Author Topic: Anybody for bluegill around here? (Read 21514 times)

TheChristianSurvivalGuide · « **on:** May 29, 2010, 07:41:35 PM »

Call me a n00b if you want but I have recently just put alot of effort into fishing (switching from largemouth) for bluegill and I am having a blast.

I was wondering if anybody else here takes any time to focus on panfish.

OKGranny · « **Reply #1 on:** May 29, 2010, 08:59:58 PM »

My hubby is a fishing snob, only largemouth but if they aren't biting I personally like fishing for any panfish. Get a large bunch of them and you end up with lots of very good small filets to eat too.

KYdoomer · « **Reply #2 on:** May 30, 2010, 09:21:49 AM »

Fishing for bass is like playing golf on a PGA course. Fishing for bluegill is like going to the local putt putt.

You can save a lot of money, frustration and have more fun with the putt putt course in a lot of instances.

J

P_Coltrane · « **Reply #3 on:** May 30, 2010, 12:24:12 PM »

Generally speaking, you don't have to fish for bluegill, they will find you.

OKGranny · « **Reply #4 on:** May 30, 2010, 12:45:20 PM »

Quote from: P_Coltrane on May 30, 2010, 12:24:12 PM

Generally speaking, you don't have to fish for bluegill, they will find you.

I love sitting in a couple of feet of water in a creek and watching them nibble my toes, they'll check and see if anything is edible.

flyfisher66048 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 30, 2010, 01:08:17 PM »

Just got back from a little pond in MO. Fished from my kayak using my fly rod. Great Fun catching panfish and bass with hoppers.

The Fishin Magician · « **Reply #6 on:** June 22, 2010, 07:54:44 PM »

Sorry I'm a little late to this thread...I don't frequent this forum as often as I should.

I'm a bona-fide Bluegill fanatic! I prefer to fish for Bluegill and other panfish over any of the other "sportfish/gamefish". Usually, I target Bluegill, Redear Sunfish ("Shellcrackers"), Redbreast Sunfish and Spotted Sunfish. Those are the most abundant in my area of Southwest Florida. These fish might be small when compared to Bass, but they fight with heart! They have my complete respect.

Not only are they excellent eating, but they're often found in abundance and are pretty easy to catch with minimal gear.

I use 10 pound test green Spiderwire line (diameter of 4 pound test ), with a 2 or 3 foot 4 to 6 pound test fluorocarbon leader joined by a barrel swivel or tied "line-to-line" with a blood knot. I stick with a light wire long shank hook (not sure of size) and two or three BB-sized removable split shot weights (I also "freeline" sometimes when the weight is not necessary).

Nine times out of ten I usually use live crickets for bait, but have also had incredible success using Berkley Gulp! Maggots in Natural White and the discontinued Earthworms in Brown, along with the Berkley Gulp! "Alive!" Waxies in White and the 1" Minnows in Smelt.

Normally, I use ultralight rods and reels...I own about a half dozen different ones, but my go-to combo is my 5 foot Ultralight Shakespeare Excursion 2-piece rod and Shakespeare Synergy Supreme Ultralight reel.

There's more Bluegill lovers than you might think, out there. Here's one fella from Michigan who has his own website dedicated to the scrappy lil' fish...
http://www.2lbgil.com/

pappabear · « **Reply #7 on:** June 22, 2010, 07:59:53 PM »

bluegills are my favorite, and they taste better than just about anything else i've ever caught.

pappa bear

Docwatmo · « **Reply #8 on:** June 22, 2010, 08:54:19 PM »

Love panfish, and we have so much more fun fishing for them than game fish with the kids. (I'm an old crappie lover myself but a bunch of slab blues make for a very good day indeed.

OKGranny · « **Reply #9 on:** June 22, 2010, 10:45:31 PM »

Quote from: Docwatmo on June 22, 2010, 08:54:19 PM

Love panfish, and we have so much more fun fishing for them than game fish with the kids. (I'm an old crappie lover myself but a bunch of slab blues make for a very good day indeed.

Another crappie lover!

swoods · « **Reply #10 on:** June 23, 2010, 07:54:28 AM »

Yup, me too. Love blue gill and crappie. Haven't fished for years, and this thread has made me want to!

evilphish · « **Reply #11 on:** June 23, 2010, 09:23:32 AM »

about 80% of my fishing is for pan fish, the rest is split for trout and walleye

Nophix · « **Reply #12 on:** July 25, 2010, 09:40:21 AM »

I love pan fishing! Bluegill, Crappie, Perch, bring em on!!! Fantastic fun for a quick afternoon, riot to let the kids fish, and tasty on the grill.

I love Bass fishing and go nuts for a good Musky, but they take dedication to catch. With panfish, slap a worm on and reel in.

Tuxdad · « **Reply #13 on:** September 18, 2010, 02:15:53 PM »

I've been having a blast getting the hang of my handline reel with fishing for bluegills..

Caught this guy and his buddy on my last couple of casts.. Sorry about the pic quality but it was my cell .. You may not be able to tell from the pics but that guy was as big and my handreel !! That's pretty good in my book.. Shame I wasn't able to hang around longer, but things weren't going well with my dressing on my bum paw..lol $:-\$

Tux

The Fishin Magician · « **Reply #14 on:** September 18, 2010, 05:06:34 PM »

Hey Tux!

Where'd you get that hand reel? Brand name? Just curious.

Tuxdad · « **Reply #15 on:** September 18, 2010, 07:11:05 PM »

Ordered mine from streamlines.com , not sure if they're still around or not.. Here's a couple of links...

http://www.moderntradingpost.com/streamlines/index.html

http://www.moontrail.com/accessrs/a-misc/handline.html

I think the second link is the place I purchased mine from..

HTH

sludgy_nixer · « **Reply #16 on:** September 19, 2010, 12:20:11 AM »

heck yeah. talk about a fun day on the water. they can get huge around here and fight like crazy.
wigglers and an ultralight, can't beat it.

PAGUY · « **Reply #17 on:** September 19, 2010, 05:49:09 AM »

I take my kids all the time to get these little guys. They love it.

Tuxdad · « **Reply #18 on:** September 19, 2010, 07:18:25 AM »

I've often said pound for pound, if a bluegill were the size of a bass they'd be harder and meaner fighters then any other fish out there..

I still go out with my ultra light gear and get in'em, but something about cane polin' or hand linin' just trips my trigger as of late..lol

Nophix · « **Reply #19 on:** November 04, 2010, 08:07:07 PM »

I rarely go Bass fishing anymore. Personally, I prefer to catch things I want to eat, and Bass just doesn't taste that good to me.

We have a killer Bluegil spot near us, and the kids LOVE it! I need to find a good Crappie spot now, so I can get them hooked on a little bigger fish.

Nate · « **Reply #20 on:** November 04, 2010, 08:38:58 PM »

I have a dozen of them in my freezer right now. My wife is chinese and has got me to eat them chinese style, with heads and tails on. Less work to clean them that way! She will rub them down with a little salt and curry powder. Then she fries them in the wok. You know they are done when the eyes pop. Good eating!!!

Perfesser · « **Reply #21 on:** November 04, 2010, 09:35:31 PM »

When we were kids my parents had a cottage on the Great Lakes- Parry Sound in Georgian Bay.
When the "real" fish weren't biting we could always go in to the boathouse and get a dozen rock bass or out to the rock pile for sunfish.

Greywolf27 · « **Reply #22 on:** November 04, 2010, 09:49:46 PM »

On a new computer, not sure if this will come up...

I caught this little gem back in July when I was up at the family property in Wisconsin. 9.25"...

4bull · « **Reply #23 on:** November 04, 2010, 11:47:54 PM »

I use an ultra light and rebel has a helgramite lure and a tadpole that are killers.
i take the kids to the ponds and we come home with fat heads an croppie.

the blue gill get so big they get dunlap above there head its time to thin them out.

Docwatmo · « **Reply #24 on:** November 05, 2010, 05:47:49 AM »

Tell ya what, nothin beat grampa's ole cane pole for bluegills in the creek when I was 6 or 8 years old. best fishin of my life catching chubs and bluegills. Man I wish I could have that pole back today, even for just a day to take my boys out with it. (Dang, now I've got to start lookin for a cane pole).

OKGranny · « **Reply #25 on:** November 05, 2010, 11:41:12 AM »

There's some cane right down the road from me that's plenty big enough to make a cane pole, I have to admit I've been thinking about it. Not that I don't appreciate my expensive bass gear but fishing with a cane pole when I was a kid was such a blast.

Docwatmo · « **Reply #26 on:** November 05, 2010, 01:02:06 PM »

Yep Granny, I'm the same way, got lots of money tied up in fishing gear, but by god, I can skip barefoot down to the pond with a simple cane pole and pull Bluegills or Crappies all day and be just as happy. I sure miss that old cane pole of his. I don't know whatever happened to it. Sure wish I hadn't been so stupid when I was younger. The impertinence of youth I guess.

OKGranny · « **Reply #27 on:** November 05, 2010, 02:28:56 PM »

If it helps any we were all stupid when we were younger and didn't appreciate what the old folks had or what they had to tell us and when we figure it out it's too late. Guess it's just part of todays world.

John Doe · « **Reply #28 on:** August 29, 2014, 09:23:22 PM »

I know this is an old thread but heck ya I like panfish fishing.
I have bluegill & smallmouth in the canal behind my house.
I treat it as a viable part of my food preps

Greywolf27 · « **Reply #29 on:** September 06, 2014, 08:54:01 AM »

Caught this guy about two years ago at the family property up in Wisconsin... he's almost 10"

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Author Topic: Anybody for bluegill around here? (Read 21514 times)