deep as a thermocline forms.it is usually at 10 to 12 feet in most deep  waters i fish.i will only fish very early and before sunset this time of year..we have had no rain for awhile so water conditions are poor .